Nicholas Institute experts are working to ensure the next era of US electricity growth strengthens—not strains—the nation’s energy system.
Electricity demand in the United States is rising at a pace not seen in decades. Rapid expansion of data centers to support artificial intelligence (AI) is a significant driver, as are advanced manufacturing, transportation electrification, and broader economic growth.
Demand growth is reshaping power system planning nationwide and presents a defining challenge: meeting new demand affordably and reliably while maintaining momentum on decarbonization and community resilience.
Without thoughtful policy, market, and regulatory responses, accelerated load growth could stress infrastructure, raise consumer costs, and slow progress toward climate and economic goals. With the right solutions, however, it can catalyze investment, modernize the grid, and unlock new models for flexibility and innovation.
Experts at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability are helping policymakers, utilities, regulators, and large energy users navigate this inflection point. Rigorous research by Duke experts and partners focuses on practical pathways to align reliability, affordability, and sustainability, including:
- Assessing the system-wide impacts of large load additions and identifying policy and market reforms that strengthen competitiveness and grid performance;
- Developing and evaluating load flexibility strategies to reduce peak stress, defer infrastructure investment, and lower costs for all customers;
- Convening stakeholders across the public and private sectors to translate analysis into actionable solutions tailored to regional contexts.
For media inquiries, contact the Nicholas Institute communications team at ni-comm@duke.edu.
Publications
The Future of US Climate Policy: Costs of Delaying the Clean Electricity Transition
Past studies have examined the causes of electricity load growth and potential methods to address it. Less well-explored is the question of how shifts in political winds may impact the response of the electricity industry to these trends and uncertainties. This policy brief uses modeling to contrast current trends with those that resume a course toward a net-zero emissions future for electricity and examines how shifting policies around clean electricity generation affect costs to the sector as a whole.
Rethinking Load Growth: Assessing the Potential for Integration of Large Flexible Loads in US Power Systems
A key solution to the United States' soaring electrical demand—driven by unprecedented electricity needs from large commercial customers, particularly data centers and their booming artificial intelligence workloads—is load flexibility. This analysis provides a first-order estimate of the potential for accommodating such loads with minimal capacity expansion or impact on demand-supply balance.
