As the U.S. power transmission and distribution infrastructure ages, utilities are faced with the challenge of connecting new generation sources—particularly remotely-located renewable energy sources—addressing unexpected equipment failure, and the need for access to more economic sources of energy and peak capacity. Many utilities respond with costly investment in the transmission and distribution system, rather than exploring low-cost, non-wire alternatives (NWA). At a meeting of the National Governors Association, Frederick Weston illustrated how utilities successfully leveraged energy efficiency to defer investment in “poles and wires.” Effective long-term planning, with a focus on cost, load reduction, and the lead-time needed for implementing NWAs, is pivotal for success. As with transmission and distribution investments, equitable cost allocation for the NWAs is important. How effective can these measures be? New York-based ConEd estimates that system-wide efficiency programs reduced its planned capital expenditures by more than one billion dollars over a ten-year period.