Adaptability at the forefront: CLEAResult Energy Forum empowers utilities, policymakers, and communities to confront evolving supply-demand dynamics

The 2025 CLEAResult Energy Forum opened with a stark message: the energy sector is grappling with a deepening supply-demand imbalance that’s reshaping how we design, operate and future-proof our power systems.

At the heart of this year’s event was a call for adaptability – driven by collaboration and innovation – as the key to navigating this transformation. 

 In his opening keynote, CLEAResult CEO Rich McBee began by underscoring this urgency with bold data points. They illustrate how utilities face a perfect storm of price volatility, rising demand, political pressure, and climate disruption, but he emphasized that adaptability, paired with a diverse ecosystem working together, will be the defining factor between progress and paralysis.

“The world is changing around us. It’s changing very rapidly, and it provides us a tremendous opportunity… to adapt.”

Watch the full keynote here.

McBee’s message resonated with a room of utility executives, regulators, technology innovators, Chicago-area nonprofit leaders, and business representatives. He emphasized that the need to balance affordability, reliability, and sustainability is too complex for any one group to solve alone. Together, an ecosystem of regulators, leaders and practitioners is best positioned to rise to the challenge.

 A wake-up call for the energy grid

McBee’s keynote began with a data jolt: 128 GW. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) updated 2024 forecast, this peak demand projection is more than double previous estimates. Just two years ago, five-year demand growth was expected to reach 23 GW. A fivefold increase has caught nearly everyone off guard – underscoring the need for agility in forecasting, infrastructure planning, and investment strategy. It also highlights the opportunity for utilities to evolve and lead the way in building a more responsive, resilient grid.

 An appetite for AI contributes to unprecedented demand 

One of the biggest drivers behind this surge? AI data centers.

 In 2023, AI data centers consumed 4.4% of the nation’s electricity. By 2028, that figure is expected to nearly triple to 12%, according to a Department of Energy-backed study. With Business Insider research reporting over 1,240 data centers now operating across the U.S. – nearly four times the number in 2010 – the scale of energy consumption is staggering. These facilities are so large they require permits just for their backup generators. Collectively, they could soon consume more electricity than the entire country of Poland did in 2023.

 Rather than viewing this growth as a threat, McBee urged attendees to see it as an opportunity to rethink how distributed energy resources (DERs) and virtual power plants (VPPs) can contribute to grid flexibility. Utility programs are uniquely positioned to integrate these technologies and help shape the future of the grid.

 The twin challenges of affordability and reliability

The keynote also addressed the need to focus on affordability for customers facing rising retail electricity prices that are now up in the double digits over 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s calculation of January–April 2025 averages. 

 “The affordability of energy is becoming a major factor in people’s expense budgets and it’s not going to get better soon. There’s no savior out there in the short term that’s going to really dampen that,” he said. 

 Also sobering: A portion of North America’s population is at risk from grid instability, according to the North America Electricity Reliability Corporation’s Long-Term Reliability Assessment. Generator retirements and rising demand are creating a reliability gap that traditional infrastructure alone cannot fill. This is where utilities can shine by deploying innovative solutions like demand response and energy efficiency measures to bridge the gap and better support customers.

 VPPs: A smarter, more cost-effective solution

McBee spotlighted virtual power plants (VPPs) as one way to start to address these challenges. According to The Brattle Group, deploying 60 GW of VPPs could save utilities and customers $15–$35 billion over the next decade. These savings come from avoiding costly investments in peaker plants and utility-scale batteries.

 VPPs offer a smarter, more distributed approach to grid management – one that tracks with the vision of a grid that is not just bigger, but smarter, faster, and more adaptable. Utility programs are already laying the groundwork for these solutions, and CLEAResult’s Energy Forum can help accelerate their adoption by giving leaders and practitioners a platform to share and collaborate with peers.

 The response from grid operators 

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), one of the largest grid operators in the Northwest, determined that its traditional transmission capital model was insufficient. BPA plans to double its transmission investments by 2028, yet even that may not be enough.

Meanwhile, a recent report from Kearney revealed a growing mismatch between utility investment needs and regulatory caution. Utilities are requesting unprecedented capital to modernize infrastructure, while regulators face pressure to protect customers from rate hikes. This tension is real, but it also presents a chance for creative problem-solving. The Energy Forum showcased how utilities, regulators, and communities can come together to explore balanced, forward-thinking solutions.

 McBee concluded: “The people in this room…we all have a piece of that puzzle that we can solve.”

Read the full article on CLEAResult’s Energy Insights Blog.