The ‘energy transition’ is now about meeting demand—not clean power, report says

The US power industry is in transition: not the green energy transition, or making the change from using power sources like oil and coal to renewable power, but one focused on maximizing the amount of electrons generated by all sources to satisfy skyrocketing power demand.

This conclusion comes in a new report from global electrical engineering company Black & Veatch, which surveyed 500 energy industry stakeholders about their power priorities and predictions. Two years ago, half of the respondents said that “new energy efficiency initiatives to address emissions” were a focus at their company; this year, just over a third said that was the case.

“The forward momentum from new clean energy technologies is plateauing,” the report states. “Load growth is starting to edge out emissions reduction as the top priority.”

The electrical industry’s attention is shifting in large part because of AI and data centers’ energy needs, but also because green energy has become politicized. So, utilities are “investing in technologies and business models designed to weather political cycles rather than depend on them.”

“Rather than committing heavily to emerging clean energy solutions, utilities are maintaining optionality,” the report states. “Natural gas provides flexible generation that works regardless of environmental policies.”

That said, expanding natural gas generation doesn’t come without speed bumps. Utilities need approvals from regulators to build new infrastructure, and the power landscape is facing “regulatory complexity” as federal rules around power change and jurisdictions of different levels come into conflict. As a result, nearly half of survey respondents said they were in need of “more explicit guidance” from federal and state energy regulators to be able to build more transmission infrastructure.

It’s for that reason, and the fact that different regions have unique challenges, that energy growth is progressing at different rates all across the country.

“Regulatory uncertainty is sharpening while new legislation introduces shifting priorities,” Todd Edsall, Black & Veatch’s president of power providers, said in the report. “The grid hasn’t changed this fast in decades.”