Commentary

For the U.S., keeping up with AI’s insatiable appetite is the biggest systemic risk of the next decade. America needs a massive expansion of power plants, transmission lines, and advanced hardware, while using AI itself to drive grid progress and optimize power distribution.

After more than two decades of relative stasis, electricity demand in the U.S. is expected to increase by 25% by 2030 and by more than 75% by 2050, compared to 2023—a transformation largely driven by the surge in new data centers needed to power the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

This year will be a pivotal period for the global energy transition. The International Energy Agency’s recent revision to its net-zero roadmap reveals a changing narrative: we are no longer waiting on breakthrough technologies. Sixty-five percent of the emissions reductions we need are achievable with tools sitting on the shelf today. So, the debate is no […]

Energy-generation permitting in the Mid-Atlantic continues to evolve in 2026 not through wholesale deregulation or uniform acceleration, but through procedural and permitting reform and the potential allocation of generation development authority to public utilities. States are enacting these changes to meet the reality of reliability concerns, transmission constraints, large load-growth, and to address frequent obstruction of energy projects by local government.

As artificial intelligence (AI) models and workloads continue to scale in size and sophistication, their hunger for processing power—and the energy that fuels it—is accelerating faster than any previous wave of digital innovation.

For much of the 20th century, the U.S. set the global standard for civilian nuclear energy. American innovation shaped reactor design, safety culture, and regulatory practice worldwide. Yet today, as nuclear power regains prominence amid concerns over climate, energy security, and industrial competitiveness, America faces a quieter but more consequential challenge: the erosion of its nuclear fuel supply chain.

Imagine a city going dark, not from a hurricane or a cyberattack, but because there weren’t enough skilled workers to restore power after a routine failure. While utilities scramble to fill critical roles, hyperscale data centers are hiring the same talent at premium salaries. The grid’s biggest vulnerability isn’t hardware; it’s a talent war that utilities are losing.

For more than 60 years, polyethylene (PE) and ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) underground cables have powered communities, industries, and progress. The hope was these cables could last decades before needing to be replaced, but due to water treeing—microscopic moisture-induced formations that degrade insulation and threaten reliability, they’re aging more rapidly than expected. With traditional replacement being costly and labor-intensive, it was time for a new solution.

Affordable electricity prices have become a top priority for consumers, policymakers, voters, and elected officials. Electricity prices for the residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors averaged 6.7% higher in September 2025, compared to the same month one year ago. Residential prices alone increased by more than 7%, making it especially challenging for low- and middle-income […]

Recent breakthroughs at U.S. fusion labs, along with new public-private partnerships, are bringing us closer than ever to realizing fusion energy’s limitless potential. However, the U.S. has a major gap to fill in fusion research and development (R&D), and workforce development.

Global demand for power is increasing. In order to meet that demand, we need fast, dependable options. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are the fastest path to new capacity, thanks to their agile deployment and ability to support flexible interconnections.

The grid faces unprecedented pressures as data center-driven demand skyrockets, with expected growth hitting 50% over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, utilities contend with record-high turnover rates and an aging workforce, half of which is expected to retire over the next decade. Without workforce stability, there can be no grid reliability. The sector is racing to modernize its infrastructure, but no amount of intelligent technology can replace human input.

In early 2020, the prevailing narrative in the power sector was a continuation story of the developments from the decade before: renewable buildout will keep compounding, thermal capacity will keep retiring (albeit at a slower rate), markets will evolve to compensate for flexible generation products, capital will keep moving earlier in the development value chain […]

The fusion industry just achieved a major milestone—and this time, it’s not about science.

Data centers are already among the world’s hungriest power users, and artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing their energy consumption to new heights. The International Energy Agency expects data centers’ electricity use to more than double by 2030, reaching roughly 1,000 TWh. That’s a growth rate four times faster than the overall grid. In some scenarios, AI-optimized facilities could […]

As AI demand accelerates, the race is on to bend the power curve before it bends the grid. The first electric refrigerators were mechanical curiosities—loud, bulky appliances that consumed staggering amounts of electricity. But they spread anyway, because the productivity gains were too great to ignore. Daily habits shifted. Food systems reshaped. Household labor changed […]

The power of U.S. innovation and market incentives cannot be underestimated. The convergence of a business-driven energy transition and the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) have exposed a critical bottleneck within our energy grid.

By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, smart cybersecurity systems are helping to bolster the utility industry’s defenses. AI-powered cybersecurity is powerful because it enhances overall resilience to sophisticated cyber threats by providing real-time threat detection and response capabilities. And at a time when these threats are becoming more prolific and sophisticated, defenders need every advantage they can get.

Land strategy often determines whether a project moves forward or falls apart. While interconnection delays and equipment shortages get more attention, land presents a distinct and consistently underestimated source of friction in the development lifecycle.

The dawn of electric semitrucks and other medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles has arrived, and if the technology is going to be widely adopted, we have to come to grips with what this means for our electrical infrastructure.

In the race to decarbonize and secure America’s energy future, nuclear power is once again in the spotlight. From advanced reactors to fusion breakthroughs, the promise of nuclear energy is clear.

The energy industry continues to transition at a rapid pace. Across nearly every market, renewables are reliably and economically transitioning the grid from fossil fuels.

The demand for distributed generation (DG) solar has never been higher, yet many projects are getting stuck before they even break ground. The problem is utility interconnection. For community or net metered solar systems in the 1 MW to 5 MW range, in particular, the utility’s review of whether the grid can handle new power […]

When I was a kid, I used to watch thunderstorms roll in from the porch, tracing lightning across the sky and marveling at how energy moved between clouds. We build infrastructures now that try to do the same thing—collect, store, and dispatch power on demand. But as energy storage scales (Figure 1), it’s not the […]

Lenders and investors are scrutinizing data center projects closely. Identifying and mitigating risks early helps attract investors and reduce financing costs. Clear documentation and realistic timelines are essential to securing financing. Land Control—The Foundation of Success: Land remains the cornerstone of any data center development. Verifying land control ensures the project’s legal and physical foundation […]

The U.S. residential solar industry has entered a new era. With the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) phasing out at the end of 2025, the market faces a moment of recalibration. This will likely mean a short-term decline, but it’s far from a death knell for the industry. After all, while incentives may fade, energy […]

The story of artificial intelligence (AI) is often told in the language of speed and efficiency. Every quarter brings claims of models that run faster and cost less. Yet behind the glossy benchmarks lies a more sobering truth: the appetite for AI is growing so quickly that even the most impressive efficiency gains cannot keep […]

Ever since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) first surfaced, it has been widely portrayed as an existential threat to the renewable energy transition. From boardrooms to project sites, developers braced for the worst—expecting a wave of regulatory shifts that could undermine years of progress in clean energy deployment. However, with the latest guidance from the Treasury Department released this August, uncertainty has been replaced by urgency—signaling that the time is now for decision-makers to get moving on their much-needed solar initiatives.

When artificial intelligence (AI) manages a power grid, it cannot operate as a black box. A wrong decision will not just frustrate users, it will trigger a blackout. This critical nature of AI deployments in energy is forcing AI to mature faster in energy than in any other sector. When algorithmic decisions affect high-stakes systems […]

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just transforming industries; it is also transforming the energy grid. Behind every AI breakthrough lies a massive surge in computing power, and with it, an unprecedented demand for reliable and affordable electricity. As the U.S. positions itself for continued technological leadership, meeting the energy needs of AI data […]