Pope’s remarks reinforced common themes shared throughout CERAWeek, the annual gathering of thousands of industry, technology, and government leaders from around the world. Demand growth, technological innovation, and evolving policy and regulatory landscapes are changing how electric companies operate, but their focus on serving customers and building out a secure and resilient energy future remains constant.

Each year during CERAWeek, executives from EEI member companies are represented throughout the event’s hundreds of mainstage keynotes, fireside chats, tech talks, panel discussions, and leadership roundtables, and this year was no exception. Pope’s session, and others led by EEI member company leaders, highlighted this pivotal moment for the industry and how electric companies are adapting, innovating, and investing in critical energy infrastructure to better serve customers and keep pace with accelerating demand growth.

“In all my years coming to CERAWeek, I’ve never seen as much excitement around electric power,” S&P Global Commodity Insights Executive Director Douglas Giuffre said during one of the conference’s recap sessions, noting the industry’s and the technology sector’s focus on an “all of the above” energy strategy to meet demand projections fueled by data centers, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the reshoring of industrial and manufacturing activity, and the continued electrification of transportation and the broader economy.

The theme of this year’s conference was, “Moving ahead: Energy strategies for a complex world,” with programming focused on how major changes in domestic and international policy and the rise of new technologies are reshaping the global energy landscape.

Following are highlights and excerpts from this year’s conference:

‘The Demand Is Here Now’

NextEra Chairman, President, and CEO John Ketchum discusses the importance of a diverse energy mix and his company's planned infrastructure investments during a panel discussion. (Photo: CERAWeek by S&P Global)

In recent years, industry and technology thought leaders often spoke at CERAWeek about demand growth in a forward-looking tone, warning that investments will be needed in the near-term to prepare for what’s to come. However, the sense of urgency was clear this year, as AI-fueled data center construction has taken off across the country.

“It’s important we get this right. The demand is here now,” NextEra Chairman, President, and CEO John Ketchum said during a mainstage discussion on the first day of CERAWeek. “We’re in unprecedented times in our industry. We’re seeing a sixfold demand increase during the next 20 years compared with the previous 20.”

Ketchum emphasized NextEra’s all-of-the-above focus, noting the company’s interest in advanced nuclear technology as the seventh-largest nuclear operator in the world—and that the company just came off a record year in which it signed contracts to build more than 12 gigawatts of renewable generation.

He also stressed the importance of meeting this demand while keeping customer bills as low as possible—and the benefits of tax credits and other supportive public policies in pursuit of affordability.

“The tax credits and transferability provisions are so important to meeting demand in a cost-effective way,” Ketchum said. “If these credits went away, not only would we see a generation crunch, but the average American would see a 12-percent price hike. We need to avoid that.”

Later in the week, Entergy Louisiana President and CEO Phillip May stressed that demand growth is being felt all over the country and in areas that haven’t historically been known for their energy demands. Meta recently announced plans to build a $10-billion data center outside of Shreveport, La., and Entergy has worked in recent years to expand and upgrade infrastructure along the Mississippi River, with a new $5.8-billion Hyundai steel plant expected to open in the coming years.

“Massive investments are going to change the economic trajectory of parts of our state forever. Our state hasn’t always seen that sort of thing,” May said. “As we think about how we serve this load, all options need to be on the table, including assets near the end of their lives. We need to figure out how to squeeze out every last bit of economic juice from them that we can.”

‘Innovation Needs to Be Part of Culture’

National Grid CEO John Pettigrew shares his thoughts on AI and the industry's embrace of grid-enhancing technologies to maximize existing critical energy infrastructure.

This demand growth has forced the industry to scrap the concept of business as usual and has emphasized the need for innovation and a willingness to embrace new energy strategies and technologies. NextEra Energy Resources President and CEO Rebecca Kujawa, who recently announced plans to retire in late May, described solidifying innovation as part of the company’s culture during mainstage keynote remarks.

“We have an annual process where we ask everyone in the company how we can be better, lower costs, and unlock revenue. And, every year, I’m amazed by the creativity and ingenuity that comes out of that process,” Kujawa said. “We’ve created $1 billion in annual revenue and cost savings through doing this every year. Innovation needs to be part of culture. You need to be willing to take risks, learn, and continually get better.”

This need for innovation has spurred a wave of industry and technology partnerships, and it has opened the door to new business models. National Grid Ventures, an investment arm of National Grid that supports grid-enhancing technologies and innovative energy solutions, hosted a series of tech talks and demonstrations throughout CERAWeek that highlighted the types of advanced vegetation management, dynamic line rating technology, and AI-powered systems that it invests in.

“The intention behind National Grid Ventures was that it would give us access to the types of technologies and innovations that are over the hill. We can invest in them, grant them access to our networks, and improve our own processes,” said National Grid CEO John Pettigrew, noting the company’s plans to commit $100 million to AI startups to help modernize the grid. “These technologies are allowing us to think about meeting demand in a different way. We need to embrace digital and AI.”

