Donald Trump picked Chris Wright from Liberty Energy as his energy secretary‚ but the real power story isnt about oil and gas Its about Americas outdated electric system that needs quick fixes
The oil market looks stable now – Chinese economy is slow-moving‚ e-cars are getting popular and OPEC keeps pumping oil; but the electric grid faces big problems (with some areas seeing huge price jumps in past months). Last years power costs went up 6.3% which hasnt happened since early 2000s. One north-east grid operators recent price auction showed nine-times higher rates than before; making Maryland residents face a possible 24% bill increase
The US is moving towards an all-electric future – data-centers and AI systems need lots of power. A good example: Georgia Powers new forecast shows 28-times more power demand by 31ʼ than what they thought just couple years ago. The old-school power system built way-back when people used phone-books instead of Google cant handle this tech-heavy future
- Grid equipment is getting hit by bad weather
- Permits take forever to get approved
- Local people dont want new power lines
- Old plants close before new ones open
Big-tech companies like Amazon‚ Google‚ Meta‚ and Microsoft try to fix things by making deals for nuclear power but thats years away from helping. Meanwhile data-centers keep getting turned down for power hookups cause the grid just cant take it
The fix needs two main things: easier building permits and better rules. A new two-party bill wants to speed up building new power lines but some green groups dont like it cause it helps gas exports too. Smart ideas like better wires battery storage and giving people tools to watch their power use could help keep lights on without huge costs