New York Power Authority
Rajesh Kumar is Senior Director of Engineering–System Studies and Interconnections Standards at the New York Power Authority. With nearly two decades of utility industry experience, he brings deep expertise in high-voltage transmission and grid interconnection, having led more than $3 billion in electric infrastructure projects throughout his career. In his current role, he has overseen interconnection of over three gigawatts of renewable generation and one gigawatt of large load to the New York system, while advancing a statewide pipeline exceeding ten gigawatts of new generation.
The electric utility industry has moved past the era of predictable one percent growth. As we reach the middle of 2026, however, the question is no longer whether new load is coming, but rather how providers can build fast enough to meet the demand. This month, we spoke with eight leaders currently navigating unprecedented growth challenges to discuss the strategies and infrastructure we all need to modernize the grid.
The scale of the current challenge is significant. In Virginia, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative is managing five GW of contracted data center load against a foundation where the current peak is only 1.2 GW. In New York, Con Edison is executing a $17 billion investment plan to ensure the grid remains resilient as the city electrifies its buildings and transportation. However, as Rajesh Kumar of NYPA and Jacob Lucas of Eversource emphasize, a central challenge is the timing mismatch; while large loads can be commissioned in eighteen months, transmission and generation projects require significantly more time to complete.