Industry leaders also highlighted innovation in their relationships with government and regulatory partners. Dominion Energy Chair, President and CEO Bob Blue joined a dinner session featuring Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and Commonwealth Fusion Systems Co-Founder and CEO Bob Mumgaard to discuss the world’s first commercial fusion power plant, which currently is under construction in Chesterfield County, Va.

“If this is technology that is proven out, and the financials and operations work, it is something that our company and our industry could deploy at scale,” Blue said of the nuclear fusion reactor.

Blue and others throughout CERAWeek noted the risks associated with building first-of-its-kind technology—with Governor Youngkin saying he didn’t want to be remembered as “the governor that unleashed a small sun on Virginia.” To help mitigate risk, many stressed the need for new partnerships with government and private-sector partners.

“Planning for the energy future is going to require more speed and more creativity,” Southern Company Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Stan Connally said during a CERAWeek breakfast panel. “If we can find many partners in these conversations, that will be a big piece of the roadmap to success. Finding the right balance of safe, clean, reliable, and affordable is what we’re all after.”

‘Technology Is Forcing Us to Rethink Everything’

EEI Chair Maria Pope (right), president and CEO of Portland General Electric, advocates for siting and permitting reform at all levels of government during a panel discussion.

Although renewable energy generation remained a popular topic of discussion at this year’s CERAWeek, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie warned during a keynote discussion that the industry’s ongoing need for 24/7 generating resources represented a “rendezvous with reality,” of sorts.

This theme of grounding future-looking projections in the technology, policy, and regulatory realities of today was highlighted throughout the week. Pope noted that, despite the industry’s need for critical energy infrastructure of all kinds, siting and permitting backlogs can add years to project development cycles. She stressed the need for reform at all levels of government.

“Siting is very local, so we need to tackle that at the local level,” Pope said. “And, we have environmental agencies in each one of our states, not just at the federal level. We need to look at where the need is rather than just tweak federal legacy processes.”

Edison International President and CEO Pedro J. Pizarro, meanwhile, highlighted during a panel discussion that the industry is attempting to expand and optimize the grid while responding to a growing and intensifying list of physical, cyber, and weather-related threats.

“The economy will be relying more and more on the grid, so it is so important that we increase the resilience of the grid today and in the future,” Pizarro said, noting that AI can be an essential tool to defend the grid despite the risks that technology poses in the hands of bad actors. “One of our big messages is that grid security is national security. Across the industry, we’re thinking about defense in depth. We’re not pretending we can defend against everything, but we are building multiple layers of defense and making AI front and center in terms of grid design.”

And, AES Corporation President and CEO Andrés Gluski highlighted the unique needs of energy-intensive customers like data centers—and the fact that these facilities can be built, in some cases, in fewer than two years, when timelines to build new transmission and generation facilities can be significantly longer given labor, supply chain, and siting and permitting challenges.

“You’re not going to build a $50-billion data center and have it backed up by something you are 99 percent sure will be available. Energy has to be 100 percent available,” Gluski said. “Most of the interconnection queue is renewable right now, and that’s mostly time to power. If you want a new natural gas plant, it may be four or five years until it’s operational. With renewables, it may be two to three years. Time to power is very different for these customers if you’re talking about the difference of several years.”

Still, industry leaders were overwhelmingly optimistic throughout CERAWeek that they are on track to meet customer needs and that new AI and grid-enhancing technologies will continue to revolutionize how they do business.

“Technology is forcing us to rethink everything. How we operate, how we legislate, how we regulate,” Pope said. “It’s so exciting, because we used to talk about some of these technologies being part of the bulk power system. But, we’re at the point where they’re being integrated into distribution and impacting customers directly.”

Industry leaders and their technology, government, and regulatory partners will discuss these and other trends at EEI 2025, EEI’s annual conference and thought leadership forum, which begins on June 2 in New Orleans. To learn more about the event and to register, visit eei.org/2025.

Edison International President and CEO Pedro J. Pizarro (right) and AES Corporation President and CEO Andrés Gluski (second from right) discuss energy security, innovation, and data center-fueled demand growth.

Pedro J. Pizarro (PJP): First, it’s been a privilege to serve on the EEI Board of Directors’ Executive Committee for the past six years and an honor to be selected as chair of EEI. Our industry’s collaborative spirit is a model for other sectors—and is a major benefit to electric customers around the country. Reducing carbon emissions 36 percent below 2005 levels is no small feat, and EEI members did that safely, affordably, and reliably while navigating increasing climate impacts and unprecedented growth in the use of electricity.

