Opinion
The latest opinion pieces by industry thought leaders
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Improve transmission affordability by mending the regulatory gap
A two-pronged approach to planning could target inefficient spending while also spurring investments that promote beneficial transmission, writes Advanced Energy United’s Alex Lawton.
Alex Lawton • Feb. 19, 2026 -
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Powering the AI era: Grid technologies for America’s rising energy demand
The electric sector should optimize existing infrastructure while also exploring emerging transmission technologies, writes the Electric Power Research Institute’s Andrew Phillips.
Andrew Phillips • Feb. 18, 2026 -
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Hidden assets: Why data centers don’t have to be the villain
Conventional wisdom treats data centers as inflexible monsters. That characterization made sense a decade ago, but not now, writes GridX CCO Scott Engstrom.
Scott Engstrom • Feb. 17, 2026 -
Melissa Sue Gerrits via Getty Images
The rate case for grid resilience: Why climate change isn’t just about storms
Utilities that delay resilience investments hoping that global climate mitigation efforts will reduce the need for local hardening are taking a dangerous gamble, writes Kai Karlstrom, director of solutions engineering at Repath.
Kai Karlstrom • Feb. 13, 2026 -
Retrieved from U.S. Department of Energy.
Minnesota’s distributed capacity procurement decision could shape the grid far beyond its borders
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission should approve a framework that supports open, competitive participation, writes Coalition for Community Solar Access CEO Jeff Cramer.
Jeff Cramer • Feb. 12, 2026 -
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
Electrification is outpacing investment. A federal trust fund could close the gap.
A federal trust fund for energy infrastructure could facilitate grid expansion and maintenance, writes Zane Kinsky, a Clean Energy Leadership Institute 2025 Fellow.
Zane Kinsky • Feb. 11, 2026 -
The coming age of compact fusion: local power for a data-hungry world
The question now is not whether fusion will matter, but how we build it small, fast and local, writes Itay Gissis, vice president of R&D for nT-Tao: “The goal is not to build a bigger star, but to bring the power of the stars within reach.”
Itay Gissis • Feb. 10, 2026 -
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Congressional ‘grid reliability’ bill is like duct tape on a cracked dam
Propping up expensive, dirty power plants threatens consumers with higher prices while punting systemic solutions further into the future, write colleagues from Energy Innovation.
Mike O’Boyle and Silvio Marcacci • Feb. 9, 2026 -
Courtesy of Corning
Why regional manufacturing will power the next clean economy
If regions align around shared climate goals, fragmented progress can become a unified national movement, write Lara Croushore from SecondMuse and Stacey Weismiller of the American Manufacturing Futures Institute.
Lara Croushore and Stacey Weismiller • Feb. 5, 2026 -
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Why reinforcement learning belongs in residential utility billing
Accurate billing is often treated as a back-office function, but billing errors undermine customer confidence, discourage conservation and expose utilities to risk, writes Metergy Solutions analyst Yueqi Tian.
Yueqi Tian • Feb. 4, 2026 -
Courtesy of Georgia Power
Quick fixes won’t solve high energy bills
As grid spending increases, policymakers should look beyond residential customers to cover costs, writes Arjun Krishnaswami, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists.
Arjun Krishnaswami • Feb. 3, 2026 -
Courtesy of Google
The AI boom needs power. Tariffs can make it fair.
Large load tariffs can be used to deliver community benefits, lock in clean, reliable power and strengthen energy resilience, writes Ava Community Energy’s Olivia Vasquez.
Olivia Vasquez • Feb. 2, 2026 -
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Lessons from launching New Jersey’s largest utility-led EV program
Growing PSE&G’s electric vehicle initiative from a pilot to a full-scale program required flexibility and persistence, writes Dawn Neville, the utility’s senior manager of electric transportation.
Dawn Neville • Jan. 29, 2026 -
Nathan Howard/Getty Images via Getty Images
How utilities can prepare for the next wave of data center growth
The U.S. grid is unprepared to handle data center power needs. Utilities want to invest, but permitting hurdles remain a major impediment, writes Nexans North America President Tim King.
Tim King • Jan. 28, 2026 -
David McNew via Getty Images
GHG Protocol proposal risks slowing clean energy expansion
Proposed changes to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol would make it more difficult for companies to report renewables use and could discourage procurement, according Lesley Hunter and Jeffrey Gorham of the American Council on Renewable Energy.
Lesley Hunter and Jeffrey Gorham • Jan. 27, 2026 -
Joe Raedle/Getty Images via Getty Images
The new equation for energy security in 2026
Energy systems will be shaped by those who build resilient, diversified portfolios that balance reliability, policy, emissions, cost and independence, writes Honeywell Process Technology CEO Ken West.
Ken West • Jan. 26, 2026 -
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Massachusetts can make ‘bottom-up’ distribution reforms for a better grid
Adopting a distribution system operator, or DSO, structure would make the grid cleaner, more flexible and more affordable, writes Corrin Moss.
Corrin Moss • Jan. 22, 2026 -
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
Project finance is the missing link for the nuclear buildout we need
This model fuels nearly every major energy infrastructure investment and should be applied to nuclear, too, writes Ruhani Arya of Bank of America.
Ruhani Arya • Jan. 21, 2026 -
A PJM backstop auction could fill the large load supply gap: Talen CEO
Reliability backstop auctions should not be a permanent, ongoing market feature, but they are the answer to today’s problem, writes Talen CEO Mac McFarland.
Mac McFarland • Jan. 20, 2026 -
Alexi J. Rosenfeld via Getty Images
The data center dependency crisis: When our grid can’t function without big tech
We're sleepwalking into a future where our electric grid depends on the voluntary cooperation of private technology companies because the short-term benefits are too attractive to resist, writes Mothusi Pahl of Hartwell and Loche.
Mothusi Pahl • Jan. 16, 2026 -
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America’s new power barons: Who will rule the AI-grade megawatt megasector?
The winning model will be hybrid: gas for firmness, renewables for optics and cost, and storage for stability, writes NOVUS Energy Advisors’ Emily Easley.
Emily Easley • Jan. 15, 2026 -
Retrieved from Gregory Cooper/National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Why winning the AI race requires systems intelligence, not just electric capacity
The future won’t belong to the nations with the most generating capacity, but to those with the best grid coordination, writes Evan Caron, co-founder of Montauk Capital.
Evan Caron • Jan. 14, 2026 -
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America’s energy innovation crossroads: Why federal investment matters now
Meeting the United States’ energy challenges will require a federal investment of $25 billion for Department of Energy R&D by 2030, writes Clean Tomorrow Senior Director of Policy Evan Chapman.
Evan Chapman • Jan. 13, 2026 -
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Building security into energy infrastructure by design is lower cost and more effective
Data centers and their energy partners would be wise to ramp up cybersecurity efforts to match the pace of development, writes Leo Simonovich of Siemens Energy.
Leo Simonovich • Jan. 12, 2026 -
Courtesy of GE Vernova
How VPPs can help data centers connect to the grid faster
Virtual power plants can be developed quickly to satisfy data center demand, but reaching the scale required to meet soaring load growth will require new commercial models, according to RMI.
Jesse Cohen, Mark Dyson and Lauren Shwisberg • Jan. 8, 2026
