From 2000-2020, energy demand in the US stagnated mainly due to increased efficiency in the built world. Innovations in lighting, windows, insulation, and HVAC offset any demand increases.

Now, the explosive growth of data centers, EVs, and the electrification of demand has power demand on the rise in a record way.

A great example of this growth is Southern Company, a utility servicing company in Georgia and other parts of the US. These states are seeing explosive growth from the construction of data centers and battery manufacturing plants as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The company now expects 6,600 megawatts of demand growth through the winter of 2030, 17 times greater than the previous forecast.

I posted on LinkedIn about this trend and its potential effects on startups serving the value chain.

1. There will be more revenues for the entire value chain, including the startups building the industry’s next generation of infrastructure, services, and software tools.

2. Power determines the profitability of data centers. That means more focus will be placed on efficiency, design, and anything that can create more sustainable electricity consumption.

3. As factories become more automated, power replaces labor as the COG most closely correlated with factory output. This trend should enable further deployment of on-site generation and storage. The video below shows just how automated Rivan’s factories have become.

The complication is that companies don’t just want to add new power sources but clean ones, too. Many of these companies and utilities have committed to dramatically reducing their carbon emissions.

So, we have an incredible opportunity – more power demand, more generation, and more need for sustainability solutions.

It’s hard not to be excited by the combination of the three.