Mutual assistance has long been part of the electric power industry’s DNA.

As electric companies, our strength is collective, and our culture of continuous improvement means we are constantly looking to improve safety, reliability, and service to customers.

While our mutual assistance work is commonly associated with storm response, our companies support one another in several other areas, including physical and cybersecurity initiatives. Amid a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, these collaborative resilience efforts are especially important today as our industry works to strengthen and safeguard America’s critical energy infrastructure.

Twenty years ago, we broadened our mutual assistance footprint by launching the Spare Transformer Equipment Program (STEP), ensuring we could coordinate and respond quickly following a direct attack on critical American infrastructure.

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, changed so much for so many. As an industry central to the safety and security of the nation, we knew we needed to be part of the solution and, as we always do, have plans in place for worst-case scenarios.

In the years that followed the attacks, I was proud to be part of an industrywide effort to safeguard our grid against bad actors through the founding of STEP. The program provides participating companies with access to a large pool of hard-to-replace assets when, for example, a terrorist attack destroys a substation with large power transformers and causes a significant transmission outage. Members—consisting of investor-owned electric companies, public power utilities, and federal power marketing administrations—maintain a supply of spare transformers and other hard-to-replace assets that fellow members can readily access—and are required to share—in the event of an attack.

Unfortunately, electric companies know too well the long lead times associated with purchasing new transformers and new grid equipment in the event that existing assets are damaged—which is magnified during an attack or crisis event when every moment without power counts. STEP mitigates these lead times and helps ensure its members can respond quickly and efficiently.

Thankfully, in its 20 years, STEP has never seen a terrorist event cause a significant transmission outage. Even so, its members collaborate regularly and have used the STEP framework to support one another in other emergency situations. The continued strength of the program, and the robust, trusted community of industry peers that it has fostered, speaks to one of our superpowers as an industry: our commitment to preparation and collaboration.

We know that our companies and our industry power our customers’ lives and the broader U.S. economy. And, we know that, time and again, bad actors are targeting the grid to inflict maximum impact on the American people.

That means we must constantly remain on the front foot. What secures the grid and keeps our customers safe today will not remain static, and it is through programs like STEP that we plan and prepare for evolving threats to our grid and our national security.

I am proud that, 20 years after its founding, STEP remains a critical tool in our industry’s emergency response toolbox—a tool that, while we hope to never need it, is sharp and ready if we do.

Mike Innocenzo is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Exelon and Interim President and CEO, PECO

Investor-owned electric companies will invest $1.4 trillion through 2030 to strengthen America’s energy infrastructure, increase grid resilience, and ensure reliable and affordable service to their nearly 250 million customers, according to a new capital expenditures projection released by EEI.

The data, primarily compiled from EEI member company announcements and financial statements, also shows that the industry’s annual capital expenditures hit a record $204.1 billion last year—a 14th-consecutive year of record-high investment. In 2026, capital expenditures are projected to jump 17 percent to $238.8 billion and continue climbing for the foreseeable future.

“America’s electric companies work every day to get more steel in the ground and electrons on the grid, improving reliability for customers and ensuring the United States is home to the industries, technologies, and jobs of tomorrow,” said EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney. “The grid is the most important engine in America, and these investments show our industry’s commitment to powering the U.S. economy and the lives of our customers.”

Independent studies, including recent analyses from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Charles River Associates, have found that rising energy demand can lower prices for customers by putting more electrons on the grid and spreading fixed costs across a broader base.

EEI maintains a running snapshot of $900 billion in data center and large-customer investments supported by member companies, representing more than 55 gigawatts of connected load. These investments are being supported with customers in mind, with tariffs and fair share agreements protecting American households from higher bills as a result of data centers. At the same time, these investments support reliability, resilience, and economic development opportunities in communities across the country.

The $1.4 trillion that investor-owned electric companies will invest in the grid between 2026 and 2030 is an increase from the previous projection of $1.1 trillion to be invested between 2025 and 2029. Rising energy demand driven by electrification, industrialization, the onshoring of manufacturing activity, and data centers and AI technologies are creating a need for new energy infrastructure of all kinds.

Review more of the industry’s latest financial statistics at eei.org/data.

On a new episode of The Deciders podcast, EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney joined Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Brody Mullins and veteran D.C. strategist Lisa Camooso Miller to discuss rising electricity demand, responsible data center growth, grid innovation, and challenges facing customers in the PJM Interconnection market.

The following is edited for length and clarity:

Brody Mullins (BM): Drew, your career has spanned Capitol Hill, the Treasury, private equity, and now the Edison Electric Institute. Tell us about your journey.

Drew Maloney (DM): I grew up talking about political issues with my family. My mom worked on Capitol Hill. She was a staffer. My parents were introduced on a blind date by Senator Chris Dodd. I had an uncle that worked for Hubert Humphrey's campaign.

We always talked politics, and I knew, at some point, I wanted to get involved in politics. After college, I went down to Williamsburg, Va., and I ran a state senate campaign. It was the best experience that I had. You had to learn to make quick decisions, drive a message, and build a coalition at 22 years old.

From there, I came to Capitol Hill and got to work for some great members. Senator Roger Wicker, who was in the House at the time. Congressman Tom DeLay. What I really learned from them is how to put together coalitions.

Congressman DeLay was the Whip at the time, and he would often have Congressman John Murtha, a big Democrat at the time, and Congressman John Dingle in his office. They were trying to figure out how they could piece things together—how they could get things passed. Watching how they maneuvered and counted votes was instrumental in figuring out how to be an advocate here in Washington.