That cooperation and collaboration extends to how our members respond in times of need. They support each other through mutual assistance, with a collective commitment to physical safety and cybersecurity all while stepping up to advance our industry’s goals. I was proud to lead the EEI delegation at COP28 in Dubai and share these same messages. At every opportunity, I reminded people that the electric power industry is at the center of the clean energy transformation. We provide an essential service and have done more than any other industry to reduce carbon emissions in the United States. However, now is the time for action. We simply cannot wait to make the investments necessary to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. We must continue to work together to educate policymakers and other key stakeholders about the roles that we all must play in evaluating and approving prudent investments in grid resilience. With what we know today about energy needs and potential threats to critical energy infrastructure, proactive investments can be made that will greatly drive down risk and could even help to save lives.

EEI Chair Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, attends EEI's annual Wall Street Briefing.

EP: EEI and our member companies were strong supporters of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, which are driving meaningful investments in our sector. What do you see as the next key policy priorities for our industry?

PJP: The clean energy future is a marathon, not a sprint, and runners know when it’s time to pick up the pace. Legislation that will accelerate our clean energy future is a priority. It has been rewarding to see EEI’s work result in favorable policies within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Now, we must continue to focus on implementation. These wins need to translate into getting steel into the ground and real benefits for our customers.

Reforming the transmission siting and permitting process is high on the priority list. Even with the provisions included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, it’s one of the major headwinds we face in building out the massive amount of new infrastructure our country needs.

Edison International’s recent analysis of the state of California, Countdown to 2045, anticipates that electricity demand will skyrocket by more than 80 percent by 2045. To accommodate that growth, the state will need to add transmission at four times and distribution at 10 times historical rates. Colleagues from other states and countries tell me they have similar expectations in their areas. Our energy grid must expand like never before. 

We also need legislation to address the financial risk that comes with climate change impacts like extreme storms and catastrophic wild res. is uncertainty around liability creates unknown and unpredictable risks for the electric companies that play a vital role in growing the economy and delivering affordable and resilient clean energy across our economy. Left unaddressed, this liability will constrain critical investments in new clean energy resources and the resilient infrastructure needed to deliver it to customers. 

The escalating threats to our grid security represent another area where we need close collaboration with the federal government. Notable policy priorities include congressional authorization of the new Energy Threat Analysis Center, an important venue where industry operators and government partners will help identify threats and share mitigation strategies across the industry. Additionally, we need liability protections to eliminate barriers to information collection and sharing between industry and government. We must address any tension we see between our fiduciary obligations and our role as critical infrastructure providers supporting national security.

“The clean energy future is a marathon, not a sprint, and runners know when it's time to pick up the pace.”

EP: Can you speak to the central role our industry plays in serving customers, particularly as the economy continues to electrify?

PJP: Our ultimate responsibility is to safely provide reliable and clean electricity to our customers at an affordable cost. That is what we must do—period.

Investor‐owned electric companies can build and maintain the energy grid quickly and at a lower cost to customers than any other model. We have an obligation to serve all customers in all communities and to provide programs that support affordability. That includes solar energy and energy storage installation, energy efficiency, demand response, and time-of-use programs. Customers also need clear communication from their electricity providers, which is why electric companies are working to provide timely information in a variety of ways that can be tailored to the preferences of each customer. This helps to ensure that customers are getting the information they need, when they need it, in the ways they prefer.

We’re seeing more customers electrifying their cars and homes. There also is a large number who can’t yet afford electric technologies. Getting all pieces of that right is more important than ever. Electric companies recognize our responsibility to be trusted advisors—educating customers on new products and technologies and helping them understand new opportunities to save energy and lower their bills.

EP: In addition to your role as EEI Chair, you serve as a co-chair of the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), which facilitates coordination between the highest levels of industry and the federal government to prepare for and respond to national-level disasters and threats to critical infrastructure. Can you speak to the value of this partnership, and the progress that has been made together?

PJP: Forums like the ESCC are a great way for us to pool our experience and reach better decisions and outcomes. We’ve made progress in a few key areas.

Mutual assistance is one. The electric power industry has been effective at coming together in times of crisis. Over the past decade, we’ve applied that commitment to expanding mutual assistance programs to manage cyber incidents and to secure our supply chain.

The ESCC enables the electric power industry to work effectively with government partners in responding to threats to critical energy infrastructure. That’s vital when real-time coordination makes a difference. In recent years, we have effectively coordinated support with the White House, the U.S. Department of Energy and various government agencies, and federal law enforcement in responding to challenges like COVID-19, extreme weather events, and high-impact physical attacks on the grid.

Another key area is shared forecasting. ESCC members bring their company’s unique vantage points to industrywide discussions about threats and hazards. This can include perspectives from varied geographic regions, different business models, and individual grid architectures. We exchange information and assessments to create a better shared understanding of the threats and risks we face.

