Renew. Rethink. Read.

PJM is considering an $11.6 billion transmission expansion to strengthen the grid across 13 states as electricity demand continues to rise. The plan reflects a broader shift toward long-term grid planning, aimed at easing bottlenecks, improving reliability, and preparing the system for data centers, electrification, and extreme weather.

As early U.S. solar projects reach mid-life, repowering is becoming a core part of the industry’s next phase. Declining performance, obsolete equipment, and rising risk are pushing owners to rethink how existing assets are maintained and upgraded so they can keep contributing meaningful power as demand grows.

China does not set U.S. electricity prices directly, but its dominance in energy manufacturing affects how fast and how affordably new power can be built. As AI and electrification drive demand higher, tariffs and supply constraints are slowing deployment across gas, nuclear, solar, and storage. The result is higher costs, longer timelines, and growing pressure on U.S. electricity prices.

Natural gas was once seen as the lowest-cost path to reliable power. In 2025, that assumption no longer holds. New gas plants are slower and far more expensive to build, fuel prices are rising with global LNG demand, and households are already feeling the impact through higher electricity and heating bills.

California is proving that scaling solar and battery storage can fundamentally change how a power system operates. With natural gas generation down, solar output nearly doubled since 2020, and batteries now covering the evening peak, the state is showing what happens when clean energy is built fast enough to meet real demand.

PJM’s market monitor is urging FERC to block new data center connections unless the grid can reliably serve them. With $16.6 billion in added capacity costs already hitting ratepayers, unclear rules risk higher bills, reliability failures, and a two-tier grid where households absorb the downside of AI-driven demand growth.