That had a natural progression toward advocacy. I was fortunate enough to go into the U.S. Treasury during the tax reform process, and then I worked in private-equity advocacy and am now here at EEI, which is the top trade association for electric utilities in the country.

It’s been a great ride. I’ve had great experience, and I love doing what I do.

BM: You worked at the Treasury Department during the first Trump Administration, and you mentioned the tax reform bill. Tell us about that journey.

DM: Looking back at 2017, you had Speaker Paul Ryan, who had probably started to think about tax reform when he was in kindergarten. You had Representative Kevin Brady, and then you had the Senate and Senator Mitch McConnell.

For 30 years, we hadn't had tax reform. You had to go back to 1986 before there was major tax reform. There was a lot of work that went into the thought process around tax reform coming into 2016-17.

You finally had in the White House a willing partner, a businessman who had been elected who understood the importance of tax reform and the economic growth that it can provide. It was a fantastic time to be part of something that was very unique. It really was a great partnership to have between House, Senate, and the White House.

Lisa Camooso Miller (LCM): Let’s talk more about your members, specifically, and what issues they’re focused on.

DM: EEI represents 63 different utilities. We have members in every state around the country, and we provide energy to 250 million Americans—75 percent of Americans get their electricity from us. There’s enormous growth, and we are there to meet that growth. That’s why we’re investing. We’re providing reliable and affordable energy.

This is an inflection point right now for the industry.

BM: Two of your biggest members recently announced a merger: NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy. Why is there consolidation in the industry right now?

DM: It's all about scale. In order to be able affordability and build out the grid to provide um a resilient system—a reliable system—you need as many resources as you can as you can capture. That’s one of the goals of the merger: You get that scale, and the beneficiary will ultimately be the customer. You can capture that and put downward pressure on rates over the long term.

LCM: What would you say is the biggest misconception about the electric utilities?

DM: The biggest misconception is that we really are innovators. If you think about the grid, it was first built about 150 years ago. It's probably the most critical economic and national security engine that we have, but it takes a lot of investment to maintain. That's why you see us investing more than a trillion dollars over the next four years in building out the grid.

What people don't see is all the innovation and technology behind the grid. We're constantly putting out new technologies that can determine whether the grid can handle more capacity so it can deliver more power to people's houses.

If you go into one of our control centers, it's like a starship inside. You can see your entire grid and know what's happening in one town versus another. If you have cold weather here and warmer weather there, you can keep moving things around to make the system as efficient as possible. You probably couldn't do that 20 years ago. It's an amazing amount of investment to make the system work better and be more resilient, more reliable for our customers

We are making the customer experience better by including information in bills that lets you figure out that it’s better to run your washer and dryer at night, or it’s better to plug in your car at night, charge your phone at night, because the electricity rate is cheaper when people are using less electricity.

One of the things that's really been critical over time is, now that we have more severe storms, whether it’s winter storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, or wildfires, we are developing these sensor technologies that can tell us when a tree is getting too close to a wire that may trigger a fire.

We can reroute systems when a line goes down so we can provide power and go around the downed line. There's so many of these technologies and so much innovation in our industry that people don't see every day.

LCM: Affordability is one thing that both parties are talking about right now. What are some of the things your members are doing to address that particular issue?

DM: I think the challenge right now is that we’re in this affordability debate where people are struggling—whether it’s groceries, food, health care, or energy prices. Every company is dealing with this and addressing it with their customers. We have programs that help customers who can’t pay their bills, that can stretch out payments. Every single company is wrestling with this issue. 

But I think what we have to do is keep reminding people of the value that we provide. If you think about your home, there are about 21 connected devices right now—your smartphones, your computers, your televisions—and on top of that, there are probably another 75 things that get plugged in… your hair dryer, your water heater, your electric toothbrush. All of this requires power. What our job during this time period is to remind people of that value—that for basically the cost of a box of cereal every day, all of those devices work. And that’s really an incredible feat.

LCM: Tell us about Energy of Every Day. What’s the message? What’s the goal of the campaign?

DM: We started this campaign about six months ago. The idea is to remind people of the value of what we provide. There's so much that happens in your daily life, from when you wake up to when you go to work to when you come home, that electricity drives.

You think about how transformational this has been over time. Thomas Edison builds his first power station in lower Manhattan to power Wall Street 150 years ago. Today, we have this enormous grid, this grid that's powering economic activity throughout the world. It's an amazing story, and that's what the Energy of Every Day campaign is telling. It's reminding them that everything they do in their lives is powered by us, and we do it as reliably and affordably as possible.

BM: We’re coming up on EEI 2026. Tell us about it.

DM: This is the leading conference for electricity leadership throughout the United States. We're going to have leaders of our companies in Las Vegas, along with leaders of tech companies, our partnerships, and government officials. It's a great opportunity to highlight some of these innovative technologies that we're using that are making the grid more reliable, safer, and keeping costs down—it's really the place to be if you're in electricity.

BM: There's a feeling that AI and data centers are really going to drive up demand for electricity and therefore increase customer bills. Is that true?

DM: It's not. A group called E3 put out a study that highlights the fact that data centers are not driving up costs. It's another one of these inflection points in the U.S. that, if you do this right, data centers can actually put downward pressure on rates.

There have been 23 states that have these large load agreements right now. If you look at those states and what happens after these data centers have been announced, you've had rate freezes in Alabama and Georgia. You've had cost reductions in Louisiana, Indiana, and Michigan. All of these states announcing these future data centers are going to see some downward pressure on their rate.