Our federal partners bring powerful intelligence gathering capabilities to the table, and, together, we can evaluate today’s risks and deliver actionable intelligence and guidance to the experts who operate the energy grid.

Pizarro discusses transportation electrification with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

EP: You have often spoken about the need for our industry to remain focused on scaling up physical and cybersecurity defenses. How have you seen our industry’s focus on protecting critical energy infrastructure evolve during your career?

PJP: The electric power industry is committed to security and resilience, while also understanding our responsibility to maintain affordability. Those longtime priorities, which are sometimes competing, have led us to a thoughtful, risk-based approach to defense. We track threats, apply the best-suited mitigations, and avoid chasing one-size- fits-all solutions.

Our risk-based approach to protecting infrastructure has allowed our industry to evolve as the grid and the threats change around us. Every day, industry security teams work to identify and adapt to the changes we are seeing anything from more dangerous malware to more powerful rearms. The teams also are looking at changes to the grid itself, especially as more renewables and distributed energy sources on the grid expand the attack surface. There’s some good news with new technologies and tools in the market that can help us protect our infrastructure.

With rising geopolitical concerns from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to rising tensions with China it is more important than ever that we continue to refine our existing security strategies while adding new tools to the toolbox.

“The electric power industry is committed to security and resilience, while also understanding our responsibility to maintain affordability.”

EP: Can you discuss the significance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to moving our industry forward?

PJP: I’m proud that DEI has become a universal part of our business. EEI launched an industrywide DEI initiative in 2020 that focused on diversifying our workforce at all levels, and 100 percent of member companies participated. EEI also has supported the Biden administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which is another way we are making sure that the investments being made in clean energy, electric transportation, and resilience are benefitting underserved communities.

At Edison International, I see every day how diversity makes us stronger. In 2022, we achieved gender parity among our independent board directors, and, in 2021, we reached gender parity among my direct team of senior leaders.

Our diversity initiatives include suppliers. It’s important to support our local businesses and communities, and having a diverse supplier base also helps increase collaboration with community-based organizations. They are a valuable source of feedback from underserved communities and provide better education and awareness on important topics.

We also have workforce development e orts to add more diverse talent, including our Edison Scholars and Lineworker Scholarship programs. e Edison Scholars Program awards $50,000 in shareholerfunded academic scholarships to 30 high school seniors each year to study science, technology, engineering, or math in college. Our Edison International Lineworker Scholarship program welcomed a third cohort of 12 scholars in 2023, including our second female scholar. The program awards scholarships up to $25,000 and is funded by Edison International shareholders and IBEW Local 47.

We can’t do this in a vacuum. Being transparent and providing data are essential to building trust. We hold ourselves accountable by setting goals and reporting outcomes annually in our Sustainability, DEI, Community and Economic Impact and Supplier Diversity reports.

There are many other great examples of DEI programs and initiatives throughout the industry. What is clear is our shared commitment to developing the workforce that we need to deliver a resilient clean energy future.

Through the Edison Scholars Program, Edison International awards $50,000 scholarships to 30 high school students each year who plan to study science, technology, engineering, or math in college.

EP: How can the industry attract and retain workers with diverse skillsets and backgrounds to power the clean energy future?

PJP: This is an exciting time to be part of the electric power industry, and I encourage young people to be a part of the clean energy future. The electric power industry is rooted in a strong sense of mission: We account for around 5 percent of the U.S. economy, and we reliably and affordably power every other industry. Over time, our mission has expanded to leading efforts to drive down carbon emissions across the U.S. economy. We will need new technologies, new processes, and new laws and regulations. Most important, new bright minds must join our ranks. There is tremendous opportunity ahead.

I recommend that young people learn as much about the industry as they can. Talk to everyone: people in transmission and distribution, planners, engineers, lineworkers, customer service representatives, public affairs experts, and information technology specialists. Read articles to see how the media is covering the industry. Follow industry leaders and companies on social media. No matter the role, having a well-rounded understanding will help you go far.

Invest in yourself, guided by feedback from those around you. Our companies operate strong electric networks by nurturing strong human networks. Connect with the network around you, contribute to it, and seek input from it. Set personal goals by identifying senior roles that you aspire to reach in 5-10 years. Get feedback on what two or three skills you would need to build to be a good candidate for those roles, and work hard to develop them. Your career journey may or may not end up in those specific senior roles, but the act of investing in your development will prepare you for the opportunities that do come your way.

Finally, aim to serve. Our industry is committed to serving serving our customers, supporting our communities, partnering with government leaders, and helping one another through our strong tradition of mutual assistance. As you progress as an energy professional and leader, you will find that more of your role is about helping your team succeed than about helping yourself. Your success will be defined by your team’s success, just as our industry’s success is defined by our collective ability to provide reliable, resilient, and affordable clean energy to our customers and communities that depend on us more than ever before.