The Department of Energy last month issued a dire assessment of America’s electric supply, predicting “a surge in power outages and a growing mismatch between electricity demand and supply … threatening America’s energy security.” Residential electricity prices are forecast to rise another 15% to 40% by 2030.
For 25 years, U.S. electricity use was flat. Two years ago, experts realized that we would need far more to power artificial intelligence data centers, robotic manufacturing, electric vehicles, and digital appliances.
Where will this new power come from? DOE says it’s committed to “all forms of energy that are affordable, reliable, and secure.” That sounds reasonable, but the Trump administration has taken steps to boost coal and discourage what can be the cheapest and fastest solution to adding electricity capacity: solar, wind and batteries to store power for when it’s needed most.
Examples abound. On Aug….