BM: And is that because the companies are paying back into the system? Where does the downward pressure come from?

DM: It's like if you have a bus, and the bus costs $100. If you have 10 people on that bus, it's $10 a person. But if you add 10 more people on that bus, it's suddenly $5 a person. The grid is a fixed-cost system. When you add a large payer on that system, it helps drive cost down for everyone on the system. It also allows for more investment so the system becomes more reliable over time.

LCM: You mentioned AI data centers. That’s a hot topic. What about these discussions do you think is misleading?

DM: If you take a step back on data centers, we currently have over 4,000 data centers in the U.S. already operating. So much of our daily life involves data centers that we don’t see—online shopping, posting memes on the internet, online banking, health records.

All these activities happen in AI data centers. I think it’s overcoming that natural aversion to data centers. What we have to do is talk about the benefits to customers and dispel the myths that electricity rates are going up because of data centers — because they’re not.

LCM: Who is paying for the new infrastructure to build and maintain the data centers?

DM: The data center companies are paying for it. It’s pure and simple. They’re bringing their own power by paying for that. They’re paying for the interconnection. They’re paying for the grid upgrades. That’s why you see most of this regulated at the state level.

You’ve seen these 23 states and another handful of states pending these large-load agreements which require these data centers to pay their fair share. There’s no free ride that they’re getting. That’s a big myth. You also can’t engage early enough. I think one of the challenges we’re seeing is you have to be transparent about what you’re doing as an AI data center in a community, and you have to engage early.

We've had a history of more than 100 years in most of these communities providing power. We know what it takes to have that customer relationship, and they need to do that as well. They can partner with us in a lot of cases.

BM: Does permitting reform have a chance of passing this year?

DM: It’s the one issue Congress can actually work on that can affect the affordability debate. It takes up to a decade or longer to build transmission lines or generation facilities because of the permitting process. You’ve got to get multiple permits from multiple agencies. The agencies don’t talk to each other. This is an opportunity to fix that.

And the cost of that delay can be up to 25 percent of a project. If Congress wants to do something about affordability with electricity prices, this is a great first step.

I’m really optimistic. I’ve been here about 30 years. I have never seen an effort so focused on trying to get permitting reform done. The number of groups, the resources being put into this, the bipartisan energy trying to get this done—I’m optimistic.

Whether it gets done between now and November or now and December, I don’t know. But I feel like now is the time to do it. There’s a lot of interest on both sides of the aisle and a recognition that we do have to do something.

It’s been too long and these regulations have become too burdensome.

LCM: When you think about regulators and how they plan for short-term and long-term, how do regulators and electric utilities balance investment in long-term infrastructure versus near-term need?

DM: The good news with the utility industry is we plan over a 30- to 50-year process.

We build power plants, transmission lines, distribution systems meant to last 30 to 50 years.

That means we can spread the cost out over that amount of time, which is really better for the customer over the long term.

BM: Charles River Associates recently did a study on your industry. What did they conclude?

DM: They highlighted the fact that data centers are not driving cost for customers.

They also highlighted that about 34 states have kept their average electricity rates below the national average. The whole debate on electricity cost is different region by region. The Southeast has maintained lower rates. California has had higher rates largely because of wildfire mitigation. They’ve had to bury lines and do more to protect wires against fires. That costs money and is ultimately borne by the customer.

In PJM and the New England area, there’s just a lack of generation. It’s a deregulated market, and in a high-growth time period when you can’t control the generation build, the customer is suffering in those marketplaces.

BM: You mentioned deregulation. It sounds like after 20 years they’ve learned some things in the Northeast. Talk about that.

DM: I think the problem is the deregulated market in PJM is broken, and customers are paying the price. The power generators—which can be 50 percent or more of your bill in these markets—are unregulated. That has to get fixed. The states have no real control over them, but they have control over us.

The people getting utility bills get them from us, but more than half of the bill in PJM is not imposed by us. Everyone—including the White House—has acknowledged that the PJM market is not working and that it has to get fixed. We need more steel in the ground. We don't really care who builds it. We'll build it. They can build it. But somebody needs to start building.

If nobody’s building, the generators are going to keep making more money and customers are going to keep paying.

BM: For my entire life Republicans have said deregulation is good and leads to lower prices. Now you’re saying, in this particular case, deregulation is bad and led to higher prices.

DM: I think this is a unique time period. We’re in a very high-growth period. You need a lot of planning, and in this deregulated marketplace it’s tough to match those up.

The generators will say they’re not getting a big enough price to build more. If you think about our obligation to serve, we have to provide power to everybody. That’s why it’s historically been a regulated business. You want everybody treated equally across the system.

If you leave it to a totally deregulated model, everybody flocks to urban areas and rural areas get left behind, because it costs more money to string a wire to fewer people. It’s a model that has worked for 150 years, and we’re very proud of it and committed to our customers.

LCM: You mentioned storm response earlier. Talk about that process and where you’re seeing the greatest impact.

DM: My first experience with a storm at EEI was Winter Storm Fern, which was a huge ice storm that started in Texas and worked its way across the Mid-Atlantic and ended up here with “snowcrete.”

It was a significant event that ended up having about a million homes out of power on Day 1. Ninety percent of those homes were back up within days.

What people don't understand about our industry is we have this huge mutual assistance program. Days before the storm, we get on calls with our government partners in Washington, in states and localities, and all of our other utilities in unaffected states. We mobilized 65,000 line workers from 44 states, working 24/7 in really tough conditions. If there's a line down in a particular county, we know and we send the crew out there. It’s an enormous collective effort where everybody shares.

