Gridlock: why it's hard to plug in

Adding one big new load to the US grid triggers a cascade — more generation, more transmission, more substations, more equipment — and every step runs through a checkpoint guarded by someone whose incentives point a different way. This map shows the whole machine: the physical grid in the middle, the institutions that gate it on top, and the players (with their motivations, honestly oversimplified) below. Explore freely, or follow one data center's path through it.