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From Bloomberg via Canada's Financial Post, March 24:
Run-down U.S. infrastructure is vulnerable to extreme weather and cyberattacks, posing a growing threat
JPMorgan Chase & Co. says aging, run-down grid infrastructure now risks undermining security goals, with everything from extreme weather to cyberattacks posing a growing threat.
The Wall Street bank, which laid out its analysis in a report seen by Bloomberg, describes the current decades-old grid network as a “national security risk.” Against that backdrop, investments that make grid infrastructure more resilient are becoming “increasingly attractive,” according to JPMorgan.
The comments come as investors, policymakers and consumers struggle to keep up with the daily shocks playing out in energy markets as the Iran war — now in its fourth week — rages on. Any long-lasting dent to supply would coincide with an historic surge in demand for energy, with potential bottlenecks in overwhelmed grids adding to risks.
All of that adds up to “major tailwinds for grid investments,” Sarah Kapnick, author of the report and JPMorgan’s global head of climate advisory, said in an interview.
It’s “a massive investment opportunity,” she said.
On the one hand there’s artificial intelligence, electrification and the re-industrialization of developed nations, which on their own account for “massive growth in electricity demand,” Kapnick said.
“Add to that the energy volatility from geopolitics, which means you may no longer want to rely on oil and gas deliveries from partners in the Middle East and North America and instead want to shift towards building out new renewable technologies that allow for energy self-sufficiency,” she said.
JPMorgan, which collects fees advising utilities and energy clients on grid-related deals, has made clear it views investments in critical U.S. infrastructure as key to its role as the country’s largest bank. In 2025, it unveiled a US$1.5 trillion, 10-year plan designed to ensure enough capital gets channelled into areas spanning semiconductors, data centres, medicines and critical minerals. Such investment is crucial to safeguarding supply chain resilience, economic growth and competitiveness, according to the bank’s analysis.
When it comes to the grid, JPMorgan’s Security and Resiliency Initiative (SRI) is about trying to “figure out where are the bottlenecks that are being ignored,” Michael Johnson, vice chairman of SRI at JPMorgan, said in an interview. And to “apply capital to try and fix those is eminently more useful” than just saying “we need a lot of grid investment,” which is “obvious and not helpful.”....
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Throw in CCJ for uranium and 49% of nuke maker Westinghouse along with FSLR if your mandate says you have to have solar exposure and this is as close to a "set it and forget it" basket as we can come up with. Has been since 2024.
