Learning From the Past
Christine Primmer, a Senior Advisor with Clarum Advisors, an investor/operator with diverse expertise helping venture-backed technology organizations build scale and resilience. She’s closely advised, operated, and partnered with twenty-plus venture-backed tech companies in energy, transportation, smart buildings, and IOT, ranging from Series A to E, helping them grow revenue and scale operations using data driven strategies, partnerships/M&A, and capital.
Everyone is talking about AI and robotics. Much speculation exists about the implications — from deepfakes to the future of humanity itself. For the power sector and its stakeholders, the issue boils down to two truths:
AI leadership will be a defining geopolitical race this century.
AI-driven data centers are pushing load growth at a pace and concentration the grid hasn’t seen in decades.
Why This Matters
The utility model was constructed to deliver one promise: safe, reliable, affordable power for all — from your grandmother in Iowa to the power-hungry factory in Georgia. This stability has powered economic mobility and national competitiveness for the last century.
The AI iron rush presents new challenges for this paradigm. Powering it represents the same existential importance as electrifying homes in the early 1900s. But it needs to be done responsibly, with consideration for:
Need for Speed: balancing hyperscaler timelines with regulatory oversight.
Customer Affordability: preventing outsized bill impacts to average consumers.
Climate Risk — or Opportunity: meeting demand fast with gas could raise emissions; meeting it with clean capacity could accelerate decarbonization.