Power infrastructure projects are becoming more complex to deliver – not because individual engineering disciplines have become more difficult, but because the connections between them have become more critical. Growing electrical demand, increasingly constrained interconnection timelines, evolving regulatory requirements, and larger, more complex capital programs require utilities and developers to coordinate decisions across engineering, permitting, land, environmental, and construction much earlier in the project lifecycle.
Every power project depends on multiple disciplines working together. A transmission line requires substations, substations depend on interconnection planning, and renewable generation often requires storage – all of it ultimately fitting within the realities of the electric grid. The projects that move most efficiently are those where these disciplines are coordinated from the beginning rather than managed as isolated scopes.
That is where Atwell creates value – not simply within individual technical disciplines, but in helping clients manage the decisions that occur between them.
Atwell provides expert guidance and support for renewable and conventional power infrastructure throughout North America, with more than 50 gigawatts of renewable generation and energy storage projects energized, over 1,000 wind farms designed and permitted, and more than 5,000 miles of transmission line projects completed. Those numbers demonstrate technical depth and project experience. What they don’t fully capture is the coordination required across disciplines to consistently deliver successful projects. That coordination often begins long before challenges emerge in the field.
The “spaces in between”: Where power capabilities connect
Across every power infrastructure project, multiple technical disciplines must work together to keep projects moving. Each discipline requires specialized expertise, but success depends on how effectively those disciplines coordinate throughout planning, design, permitting, construction, and commissioning.
Delivery infrastructure
Transmission, substation, and distribution work form the physical backbone that moves power from where it’s generated to where it’s needed. Atwell supports utilities with transmission line design ranging from simple generation interconnections to ultra-high-voltage initiatives. Substation design and engineering for all voltage levels across conceptual, brownfield, and greenfield projects, with in-house expertise in system planning, structural engineering, protection, and control. Distribution work supports utilities bringing new systems online, relocating facilities, managing pole attachments, and recovering from storm damage.
These activities are rarely independent. A transmission upgrade may require substation modifications, while distribution planning often depends on upstream transmission capacity and long-term load forecasts. Each discipline plays an essential role in advancing projects, and early coordination across these disciplines reduces redesign, schedule impacts, and construction conflicts later in the project.
The same coordination across environmental permitting, land acquisition, and engineering teams helps identify potential constraints early, reducing the likelihood of redesigns and unexpected schedule impacts later in the project.
Generation, storage, and interconnection
Atwell offers comprehensive solutions for utility-scale solar, wind, and distributed energy resources, and has consulted on more than two gigawatts of energy storage projects. Our work includes feasibility studies, sizing recommendations, and economic impact analysis for battery energy storage systems. Today, securing timely interconnection has become one of the defining challenges facing renewable generation and energy storage projects.
Few areas of today’s power market illustrate the importance of the “spaces in between” more clearly than generation interconnection. A storage system sized without transmission capacity in mind, or a renewable project sited without a realistic understanding of interconnection timing, may appear technically sound yet still face years of delay if transmission capacity, queue timing, or grid constraints aren’t considered early. Atwell’s generation, storage, and interconnection teams work together so that what gets designed and what can be connected are evaluated as part of a single integrated planning process.
Connected infrastructure
Atwell has partnered with more than 65 utilities to expand operational capacity through new or upgraded substations, transmission, and distribution systems nationwide, acting as an extension of the client team across planning, land acquisition, right-of-way, permitting, engineering, and construction management. That same full-lifecycle approach extends into turnkey fiber solutions, where Atwell supports communication infrastructure build-outs with make-ready engineering, small cell power supply design, and owner’s engineer services for large-scale fiber projects.
While electric delivery systems and communications infrastructure are often managed separately, utilities increasingly view them as complementary investments sharing common rights-of-way, construction resources, and long-term planning objectives. Atwell’s program management and in-house EPC capabilities exist precisely to make the most of capital investment by coordinating across these adjacent infrastructure needs, rather than treating them as unrelated projects competing for the same crews and the same easements.
Creating connections that unlock opportunities
“Successful power projects aren’t just the result of strong engineering – they’re the result of good coordination. When engineering, permitting, land, interconnection, and construction planning are aligned early, clients spend less time reacting to surprises and more time advancing their projects,” said Jason Utton, Senior Vice President of Atwell’s Power Group.
“The clients who struggle most are usually the ones managing transmission, interconnection, storage, and permitting as separate contracts with separate teams that aren’t always aligned,” Utton said. “Every transition between separate teams creates an opportunity for assumptions to go unchallenged. When those disciplines work together from the beginning, potential issues are identified much earlier – before they become schedule impacts or construction problems.” Moments like these happen in the spaces in between, when disciplines that are usually scoped separately are designed together from the start.
That pattern is consistent across the projects Atwell supports: the value isn’t only in depth within any single discipline; it’s in how rarely something falls through the cracks between disciplines that may be handled by different firms.
Why Atwell is positioned to make these connections
Atwell’s Power & Energy team works across transmission, substation, distribution, generation, storage, interconnection, utility power delivery, and fiber all under one roof. We offer teams that work alongside each other on a regular basis rather than meeting for the first time on a shared project.
This integrated approach allows project teams to identify risks earlier, make better-informed decisions, and respond more effectively as project conditions evolve.
Combined with the expertise across the Atwell family of companies, our teams bring specialized knowledge across the full project lifecycle while maintaining a coordinated approach for our clients. Because we collaborate with utilities, independent power producers, developers, and regulators nationwide, we often see opportunities to connect disciplines and partners who can solve challenges together before a gap between scopes becomes a delay or a missed opportunity.
This perspective allows us to identify connections that others may not see, including linking technical disciplines, project phases, and client priorities across the full power and renewable energy lifecycle to keep projects moving forward.
Connection fuels progress
As power infrastructure continues to grow in scale and complexity, success increasingly depends not only on technical excellence within each discipline, but on how effectively those disciplines work together. By integrating technical expertise across the project lifecycle, Atwell helps clients reduce risk, improve coordination, accelerate decision-making, and keep critical infrastructure projects moving forward.
