How can the power industry meet the challenge of rising demand? | In a special live episode recorded at the American Clean Power association, we discuss how to meet America’s growing need for electricity
The Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If President Trump’s tariff strategy succeeds in sparking a revival in US manufacturing, one consequence will be surging demand for power. We are already seeing electricity demand starting to pick up after 15 years of stagnation, driven by new data centers for AI and a wave of factory-building for semiconductors and batteries that is already under way. How can the electricity industry increase capacity to meet that growing demand and provide the power that the country needs?
That’s the question for this special episode of the Energy Gang, recorded live in front of an invited audience at the headquarters of the American Clean Power association in Washington DC. Host Ed Crooks talks to Chris Shelton, the Chief Product Officer at AES, Travis Kavulla, the Vice-President for Regulatory Affairs at NRG Energy, and MJ Shiao, the Vice President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing at American Clean Power.
They discuss whether electricity demand growth is really happening, which technologies are best placed to provide new supply, and who will end up paying for the investment needed to increase capacity. The Trump administration’s focus has been on “baseload” power, particularly new natural gas power plants. But there are reasons why they cannot be a complete solution. Renewable energy and battery storage also have important roles to play.
The group also assess the impacts of changing energy policies under a Republican administration and Congress. What will be the fate of tax credits for low-carbon energy under the Inflation Reduction Act? And will moves to expedite permitting and environmental approvals make it easier to build all kinds of new infrastructure, including power and energy facilities, in the US?
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Transcript
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| 0:49.1 | Hello and welcome to the energy gang, a discussion show from Wood Mackenzie about the fast changing world of energy. I'm Ed Crooks. And welcome everyone to this special live edition of the show, which is being recorded in front of an invited audience at the offices of the American Clean Power Association in Washington, D.C. |
| 1:02.3 | Feels like we're very much in the right place at the right time route now. |
| 1:07.0 | We're recording this just immediately after President Trump has made this big announcement |
| 1:11.6 | on tariffs. Obviously all kinds of implications, ramifications kind of shaking out from that. |
| 1:17.9 | But one of the longer term implications is very clearly that if the president's strategy is successful, |
| 1:23.4 | if he does succeed in engineering, a real rebound in US manufacturing, that's going to imply |
| 1:30.9 | even more growth in demand for power in the United States. And of course, it comes at a time when |
| 1:37.4 | the discussion we've been having already this morning about data centers and AI, other factors also driving power demand. We already had, |
| 1:46.8 | in fact, strong rebound in investment in manufacturing facilities in the US, driving future |
| 1:52.3 | power demand. We've got the electrification of transport still proceeding despite hiccups and |
| 1:57.1 | headwinds to that. A lot of factors then that are contributing to an outlook of growth in demand for power |
| 2:04.6 | after long period of stagnation, 15 plus years when power to modern this country really |
| 2:09.3 | hasn't been growing at all. |
| 2:12.0 | And so the question I want to talk about on this show now is whether the industry can |
| 2:17.1 | rise to the challenge of meeting that demand |
... |
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