Powering the Homefront

The Association of Defense Communities (ADC) produces the video series Homefront: Stories from America's Defense Communities, which takes you inside the communities and regions our military calls home.

Episode 4: “Powering the Homefront” asks what happens to national security when the military is no longer the biggest customer on America’s power grid.

Virginia’s importance to U.S. national defense is unmatched. And today, it is at the epicenter of both U.S. defense priorities and the country’s most dramatic surge in electricity demand. 

Power Makes The Mission Possible

98% of military installations depend on the civilian grid. More than 3,000 utilities serve those installations, each with its own process for prioritizing loads and customers. Yet no formal process brings national security energy needs into grid planning.

Power makes the mission possible. Host Tim Ford travels to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to show what that means: 

  1. At Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, it keeps munitions moving onto Atlantic Fleet ships before they deploy.

  2. At Newport News Shipbuilding, it runs the welders and furnaces that build the Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the only place in the country where that work happens.

  3. Across the region, it supports the 19 military installations and the defense communities that call “America’s military metro” home.

Path Forward. Naval Weapons Station Yorktown and Dominion Energy signed an agreement to explore on-base power that serves the installation and the surrounding community. Across every conversation, the path forward includes: prioritizing national security in grid planning, building infrastructure through partnerships, and improving policy and communication.

How We Get There. We built unleashthegrid.org as a shared starting point for that collaboration. Each report addresses a different aspect of the same question: Can the grid deliver what national defense needs? Together, they outline a path forward for the partners who will have to answer it.

“Energy is the cornerstone of national defense.” — Jonathon Monken in “Powering the Homefront” by the Association of Defense Communities

Featured in “Powering the Homefront”

  1. Tim Ford, CEO, Association of Defense Communities

  2. Jonathon Monken, Senior Partner, Converge Strategies

  3. Rick Dwyer, Executive Director, Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance

  4. Doug Smith, President and CEO, Hampton Roads Alliance

  5. Capt. Dan Patrick, Commanding Officer, Naval Weapons Station Yorktown

  6. Jason Williams, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Dominion Energy

  7. Andrew Warren, Senior Strategic Advisor, Corporate Affairs, Dominion Energy

  8. Chris Helton, Vice President, Infrastructure and Sustainability, Newport News Shipbuilding

Each report tackles one piece of a shared challenge.

Select a report to explore its findings and download the full publication.

  • Powering Growth and Affordability The Role of Transmission in Economic and National Security

    Powering Growth and Affordability The Role of Transmission in Economic and National Security

    How interregional transmission will boost the economy and help the grid meet surging energy demand.

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  • Report cover showing U.S. Marines in desert camouflage with rifles beneath power lines, titled “Unleashing the Grid: Energy Dominance for National Defense,” March 2025.

    Unleashing the Grid: Energy Dominance for National Defense

    A framework for defense stakeholders to understand electric grid risks and explore opportunities where defense input could strengthen and expand the electric grid. 

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  • Unleashing Virginia: Strengthening The Commonwealth's Transmission System For National Defense

    Unleashing Virginia: Strengthening The Commonwealth's Transmission System For National Defense

    Provides a shared foundation to catalyze coordination between Virginia’s defense, energy, and economic development stakeholders.

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  • Powering the Fight Lessons from the Grid at War

    Powering the Fight Lessons from the Grid at War

    Identifies a path forward for policymakers, defense leaders, utilities, and grid operators to strengthen the power grid.

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  • Transmission Expansion For National Defense (TREND)

    Transmission Expansion For National Defense (TREND)

    Presents concepts for aligning transmission grid investment with national defense.

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