Grid of Tomorrow (GoT) connects Purdue researchers with utilities, system operators, technology companies, and large electricity users. It addresses rapid load growth, interconnection delays, grid reliability, distributed resources, and AI-enabled grid operations.
Strategic Partners
Full Members
Associate Members
Our Mission
Our mission is to close the gap between academic research and industry practice to better serve the needs of the electric grid industry. The Grid of Tomorrow Consortium aspires to catalyze research and bolster workforce development for broader evolving grid ecosystems to address the challenges from a rapidly changing landscape. It will serve as a forum for the electric utility ecosystem, including utilities, operators, large industrial customers and data centers, consumers, and technology providers- to:
- Share technical challenges with other members and Purdue University researchers.
- Collaborate on joint or externally funded projects that drive innovation while delivering measurable improvements in reliability and affordability.
- Recruit top talent and shape engineering education.
4th Grid of Tomorrow Consortium Event — November 12–13, 2026 — Carmel, Indiana.
November 12 is a public-facing conference at the Renaissance Indianapolis North Hotel featuring plenaries, panels, Purdue research, and networking. November 13 includes a members-only advisory board meeting at MISO and a concurrent career event for Purdue students. Contact: Andrew Liu, andrewliu@purdue.edu; Vassilis Kekatos, kekatos@purdue.edu.
Past Events
3rd Grid of Tomorrow Consortium Event
Feb 26, 2026 in San Ramon, California
Watch recording and learn more
2nd Grid of Tomorrow Consortium Event
Aug 13, 2025 in San Ramon, California
Watch recording and learn more
How the Grid of Tomorrow Consortium Works
Industry-guided from challenge to application
GoT begins with the challenges facing industry today and brings together Purdue expertise, advanced analysis, and industry feedback to develop pathways toward practical implementation.
01
Industry-Defined Problems
GoT begins with technical problems identified by industry members.
02
Multidisciplinary Purdue Research
Purdue teams combine power-system modeling, optimization, controls, AI, and power electronics.
03
Modeling + Analysis
Projects use large-scale simulation, data analysis, and direct industry feedback.
04
Pathways to Implementation
Members help shape project scope, review results, and identify pathways to implementation.
What We're Working Towards
Grid of Tomorrow Key Outcomes
Industry-Selected Research
Complete projects on data-center dynamics and stability, data-center flexibility, and DER firmness and reliability.
Validated Grid Tools
Develop models and tools for large-load interconnection, planning and operations.
Flexible Grid Resources
Quantify flexibility from data centers and distributed resources for operations and markets.
Research to Practice
Translate results into industry guidance, student training, and future research priorities.
Challenges and Opportunities
- Intensive electrification and load growth from data centers are major drivers of change.
- Orchestrating distributed energy resources (DERs) can unlock capacity and flexibility.
- Existing options for industry-academia collaboration are limited or cumbersome to establish.
- Academic research can be disconnected from real-world problems.
- Rapidly evolving technologies require flexible lifelong training and up-to-date curricula.
- The Grid of Tomorrow consortium is a new paradigm for industry-academia collaboration with targeted high-impact problem solving.
Electrification & Load Growth
Supporting load growth as an opportunity for an affordable, abundant, and reliable grid
Integrated T&D Decision-Making
Computational tools for integrated system planning and analysis
Grid Edge Technologies
New technologies to support the transition to a decentralized grid
Explore the Grid of Tomorrow
Research
GoT develops models, algorithms, controls, and market approaches for large loads, data centers, distributed resources, interconnection, and AI-enabled grid operations.
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Education
GoT connects classroom learning and research with current electric-grid challenges while giving students opportunities to work directly with Purdue faculty and industry members.
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Industry
GoT starts with industry-defined technical challenges, connecting Purdue expertise with real problems in grid planning, operations, interconnection, markets and grid-edge technologies.
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Why Purdue? Why Now?
Purdue University aspires to be at the forefront of decarbonization and is primed to address the challenges of the Grid of Tomorrow. Our host schools - the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering - feature decades of research in electric power and operations. Purdue is proud to be:
- The largest producer of engineers in the nation.
- Home to highly ranked and historic engineering programs with comprehensive curricula offered both in-person and online.
- Home to world-class faculty with access to cutting-edge research facilities and lab space.