CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia lawmakers heard testimony Monday on the state’s energy future, including warnings that the nation’s electrical grid is unprepared for rising demand and calls for advanced transmission technologies to increase capacity.,

Ken Rosenfeld, an officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Energy Modernization Project, told a legislative committee electricity demand nationwide is expected to rise 25% by 2030 and 78% by 2050 compared with 2023 levels. Growth is being driven by data centers, manufacturing, and electrification efforts, he said.

Rosenfeld said the country’s transmission infrastructure is aging and insufficient, with roughly 2,300 gigawatts of planned generation projects stalled in interconnection queues.

Building new power lines can take a decade or mor

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