AI-ASSISTED · EDITOR-REVIEWED
Theme brief
Power can be infrastructure, capacity, political reach or social influence. A useful map distinguishes generation from transmission and nominal capacity from actual output — or makes the metaphorical meaning explicit in the title.
Official prompt“Power as in nuclear power? Or physical power or influence? Power grid on a map? Read this the way you want, like every other prompt.”
30DayMapChallenge 2026
WAYS IN
Four map ideas
- 01
Map the generation mix behind a regional electricity grid.
- 02
Show how far communities are from high-voltage infrastructure.
- 03
Compare political influence with the geography of campaign visits or funding.
- 04
Trace cross-border electricity interconnectors and dependencies.
IN THE DIRECTORY
Recommended tools
QGIS
Joins infrastructure, capacity and administrative data for a defensible analysis.
Open source · View detailsOpenStreetMap
Contains detailed power lines, substations, plants and generators in many regions.
Free · View detailskepler.gl
Useful for quickly exploring a global inventory of facilities.
Open source · View detailsdeck.gl
Handles large line and point layers for a custom interactive grid map.
Open source · View detailsSTART WITH A CLEAR LICENSE
Data sources
Facility locations, fuel types and generation capacity.
CC BY 4.0 · attribution required U.S. Energy AtlasPower plants, transmission and other U.S. energy infrastructure.
U.S. government data OpenStreetMap power infrastructurePower lines, substations, plants and generators use documented tags.
ODbL 1.0 · attribution requiredLicenses are a planning aid, not legal advice. Check the source record and version you actually download; terms can vary within a catalog.
BEFORE YOU EXPORT
Cartography check
Do not use one symbol for both megawatts and megawatt-hours. Capacity and generation answer different questions.
COMMUNITY MAPS
Selected work
First participate officially by posting publicly with #30DayMapChallenge. You can then suggest that original post for our independent MapTools picks. We link to the source, credit every author and use images only with permission.
Suggest for MapTools picks