""We are telling policy makers the warning lights are on," Butler said. It's like you're driving your car, the check engine light is on, and you just don't want to take it into the shop. "You're like, I'm going to keep pushing this and no one's going to pay attention until it breaks down," Butler told Brady. From his perspective, he sees a malfunction as inevitable. "I'm telling you on that hottest day or that coldest day, you might have a supply crunch and people are going to suffer. I'm telling you, you have to fix it now.""
"Butler's warning comes, of course, amidst a historic surge in electricity demand as AI usage gobbles up compute, which in turn gobbles up energy across the country. There's a bit more to it than that, Butler said, with pressure coming from a "convergence" of factors, including the onshoring of manufacturing and the broader electrification of the economy."
""I've been in the utility industry for about 25 years ... and probably the last four decades we have never had a moment of this amount of load growth," Butler said."
The U.S. electrical grid is approaching critical stress as electricity demand surges from AI compute, manufacturing onshoring, and broader electrification of the economy. Warning indicators point to potential supply shortages during extreme hot or cold days, creating risks of outages and harm to consumers. Demand growth in recent years is historically large, producing a disconnect between rising load and the incentives to develop new generation capacity. The separation of regulated utilities from generation complicates investment signals. Rapid policy and investment responses are required to expand generation, modernize transmission, and ensure reliability under accelerating load growth.
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