Climate and Energy最新文献

The 30th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP30) was held from November 11–22, 2025, in Belém, Brazil. This column examines the 30-year journey of COPs and whether they are still “fit for purpose,”¹ as the need to transition from negotiation to implementation grows.

As dependence on electricity increases and technology advances, electric systems have become highly sophisticated, complex, integrated energy platforms. To meet growing demand, the electric grid requires a wide variety of diverse and strategically located resources and technologies. This includes fossil and renewable energy resources, as well as conservation and demand-side management solutions. Overdependence on any one resource can have devastating social and economic implications in times of resource scarcity.

Electric distribution utilities operate in a changing and more volatile environment. Extreme weather has become more frequent, severe, and more costly, requiring utilities to invest in infrastructure to maintain safety and reliability under increasingly severe conditions.

From small towns facing rising utility costs to global concerns about carbon emissions, the impact of the digital revolution extends well beyond server rooms. As worries and pressures grow over the rapid development of massive data centers, an issue rarely discussed is the impact on communities, particularly from an environmental justice perspective. To date, the focus has primarily been on the energy-intensive nature of these centers, whether the electric grid can accommodate the increased demand associated with their operation, and on the water usage that may be required to operate them.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital services are driving a rapid expansion of data centers, creating tension between the speed of development and the need for environmental, economic, and community sustainability. Increasing electricity demand from these facilities could erase two decades of efficiency gains in the US within only a few years. Yet more sustainable designs are possible. This article outlines the energy procurement options, business models, and plant- and system-level solutions that can reduce the sector's footprint. It also compares regional policy responses in Texas and British Columbia. Sustainable data center growth will depend on increasing energy and water efficiency, diversifying energy portfolios, standardizing interconnection processes, and strengthening coordination among utilities, regulators, communities, and industry. Without near-term sustainable development, data centers will face long-term challenges as grid bottlenecks and resource competition grow, and as communities question the local value of large new loads.

The US electric grid is entering an era of new operational risks, driven by unprecedented load growth, stringent reliability standards, and the proliferation of connected devices across the transmission and distribution grid. Distribution utilities are facing unpredictable demand from hyperscale data centers, electrified transportation fleets, energy-intensive manufacturing facilities, and upgrades to Department of Defense facilities. The cost of an unreliable grid is increasing rapidly, with the Department of Energy (DOE) estimating that power interruptions cost the US economy $150 billion annually.¹

As the producing regions of the Northeast US in the Marcellus and Utica gas plays have exhibited unprecedented growth, essentially dominating much of the natural gas industry's attention in terms of supply and infrastructure, the industry has evolved to the point that “Northeast” in a conversation almost always refers to supply. However, the consuming markets of the Northeast, from Maine to New Jersey, have a much longer history of making headlines in the energy sector. New York City, parts of New Jersey, and all of New England have consistently been short of peak natural gas supply for over 20 years, as power generation demand surged but supply pipelines did not keep pace. In New York, the pipeline capacity into the city was at the brink of supply adequacy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with any pipeline failure potentially causing a crisis. This issue was somewhat mitigated by the existence of older dual-fuel generation capacity that could switch to oil during natural gas shortages. Nevertheless, the strain on the system was evident. In New England, the growth of natural gas combined-cycle plants exploded in the early 2000s within the unregulated independent power producer (IPP) market, fueled by low surplus gas prices during the industry's transition to unbundled markets and unregulated wellhead gas. In 2004, this reached a crisis point when gas prices spiked due to insufficient pipeline capacity, leading IPPs to find their gas more valuable than their power—selling their fuel into the market instead of generating electricity—and causing brownouts.

On September 12, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) terminated a Notice of Inquiry that it opened in 2018 regarding interstate natural gas pipelines—a momentous action by the agency.¹ The Commission left standing its extraordinary 1999 Certificate Policy Statement, which capped two decades of hard work for the entire US natural gas industry.² It is no hyperbole, in my opinion, to call that spare and bipartisan 1999 Certificate Policy Statement (29 pages with only a mild two-page dissent) FERC's most successful action in its history. Future FERC Commissioners nearly undermined that success in a highly partisan fashion in 2022. But FERC ultimately resisted that fate. Its September termination preserved the 1999 Certificate Policy Statement without modification. Such a resolution is a veritable case study in what makes US interstate natural gas regulation so unique and fruitful for US consumers and industry. It also illustrates how readily such effectiveness can be undone when those seeking to expand regulatory powers blur longstanding legislative limits in the pursuit of new public policies.

The past year revealed a dizzying array of challenges for utility leaders. A change in Administration in Washington paused four years of investment and direction in the clean energy economy, with more retrenchment planned. The acceleration of load growth from data centers and manufacturing added pressure on grid investment needs and affordability. Foreign and domestic wind developers pulled back, and some even canceled offshore wind projects, hindering states' ambitious net-zero goals. Financial incentives to boost electric vehicle (EV) purchases and charging networks expired prematurely. Despite solar and wind's share of the energy mix surpassing that of coal, the second Trump administration seeks to promote coal as the comeback kid.

Electricity demand in the US is expected to exceed levels not seen since the early 2000s. Electricity consumption has grown at an average annual rate of 1.7 percent since 2020, following nearly two decades of relative stability.¹ Projections for total electricity use by the end of 2025 are expected to exceed 4 billion megawatt-hours (MWh).² The increase in data centers needed to support commercial, industrial, and consumer data needs, the growing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs), and the electrification of buildings, household appliances, and manufacturing are among the most significant drivers of this growth. However, some of the same factors driving energy demand could also be part of the solution for meeting demand and supporting rapid load growth in a cost-efficient manner.