U.S. Electricity Demand Jump Catches Power Utilities Unaware

Earlier this month, the Department of Energy announced a grant pot of almost $2 billion to be distributed among 32 projects in 42 states. The purpose of the projects is to improve grid resilience. The challenge: $2 billion is a drop in the bucket as unexpected electricity demand calls for not just resilience improvements but a massive grid expansion. For about a decade, demand for electricity in the United States has been virtually flat. It reached a peak in the 2010s and plateaued. In that context, it was perhaps a foregone conclusion that demand…