Not only do they share line workers and personnel, but they share equipment. If you need a transformer in Alabama and there’s one sitting in Idaho, we’ll get it down there. It’s an amazing collective effort to keep the lights on.

LCM: It’s amazing. They’re these unsung heroes that nobody realizes. They’re traveling often from three or four states over to come in and get the line back up and running.

BM: You worked in the first Trump Administration. You worked in the transition going into his second term putting many officials in place. How would you describe your work with the Administration?

DM: We’ve worked very well with the Trump Administration on energy policy issues and find the working relationship to be good. Like a lot of things, you play the long game with any Administration.

We maintain a good working relationship. There are things we don’t always agree on, but, nonetheless, we keep pursuing what we want to do, which is provide more reliable and affordable power.

BM: What decision from the past year are you most proud of?

DM: Hiring a great team. We had a great team at EEI. We built an even stronger team and integrated that team to really deliver the results in this modern-day advocacy environment. That’s been my proudest moment.

BM: What’s one thing you’d like to do over?

DM: If you look back at the year, I was so focused on dealing with everything inside EEI.

I really want to spend next year going out in the field, visiting plant facilities, going to more operations, seeing the line workers and how they actually repair lines. That’s my next-year goal: to get out there and do more in the field and get out of the Washington bubble.

BM: What’s something people in Washington are not thinking about but should be?

DM: I think right now it’s a time period where you don’t have to swat at every fly.

You have to be very calculated in what you’re going to do and you have to play a longer game. Don’t get caught up in the emotion. There’s going to be a negative tweet by somebody. There’s going to be an op-ed you don’t like. There’s going to be a quote in a story you don’t like. But don’t overreact.

You have to have a long game. You have to stay focused and don’t get knocked off it. Most Americans are not paying attention to all the little tweets, op-eds, comments, and papers.

Stay focused on your long game.

In a new interview on The Energy Gang podcast, EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney discussed rising electricity demand and the need for new generation, permitting reform, and responsible data center growth. 

Listen to full episode here. 

Managing Data Center Growth Responsibly: 

“The goal is clear: we don’t want existing ratepayers to bear the burden of new data centers,” Maloney said. “When it’s done right, these investments can actually put downward pressure on rates.” 

He pointed to the increasing number of large-load agreements and the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, designed to ensure data centers and other large customers pay their fair share and help reduce costs for local families and businesses.  

Historic Electricity Demand and Grid Investment: 

“When you look back at America’s history, the transformational infrastructure investments were railroads, the interstate highway system, and the electric grid,” Maloney said. “Today, we are once again investing in the most critical engine of our economy—the electric grid.” 

“In the last two years, we’ve seen demand growth double, and it will likely continue,” he added. “At the end of the day we need more generation and more steel in the ground.” 

Affordability and Reliability: 

“Americans are feeling cost pressures across the board—food, health care, housing, and energy,” Maloney said. 

He noted that electricity prices vary by region, but data show about 34 states have kept rates below average over the past five years. 

“When Americans flip a light switch, turn on their heat or air conditioning, or plug in their phones, they expect it to work,” he said. “That’s our commitment—to deliver reliable and affordable power every day.” 

PJM and the Need for New Generation: 

Maloney also addressed ongoing challenges in the PJM Interconnection region, highlighting concerns about rising costs and a lack of new generation in the region. 

“There’s bipartisan frustration—from FERC, the White House, and governors—because this is not sustainable,” he said.  

Permitting Reform and Building Infrastructure Faster: 

“We’re seeing momentum around solutions, including permitting reform, which is critical to getting projects built on time and at lower cost,” Maloney said. 

“It can take a decade or longer to build transmission in the United States,” he added. “That delay can increase project costs significantly—and those costs are ultimately borne by customers.” 

Convening Energy and Technology Leaders at EEI 2026 in Las Vegas (June 2-4): 

“At EEI 2026 in Las Vegas, we’ll bring together one of the largest gatherings of electricity experts and thought leaders,” Maloney said. “We’re looking forward to hearing from leaders across the energy and technology sectors as we work together to power America’s future.” 

From left to right: EEI Chief Communications Officer Emily Schillinger, Con Edison Vice President of Communications Carolyn Vadino, Con Edison New York President Matthew Ketschke, EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney, New York Stock Exchange Head of U.S. Listings Tara Dziedzic, EEI Senior Manager of Investor Relations Jacob Moshel, and EEI Executive Director of Government Affairs Kristen Siegele.

EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney, along with other EEI leaders and Con Edison New York President Matthew Ketschke, delivered an energy outlook for Wall Street investors on Thursday after ringing the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

“America’s investor-owned utilities are powering our nation. We are investing more than $1.1 trillion over the next four years in the energy grid to ensure adequate transmission and generation to meet the needs of America,” said Maloney on the floor of the NYSE ahead of EEI’s Wall Street Briefing. “We’re also seeing demand for more power. We are working closely with state and federal governments to ensure that we provide that power in an affordable and reliable way.”

Maloney and Ketschke were joined by NYSE Head of U.S. Listings Tara Dziedzic, EEI Chief Communications Officer Emily Schillinger, Con Edison Vice President of Communications Carolyn Vadino, and EEI Executive Director of Government Affairs Kristen Siegele as they rung the Opening Bell in celebration of EEI and its member companies delivering the energy of every day, and to recognize the more than 200-year legacy of Con Edison—the longest continuously listed company on the NYSE—serving New York City and the NYSE.

