According to a recently de-classified report by the U.S. Navy about the vulnerability of the electric power grid, commercial construction expenditures have lagged behind asset depreciation for nearly two decades.

FORBES: Baking the Smart Grid Books: Study Estimates Costs and Benefits

Congress should grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the power to regulate construction of the grid in the same way it does the construction of pipelines.

FORBES: Magazine Article

One way companies are dealing with volatile energy costs and compensating for delays in power line construction is by making the grid "smarter, " or more efficient.

FORBES: Electricity

Other possible plans include rewarding firms for maintaining stand-by capacity to supply power to the grid in an emergency, and preventing the construction of new coal stations that do not have some way of capturing and storing their planet-heating emissions.

ECONOMIST: Britain can have clean energy or cheap energy, but not both