Load Flexibility
Molly Podolefsky is a Ph.D. economist and leader in the energy and sustainability industry with experience spanning decarbonization, the utilities and energy sector, finance and investment and business management. As a Managing Director with Clarum Advisors, she leverages her knowledge and experience working with utilities, startups, corporations and funds in the energy transition space.
A gap exists today between the load flexibility utilities need to meet AI-driven load growth and what they can realistically achieve through existing systems and solutions. After nearly two decades of flat demand, utility load forecasts have turned sharply upward: a recent report by Grid Strategies finds the aggregate five-year forecast of peak demand growth across U.S. utilities has increased sixfold over the last three years, driven largely by data centers. Utilities will need to add over 200 gigawatts of capacity to meet the increase in peak demand expected by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
By leveraging load flexibility, utilities can unlock additional capacity rapidly and at lower cost relative to generation and T&D buildout — but this resource has been underutilized to date. Per EIA data, utilities dispatched just 12.3 gigawatts of demand response at peak in 2024 — less than two percent of the record 745-gigawatt national peak, and below the level of a decade ago — while studies by Brattle and the DOE estimate cost-effective flexibility potential at 10 to 20 percent of peak.