The group points out, correctly, that the grid is designed for brief bursts of high demand; most of the time there's lots of capacity that goes unused. Utilize thinks that should change. The group argues that smarter ways to use that capacity already exist. Utilize name checks a number of those solutions, including battery storage, demand response, and virtual power plants, all of which have emerged en masse over the last decade, but remain under utilized.
24/7 Wall St. hosts Doug McIntyre and Lee Jackson analyze a major move by BlackRock to acquire the utility company AES, describing it as the beginning of a larger wave of consolidation across the utility and banking sectors. It could signal how companies like BlackRock might be positioning themselves to control the energy sources needed to power data centers and AI infrastructure.
