NEWS: Some IOUs are funneling more money into maintaining the grid than expanding it.

LBNL studied 22 utilities’ distribution costs, 15 of which flag existing distribution costs as their biggest capex category through 2030—despite the frenzy to bring more capacity online, quickly. These costs include spending on asset replacement, safety and reliability, and resilience.

Still, the incentive question is getting harder to ignore: Evidence suggests that utility ROEs—while still low by historical standards—may be higher than financial theory deems necessary, creating a tilt toward CapEx over potentially cheaper OpEx solutions.