America’s power grid faces an era of tremendous opportunity and tremendous challenge. Demand for electricity is growing significantly for the first time in decades, driven by data centers, artificial intelligence, electrification, and a manufacturing resurgence. This demand can spur a rush of innovation and investment needed to bring our energy infrastructure into the future. But it also puts more pressure on a strained system. The nonpartisan independent operators of nearly every single electric grid in the U.S. have issued serious warnings that maintaining reliability is a growing concern. Moreover, customers are facing years of higher costs ahead, even as inflation cools in other sectors.
The issues our power grid faces deserve thoughtful conversation, compromise on political nice-to-haves, and deliberate action to ensure reliability in the face of rapid change. We need innovation and investment in all resources to meet the moment. Competitive power suppliers have shown they can lead the nation bringing some of the largest battery storage projects worldwide to key regions like California and Texas, piloting carbon capture efforts, operating nuclear plants efficiently and safely, maintaining massive geothermal resources, and developing cutting-edge wind and solar projects, among other examples. As EPSA members contribute billions of dollars to new technologies and zero-emission generation, decisionmakers must have a realistic understanding of the continuing need for dispatchable, “always-on” power sources like natural gas …
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