Why the SPEED Act may slow down after passing the House

In January, lawmakers face the expiration of a temporary government funding deal and impending midterms, complicating the bill's advancement. But observers say there is more urgency now than ever before to reform energy infrastructure permitting.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 22, 2025

Energy evolution: Meeting the demands of an AI-powered world

By pairing human expertise with AI-driven insights and forging collaborations across industries, we can build an energy ecosystem that is reliable and affordable for all, EPRI’s Remi Raphael writes.

By Remi Raphael • Dec. 19, 2025

Explore the Trendline➔

Electricity Supply and Demand

After nearly two decades of flat demand, U.S. electricity consumption reached an all-time high in 2024 and is expected to continue rising. This trendline brings together the best of Utility Dive’s coverage of emerging trends in supply and demand and the decisions being made today that will impact the power system for years to come. 

By Utility Dive staff

The week in 5 numbers: PJM did it again

In other news, 2025 is shaping up to be another record year for new energy storage installations. With Ford entering the market, the industry expects continued growth, despite some bumps in the road. 

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 19, 2025

FERC orders PJM to craft large load colocation rules

The decision is a win for independent power producers with gas-fired and nuclear power plants in the PJM Interconnection, according to Capstone analysts.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 19, 2025

FERC members raise alarms about PJM failure to meet reliability target

PJM says several factors could close the capacity shortfall, including a new load forecast next month that could be significantly lower than the last due to stricter vetting of potential large loads and a reduced economic outlook.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 19, 2025

PJM capacity prices hit record high as grid operator falls short of reliability target

A 6.6-GW shortfall could trigger a backstop procurement to bolster PJM’s reserve margin, according to Jefferies analysts.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 18, 2025

Large load tariffs could streamline interconnection by shrinking queues: Enverus

“Anyone with an acre of land they think they could put a data center on is putting in an interconnection request,” said energy research analyst Adam Robinson.

By Emma Penrod • Dec. 18, 2025

SBTi opens pilot for power sector net-zero standard

The Science Based Targets initiative is looking for companies in the energy industry to test the practicality and usefulness of the draft framework.

By Lamar Johnson • Dec. 17, 2025

DOE orders 730-MW TransAlta coal plant in Washington to keep running

The Department of Energy could issue similar emergency orders for at least five other coal-fired power plants set to shutter at the end of the month, according to Earthjustice.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 17, 2025

New role for nuclear power emerges in New York energy plan

New York’s recently-approved energy plan indicates that new nuclear power plants could lower the cost of reaching a carbon-free power system by 2040, Clean Air Task Force advocates write. 

By Kasparas Spokas and John Carlson • Dec. 17, 2025

Power producers ask FERC to reverse MISO’s $280M capacity auction ‘adjustment’

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator faces two complaints over its handling of a software error that affected the results of its last planning resource auction.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 16, 2025

CCS generation projects are coming. New ways to track and claim their emissions must follow.

Clean energy buyers need a mechanism to claim the low-carbon attributes of carbon capture and storage to advance this method of reducing CO2 emissions from electric generation, NorthBridge Group experts write.

By Iain Kaplan and Gustaf Michaelsen • Dec. 12, 2025

The week in 5 numbers: DOJ ramps up antitrust action, Texas’ grid growth may slow

Plus, the turbine backlog that isn’t going away.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 12, 2025

FERC poised to issue decision on colocating large loads in PJM

The agency’s plan to issue an order at its Dec. 18 open meeting is likely a boon for nuclear and gas-fired power plant owners that want to sell electricity to colocated data centers, analysts said.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 12, 2025

GE Vernova expects to end 2025 with an 80-GW gas turbine backlog that stretches into 2029

CEO Scott Strazik said he expects gas turbine reservations to be sold out through 2030 by the end of 2026. Wind remains the weakest of the company’s three business lines.

By Brian Martucci • Dec. 11, 2025

EIA cuts 2026 power generation forecast by more than a percentage point

The Energy Information Administration revised down its projection based on how much large load electricity demand has come online so far this year, particularly in Texas, “and its implications for near-term growth.”

By Diana DiGangi • Dec. 10, 2025

NextEra aims to build up to 30 GW in data center power supply hubs by 2035

As part of that effort, NextEra Energy Resources and Basin Electric Power Cooperative are working on a 1.5-GW gas-fired project to serve data centers in North Dakota.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 9, 2025

Corporate buyers have contracted for 20.4 GW of ‘clean’ energy so far this year: CEBA

Clean Energy Buyers Association members are willing to pay their “fair share” to get connected to the grid and have, in many cases, embraced a new class of large load tariffs, CEO Rich Powell said.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 9, 2025

PJM, others challenge large load interconnection filings at FERC

Power producer and data center trade groups, the PJM Interconnection and utilities urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject calls for action on the grid operator’s large load rules.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 9, 2025

With antitrust settlement, Constellation set to become largest US wholesale power provider

The agreement is the first settlement consent decree the DOJ’s antitrust division has filed in an electricity merger in 14 years. It came days after the U.S. solicitor general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a separate antitrust case against Duke Energy to proceed.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 8, 2025

US Energy Department offers $134M to boost rare earth recovery projects

Rare earths, a specific critical mineral group of metals, are vital components in advanced manufacturing, defense systems and high-performance magnets used in power generation and electric motors.

By Antone Gonsalves • Dec. 8, 2025

The SPEED Act is an opportunity to align permitting policy with grid reality

Reform is overdue, and the House deserves credit for pushing it forward. But Congress should apply it to multistate transmission in its entirety, not in bits and pieces, says Christina Hayes, Grid Action executive director.

By Christina Hayes • Dec. 5, 2025

Rein in CWIP to protect ratepayers from bloated infrastructure costs: report

When utilities use “construction work in progress” accounting, “cost overruns become profit opportunities rather than financial penalties,” the authors of a Manhattan Institute brief said. They pointed to Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion as a prime example.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 5, 2025

The week in 5 numbers: Wind and solar are what’s for dinner

In other news, the Trump administration has fired shots at “established monopolist” Duke Energy as officials test antitrust tools in power markets, and a fight over capacity auctions highlights the risk of phantom data centers.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 5, 2025

US added 2 GW of solar in September, putting 2025 ahead of 2024 for new solar generation

Solar accounted for three-quarters of new generation installed so far this year, followed by wind at 13% and gas at 11%.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 4, 2025