“If you think about the most important engine in America, it’s the electrical grid,” said Maloney. “If the electrical grid is not delivering power, America doesn’t work. We take that responsibility very seriously, and we want to ensure the affordability and reliability of the grid continue for the next 250 years.”

To learn more about how EEI and its member companies are providing the energy of every day and powering American innovation, visit EEI’s website.

More than a decade ago, the attack on Ukraine’s energy grid felt like a surprising watershed, proof that cyber operators could reach through keyboards to shut off the lights. This marked a shift into a new phase of geopolitical conflict: one defined by cyber-attacks manifesting physical world effects, particularly against critical infrastructure. Since 2015, there have been ransomware attacks against major oil systems, healthcare systems, and water systems in the United States and across the globe. Cyber criminals are conducting reconnaissance and pre-positioning for future operations, and are coordinating actions on a larger scale, like the recent cyber-attack against Poland’s energy sector. 

Today, the threat to critical infrastructure, particularly in the United States, remains a top priority for industry and government. Adversaries are more patient, better resourced, and increasingly exploring how to enhance their attacks using advanced AI capabilities. Many critical infrastructure operators also are working to integrate AI technologies into their cyber defense plans and operations. The race between defenders and attackers is on and it is unclear what side will win. 

One key to successfully protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure is to establish and sustain intra-sector, inter-sector, and public-private partnerships. These distinct partnership types can help organizations operating and supporting critical infrastructure effectively and efficiently prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks.

Intra-sector partnerships are perhaps the most efficient and effective approaches given an industry’s relatively shared threat landscape, security tool usage, and operational risks. When organizations within a critical sector share threat intelligence on potential or actual cyber-attacks, the entire industry can strengthen resilience to prevent threat actors from successfully scaling their attacks. Within the electric power sector, the Cyber Mutual Assistance (CMA) Program serves as a decades-long proven model of collective defense. Following the 2015 attack on Ukraine’s electric grid, a group of CEOs within the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) convened to discuss ways to prevent a similar outage, and CMA was born. Today, CMA is a group of security experts representing more than 210 electric and natural gas entities that stand ready to provide mutual assistance in the event of a significant cyber incident. This kind of support is vital in a shifting threat landscape where it is increasingly difficult for a single organization to defend itself against a growing number of malicious actors. 

In addition to mutual assistance, it’s important for organizations within a sector to participate in joint exercises that challenge assumptions, strengthen relationships, and build resilience. For example, the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center hosted its eighth biennial GridEx exercise. This cyber and physical security exercise convened thousands of experts from across the electric power industry and government partners to assess and improve their responses to simulated attacks on the energy grid. GridEx helps to inform organizational planning and budget priorities that can strengthen the overall resilience of the U.S. energy grid.

Inter-sector partnerships are a natural expansion from those within an industry. No critical infrastructure sector has a monopoly on security threats or the experts to help defend against them, and many facets of U.S. critical infrastructure are interconnected and interdependent. As Volt and Salt Typhoon revealed, threat actors aim to burrow into multiple critical sectors with the goal of having the ability to disrupt U.S. economic and national security. Therefore, it’s imperative to work across sectors to better understand how adversaries are targeting critical infrastructure and to better strengthen it. 

Another recent example is the 2024 CrowdStrike outage that made computers inoperable in organizations across the transportation, financial, and healthcare sectors. 

Finally, critical industries and government must renew their commitment to public-private partnerships. The Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launched the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative in 2021 to unify public and private sector cyber defenses through real-time, bi-directional intelligence sharing operational planning. Two years later, the Department of Energy piloted the Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC) to fuse industry data with government intelligence so cyber defenders can identify, analyze, and mitigate threats together. ETAC experts from public power utilities, electric cooperatives, investor-owned electric companies, and oil and natural gas entities analyze threat intelligence in real time, assess potential impacts to the energy sector, and develop risk mitigations that are broadly shared by Information Sharing and Analysis Centers to energy providers across the country. These examples of public-private partnerships leading to operational collaboration can be extrapolated across other critical sectors.

America’s adversaries are constantly enhancing their cyber-attacks and increasingly looking for ways to compromise critical infrastructure. We must continue to meet these challenges head on by leveraging intra-sector, inter-sector, and public-private partnerships. Cyber resilience is the goal; partnership is how we achieve it.
 

Left to right: NARUC President Ann Rendahl, NCTA President and CEO Cory Gardner, EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson, American Water Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Norton, AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert, Florida Commissioner Mike La Rosa.

Industry-government coordination was front and center during the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Winter Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., in early February.

Only two weeks on from Winter Storm Fern, a historic winter weather event that impacted more than 200 million Americans and prompted the largest mutual assistance activation the United States had seen since Superstorm Sandy, mutual assistance and storm response were fresh on the minds of the of state commissioners, federal officials, electric company leaders, and other stakeholders who attended the annual gathering.

“The effort and the coordination among federal, state, local officials, our members, working across the industry, was amazing,” EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney said during a panel discussion, highlighting the significance of pre-positioning crews and resources “days before the storm hit.”

More than 65,000 workers from America’s electric companies braved frigid and hazardous conditions to restore power to impacted communities. The scale of this effort required regular and close communication with a range of stakeholders, Maloney said, highlighting industry coordination through the CEO-led Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) and regional mutual assistance groups, which was critical to ensuring a safe and efficient response.

“The grid is the most important engine in America. If the grid doesn’t work, America doesn’t work,” Maloney said, noting that companies are actively investing to make the grid more resilient to threats like winter storms. “Our members will be investing more than $1 trillion in the coming years to make it more reliable, more resilient, and more affordable.”

