The take: The energy transition isn't about going green. It's about keeping your Netflix from buffering while tech companies eat the grid for breakfast.

What happened: Data centers, EVs, and reshored factories pushed electricity demand to decades-high levels, forcing utilities to choose between fast-but-intermittent renewables and slow-but-steady baseload power.

Why it matters: Your monthly power bill now subsidizes an infrastructure race where demand surges at Formula 1 speeds, while supply crawls along at rush-hour traffic pace.

What to watch: Q1 2026 earnings calls when utilities announce rate hike requests to fund grid upgrades they should've started five years ago.

We're installing solar panels on a grid built for coal plants. Would you put a Ferrari engine in a horse carriage?

Grid operators face an impossible choice: between quickly building solar farms or maintaining always-on gas plants.

Last week, PJM Interconnection delayed 400 renewable projects while approving three gas plants that run during peak hours.

The problem: solar panels take six months to install, but require decade-long grid overhauls actually to work.

Tech companies secure private power deals, while regular households cover the grid's fixes through higher bills.

Your "green energy surcharge" subsidizes Amazon's server farms.

Every solar panel without a battery means you'll pay surge pricing when the sun sets.

Pro: Renewable buildout creates jobs, drops long-term costs, and breaks fossil fuels’ stranglehold on energy markets.

Con: Intermittent power without adequate storage guarantees blackouts, making reliability a luxury only the wealthy can afford.

Our read: The grid needs both speed and reliability, but ratepayers shouldn't bankroll tech companies' AI fever dreams.

DOE Section 202(c) Order to PJM (Aug 28, 2025–Nov 26, 2025) — A live federal emergency to keep capacity online; proof reliability, not generation “type,” is the binding constraint. The Department of Energy's

Renewables: $1.1 trillion in 2025, $2.27 trillion by 2033. [Source: Market Research Future]

• FERC’s big rule, explained — who plans/pays for wires under Order 1920. [Report] Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Meta’s nuclear bet — 20-year, 1,121-MW PPA for AI load. [Report] Constellation
• Texas lessons — renewables carried nearly all ERCOT demand growth since 2016. [Analysis] IEEFA

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