The US is facing a sixfold spike in electricity demand in the next 20 years, and without a serious pivot, we risk “losing the AI race” to grid constraints, NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum told Politico. (Politico)
New gas plants are delayed until 2032 due to turbine backlogs, labor shortages, and soaring build costs. Advanced nuclear is even further off, with SMRs unlikely before 2035. That leaves only one scalable, fast-to-deploy option: renewables.
The bottom line: Ketchum said the US risks blackout scenarios and losing its cost advantage in energy-intensive industries without renewables at scale.