Industry response to Fern was a driver of conversation throughout the NARUC summit. During a separate keynote, Under Secretary of Energy Alex Fitzsimmons, director of the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, highlighted the federal government’s work through the ESCC to ensure crews and resources deployed to the areas that needed them most.

“The bulk power system held up, and we should be proud of that. We all should be proud of that effort,” Under Secretary Fitzsimmons told the NARUC audience.

Now two weeks on from a historic winter weather event that blanketed more than 200 million Americans in ice, snow, and frigid temperatures, industry and government leaders have been outspoken about the importance of close and regular communication ahead of and during Winter Storm Fern.

“Before the winter storm began, through the mutual assistance program run through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), we had 65,000 utility workers ready to go, not just to make repairs in their own service territories, but across the entire affected area,” Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly during a recent press briefing.

Deputy Secretary Danly noted that “we had crews moving from state to state offering assistance,” which is why workers were able to respond so quickly to “a peak of just about 1 million outages.”

“The bulk power system held up, and we should be proud of that. We all should be proud of that effort,” Acting Under Secretary of Energy Alex Fitzsimmons, director of the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, said during a keynote address at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Winter Policy Summit.

Under Secretary Fitzsimmons stressed the “strong partnerships” the federal government maintains through the ESCC that helped facilitate response to a storm that impacted more than 200 million Americans.

““The effort and the coordination among federal, state, local officials, our members, working across the industry, was amazing,” EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney said during a NARUC panel discussion.

Tens of thousands of workers from at least 44 states were active throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic in recent weeks, working through snow and ice to perform damage assessments and begin restoration work when it was safe to do so.

“The impact from this storm cannot be overstated, and the industry’s response in the wake of Fern was extraordinary,” EEI Senior Vice President for Energy Security and Industry Operations Scott Aaronson said during a recent United States Energy Association briefing. “There is a culture of mutual assistance in this industry.”

Aaronson noted that the energy industry was working “in lockstep, from the earliest stages of the storm,” with the federal government and with state and local partners to ensure an efficient restoration process. He stressed that cross-industry partnerships are vital to restoring power to customers.

Aaronson also underscored how EEI member companies’ investments in grid resilience and smart grid technologies—in part to meet growing energy demand from AI, data centers, and the onshoring of manufacturing—enabled a faster restoration process.

“This forward planning has allowed us to better meet growing demand, and also to lessen the impact of and quickly respond to extreme weather events,” he said. “Resilience investments matter.”

The electric power industry in January activated its largest mutual assistance effort since Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.

More than 65,000 workers from at least 44 states deployed in response to Winter Storm Fern, according to EEI. The storm brought frigid arctic air, heavy snowfall, and icy conditions to more than 200 million Americans.

Through the CEO-led Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, EEI and industry leaders coordinated with the highest levels of government, including at the U.S. Departments of Energy and Homeland Security, to ensure unity of effort in responding to the storm and restoring power to impacted communities.

EEI recently joined the American Public Power Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in issuing a joint press release highlighting the breadth of industry response, explaining the mutual assistance process, and outlining how electric companies partner during extreme weather to keep customers safe.

Read the full release below, and visit eei.org for the latest updates on Winter Storm Fern.

More than 65,000 workers from 43 states have been mobilized and are assessing damage and restoring power where it is safe to do so. That’s comparable to the historic response and recovery efforts seen during Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.

“America’s electric companies are really well positioned to deal with this,” EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney said Monday morning on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange.”

Maloney highlighted the planning that began last week with the highest levels of industry and government, including with senior Administration officials, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Homeland Security, and dozens of state and local leaders, to ensure unity of effort in impacted communities.

“It’s really a unified effort,” Maloney said. “I think it’s really important for everyone to understand the coordination with federal, state, and local officials … to get power up as quickly as possible during this historic ice storm.”

While ice poses unique challenges to restoration, tens of thousands of lineworkers are braving frigid conditions across several states and will continue working around the clock to ensure power is restored to everyone who is able to receive it.

Watch Maloney’s full interview below, and visit the EEI Storm Center for the latest storm updates.

The investor-owned member electric companies of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) play a critical role in powering the lives of nearly 250 million Americans each day. Throughout 2025, EEI’s member companies showcased how they are working for their communities by helping to lower costs, supporting the nation’s economic growth, strengthening the energy grid, and investing in the future.

See below for some of the ways EEI member companies have showcased their commitment to their communities and workforces. EEI also will be sharing these stories on our social channels as we count down to 2026—find them on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Entergy: Data Center Drives Down Local Rates

As more AI data centers connect to the grid, Entergy showcases how the projects it powers will create direct benefits not just for customers, but for residents of the states it serves for generations to come.

Duke Energy: Significant Progress Restoring the Grid After Hurricane Helene

One year after Hurricane Helene devastated Asheville, N.C., Duke Energy highlights the significant progress made by its lineworkers to restrengthen the grid.

Exelon: Customer Relief Program Benefits Customers and Local Businesses

Exelon’s Customer Relief Fund helps low-income customers, which in turn benefits local businesses in its service territories—including Midnite Confections + Cupcakery in Baltimore, Md.

Puget Sound Energy: Apprenticeships Lead to Full-Time Employment

Puget Sound Energy’s Pathways to Apprenticeship series shares the different apprenticeships offered by the company, and features employees sharing their favorite parts of the job.

Pacific Gas & Electric: Customer Dollars Directly Contribute to Infrastructure Reliability

Through their “Your Energy Dollars at Work” series, Pacific Gas & Electric highlights how customers’ dollars directly contribute to infrastructure projects that keep the energy system safe, reliable, and climate-resilient.

