Energy Musings - May 21, 2025

We attended The Energy Future Forum in Washington, DC Monday. Here are some thoughts from the conference and a link to it. The format leads to informative discussions and should be watched.

The Energy Future Forum

We attended The Energy Future Forum in Washington, D.C., on Monday. It was presented by RealClear, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Center for Energy Analytics (NCEA). We are a Senior Fellow at the NCEA.

You can watch the seven-plus hours of the conference presentations on the NCEA’s YouTube channel. Here is the link: https://energyanalytics.org/energy-future-forum-2025-livestream/.

A lively discussion of the key issues shaping our Energy Future.

For viewers, this is a unique PowerPoint-free conference. Besides scene-setting presentations, the entire meeting is conducted in dialogues between interlocutors and key industry officials.

The conference outline started with The Heavy Lift: Regulation, Capital, and Political Will. That was followed by discussions about The Demand Dilemma: Energy’s Triple Mandate ‒ Affordability, Reliability, Security.

After lunch, the conference focused on Supply Realities at Scale: All Hands, All Fuels, One Mission. That led to a discussion of Demand Realities: The Predictable Surprise of Resurgent Growth.

Each session included dialogues with key industry participants in the respective topic area. By asking pointed questions about the session's subject, the audience was treated to many enlightened views.

Energy is a complicated subject, which explains why we have so many conflicting issues and policies. The overarching problem is that the U.S. and the world need more energy. Seven billion people are climbing the ladder out of poverty and energy poverty. They desire a lifestyle offering improved living and working conditions and longer lifespans. To help them means we must develop all forms of energy, with less dictating perfect solutions. People should be offered choices explaining each energy form's relative trade-offs. Importantly, the energy they are offered must meet the three mandates of reliability, affordability, and cleanliness. Meeting all three requires trade-offs.

While these seven billion people are climbing out of poverty, the world has embarked on a technological revolution that necessitates increased digital data management requirements and the greater use of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. This technology revolution demands a massive increase in electricity usage. The sharp demand increase comes as our power grid is under stress.

The speakers addressed the many aspects of the power needs demanded by these drivers. The topics discussed included infrastructure expansion, labor, permitting, and fueling challenges. There were discussions of renewables and the impact on their economics from the higher interest rate environment we will continue to live in. Numerous speakers touched on the electricity grid realities – the need for more dispatchable power, our lack of ability to blackstart a grid powered exclusively by renewable energy, and utility regulatory issues.

Nuclear power was also a topic of interest, growing throughout Europe and the United States. Points were made about the projected growth of data centers – would they arrive on time, will their power needs evolve or appear instantly, and what about risk management in their location, given their costs?

We hope listing some of the issues addressed by the impressive list of industry presenters will prompt you to watch the conference video. Having sat through nearly eight hours of conference discussion, we can attest to its value.