DOE Releases New Report Outlining Solutions to Meet Growing Electricity Demand

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today outlined a wide array of solutions to address increased electricity demand on the nation’s power grid while continuing to reduce emissions. The Future of Resource Adequacy report affirms that investing in all technology solutions, including clean energy generation and storage, transmission expansion and enhancement, and efficiency and demand management tools can provide ample, reliable and secure power in an age of rising electricity demand without having to rely on older, dirtier technologies.  

“It is undeniable that electricity demand is expected to grow over the next decade as the manufacturing sector experiences explosive growth and artificial intelligence requires more and more energy. We see this is happening even as we improve efficiency, lower costs and better public health with electrification of vehicles and appliances,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report shows how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is helping to equip the power sector with the tools needed to ensure grid reliability while providing their customers with cheaper, cleaner energy.” 

After a decade of nearly zero growth, electricity demand is increasing and is expected to accelerate over the next decade due to the expansion of industries like data centers, robust investment in new and existing manufacturing sectors like semiconductors and batteries, and deployment of electric vehicles. The buildout of these new industries, combined with an overhaul of the nation’s power gird, is a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to deliver new economic opportunities across the nation while tackling the climate crisis. Highlights from the report include: 

• As older fossil fuel units retire and demand for electricity grows, there is a broad array of options for utilities to meet increased demand. Including: 
  • Building new clean generation and storage (e.g. geothermal, hybrid renewable storage, long-duration storage). 
  • Getting the most out of our current infrastructure through grid enhancements and expansion, such as installing advanced conductors on existing transmission towers and other grid enhancing technologies. 
  • Leveraging opportunities from demand-side resources like efficiency, demand response, and virtual power plants. 
• President Biden’s Investing in America agenda contains the incentives and funding necessary to help utilities, grid operators, and system planners deploy these solutions and meet the needs of our growing economy. For example:  
  • Tax credits for electricity technologies like energy storage, nuclear, hydropower.
  • Programs at DOE like the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership programs and the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment loan program can help expand and enhance our existing transmission system. 
  • Consumer facing incentives are available to accelerate deployment of efficiency technologies and distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, battery storage systems, and bidirectional EV chargers.  
  • Technical and other assistance available through the infrastructure law to State, Tribal, territory and industry needs provide a critical service, easing the barriers to deployment of renewables and new technology adoption. 

Visit Department of Energy’s Office of Policy webpage for the full report. 

Visit Department of Energy’s Building America’s Clean Energy Future webpage to learn about how the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are leading to historic levels of private sector investments across America.