Xcel Energy: Reliable Energy Powers Local Businesses Like Red Wings Shoes

For more than a century, Xcel Energy’s reliable, essential energy has powered the production of Red Wings Shoes’ high-quality leather boots. 

American Electric Power: Drones Help Power Reliability for Customers

The integration of drone technology has transformed how AEP Ohio maintains the grid—helping to prevent and shorten outages, improving operational efficiency, and keeping its crews and communities safe. 

Arizona Public Service: Employees Provide Live Bill Assistance During Phone Bank

In Summer 2025, Arizona Public Service partnered with local media to host a live phone bank, where employees took customer calls, answered questions, and offered on-the-spot ways to save on energy bills.

Con Edison: Reliable Service Keeps a Favorite Local Business Running

Mamitas, a local favorite in New York, depends on Con Edison’s reliable energy service to keep its equipment running smoothly and its freezers cold, so it can produce its fan-favorite ice pops.

This National Ice Cream Day, we’re honoring Mamita’s Ices — a 25-year NYC family business rooted in Dominican tradition. See how reliable energy keeps their sweet moments refreshingly cool everywhere: https://t.co/xT6MZRlrq7 pic.twitter.com/Py9vKfOrb9

— Con Edison (@ConEdison) July 20, 2025

Ameren – Restoring Customer Power After a Tornado Event

After a tornado hit Ameren’s service territory earlier this year, impacting energy infrastructure and customer homes and businesses, the company deployed 1,900 workers to quickly and safely restore power.

Hawaiian Electric: Employees Are the Fabric of the Community

Hawaiian Electric’s employees make up the fabric of the community and its commitment to its customers—including Mikey Burke and Kaulana Anderson, who were impacted by the Lahaina fires. 

ITC Transmission: Restoring Transmission Service After Severe Winter Weather

After severe winter weather swept across Michigan and affected 23 transmission lines and 17 substations, ITC Transmission crews coordinated with local partners and worked around the clock to safely and quickly restore transmission service.

OG&E: A Career Journey in Energy, From Internship to Engineering

Anne and Ayden share their OG&E career journeys from internships to full-time positions in engineering and operations. 

Southern Company: Making Significant Investments to Meet Demand Growth

Southern Company highlights the investments made in advanced technologies and renewable energy to meet the significant demand growth in its service territories. 

NorthWestern Energy – Osprey Conservation Work Featured in Children’s Book

NorthWestern Energy Content Development Specialist Erin wrote Oliver the Osprey, a children’s book that highlights the osprey conservation work NorthWestern Energy provides to help the company deliver a critical service and maintain reliability. 

The electric power industry is a key economic driver for the United States, accounting for 1 in 20 American jobs and 5 percent of U.S. GDP. Workforce development is a top priority for electric companies as they expand and strengthen the grid and power the jobs and industries of the future.

FirstEnergy Pennsylvania President John Hawkins and Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) Executive Director Missy Henriksen recently joined an episode of the Electric Perspectives podcast to share their thoughts on attracting, retaining, and developing a skilled energy workforce. The episode was hosted by EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney.

Following is an abbreviated transcript, lightly edited for length and clarity. To listen to the full episode and catch up with other recent interviews, visit electricperspectives.com/podcast.

Drew Maloney (DM): Missy, can you give us a snapshot of the current energy workforce and the role that it plays in supporting our economy?

Missy Henriksen (MH): Absolutely. The U.S. Energy and Employment report that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently published found that there were 8.5 million people working directly in energy jobs in 2024.

We often talk about the electric power industry being 5 percent of the GDP—the first 5 percent, of course, because nothing works without energy. That holds true on the human capital side, as well. We account for 5 percent of the jobs in this country, keeping the lights on and keeping things moving for the nation.

DM: John, you lead one of the largest electric companies in Pennsylvania. What does a highly skilled workforce mean for ensuring reliability and serving your customers?

John Hawkins (JH): Our communities rely on a resilient and reliable electric grid, so we have to have a workforce that has advanced skills and expertise to deliver on those expectations—especially during this period of rapid industry transformation.

At FirstEnergy, we serve 6 million-plus customers in six states. We're investing $28 billion across our footprint through 2029. In Pennsylvania, that includes $15 billion in infrastructure enhancements, people, processes, and facilities—and the key word there is “people.”

We have to have a highly skilled workforce to complete this work safely and efficiently, allowing us to meet those expectations of our customers and communities.

DM: Missy, let me turn back to you. CEWD regularly publishes reports about the energy workforce. What trends are you seeing, and what do they mean for the next generation of energy professionals?

MH: We’re really seeing employers looking at their hiring practices with a great deal of innovation as they think about workforce development differently. It’s no longer, “Hey, HR, we need to hire some people,” but it’s an increasing commitment to the long game and attracting talent.

We’re seeing companies work together more closely in these efforts so that a rising tide will lift all boats. We're seeing, increasingly, a commitment to sector solutions and working together on major workforce opportunities and challenges, instead of every company looking at moving mountains on their own.

About 50 percent of the workforce is expected to retire in the next 5 to 10 years, which is evoking a need to focus on knowledge transfer and making sure we've got a strong talent pipeline to follow those exiting the workforce.

We're also seeing major conversation around the increasing reliance on digital skills and what that means for pre-employment training and upskilling the existing workforce. These are just some of the conversations driving significant industry action.

DM: You also were the former chair of the 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board (EWAB), helping to shape the future energy workforce from the federal level. Can you share more about your work with EWAB and how you worked with DOE on workforce development strategies?

MH: Absolutely. EWAB was formed under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to advise the U.S. Secretary of Energy on developing a skilled energy workforce to meet current and future labor needs.

We were thrilled to be called on early in the current Administration’s transition to support Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his team with recommendations to develop and implement workforce strategy. We worked really closely with the Office of Energy Jobs within DOE, and they were tremendous thought and action partners in our work.

Our recommendations to Secretary Wright included providing significant support to scale pathways for well-paying, high-quality energy jobs. We focused on new ways to get people into energy roles, including through career and technical education, apprenticeships, and other earn-and-learn models.

The Administration is focusing a lot of emphasis on the importance of registered apprenticeship programs, so we're also making recommendations on the importance of increasing awareness and excitement around energy careers—for career-ready adults and for students.

Also, our recommendations focused on positioning DOE as a leader for innovative, effective, non-siloed solutions to support the development of the workforce as a sector. I think DOE is really making the commitment that they're not just focusing on the technology side of the industry—but, certainly, the people side, as well.

We are thrilled to know that Secretary Wright actually concurred with the overarching recommendations that we put forward. He has committed to developing an energy workforce strategy that enables effective workforce planning and supports the development of a highly skilled workforce. We're excited to see what comes out of that and we're expecting it to be published this fall.

DM: John, coming back to you, FirstEnergy has been recognized for its workforce development and apprenticeship programs, including your Power Systems Institute. Can you tell us how these programs work and what makes them successful?

JH: At FirstEnergy, we are growing and investing in our team, which we know to be the heart of operating a modern grid. We have more than 11,500 FirstEnergy employees dedicated to safety, reliability, and operational excellence.

Through our Power Systems Institute, we've trained nearly 2,600 line and substation workers. This model was unpaid, because we were paying for workers’ education to understand the theory part of the equation. During the summer, enrollees would get paid on-the-job training.

What we found with that model is that it was challenging for some who had families. So, in 2023, we transitioned to a paid apprenticeship model, more in-step with today's competitive labor market. Now, candidates are hired at the onset of the apprenticeship program, so that makes it more accessible to a lot more individuals.

We’re also targeting our hiring to keep workers in areas where they want to be, which helps minimize turnover. We have a lot of opportunities here. Our apprentices can obtain a college degree with financial assistance that we provide. We are working to get our program certified by the Department of Labor, which will make it nationally recognized and increase the appeal to candidates. It will also allow us to access funding and incentives and build union confidence, which is really critical to a successful program.

DM: Missy, CEWD supports programs across the country that help companies replicate successful workforce models like what John’s describing at FirstEnergy. What guidance would you give to electric companies that are working on building their own workforce pipelines?

MH: The first answer would be to call John and his team. You all are doing some incredible work up there. I really appreciate hearing more about the focus you've put on apprenticeships and now DOL-registered apprenticeship programs. I think that will be a game changer as we move forward in the industry.

I also can't stress enough the importance of partnerships. There's a lot of work to be done—a lot of opportunities for the industry to attract a highly skilled energy workforce—that is best done through partnerships.

Community outreach and engagement is important, because workforce development is a long game. The more we build effective partnerships—effective relationships with community-based organizations, community colleges, technical schools, workforce boards, and workforce systems and communities—those efforts will go a long way in making sure that there's fruit on those trees as we get down the road.

The other thing that is a game changer for workforce development is the introduction of the new Energy and Natural Resources Career Cluster, which is providing the first opportunity the industry has had in 25 years to more easily get energy curriculum into classrooms.

As companies are preparing for their future workforce strategies, perhaps putting the fine print on what they'll be doing in 2026, I can't stress enough the importance of the opportunities that are being enabled by that Career Cluster.

DM: John, is there any advice you would give to your energy company colleagues out there on how to pursue programs like this?

JH: I think Missy and I are reading from the same playbook. One of the keys to making this possible is the partnerships, and one of our industry’s most important partnerships is with our partners in organized labor.

When we set out on developing our new apprenticeship program, we engaged and partnered with both our International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Utility Workers Union of America partners. The entire way, they were part of building a curriculum, the evaluation process, the interviews to ensure that together we are aligned on the candidates who will lead us forward. These aren't just jobs. These are careers, and we felt this wouldn't have been possible without our union partners. We're extremely grateful for their partnership.

DM: John, as we look to the future, new technologies are creating new kinds of energy jobs. What are some of the emerging opportunities that you’re seeing?

JH: Technology really has the potential to reduce manual and hazardous tasks, so we can allow folks to focus on high-value activities, especially with a focus on improving safety and job satisfaction. Using drones, for example, has been impactful, helping us with aerial inspections during storms or during day-to-day work.

When you think about our service territory in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, we’ve got mountains. Drones help speed our bias for action when we have events, and we're using some AI-driven advanced analytics when it comes to vegetation.

We have a lot of poles, we have a lot of wires, and we also have a lot of trees. We know how impactful trees can be to our electric service quality, so we have an advanced vegetation analytics tool that we've designed to predict and reduce tree-related outages before they occur. Through machine learning and taking internal data; external data on soil, weather, outage records, and geographical topography; and aerial photos, we can identify problematic trees so to minimize outages and manage our crews more effectively.

DM: For each of you, what do you believe will make the biggest impact on strengthening America's energy workforce in the next several years?

JH: Two words: Act now. It takes four to five years to develop a certified lineworker. Based on the level of demand growth we're seeing, we can't waste another moment in ensuring that we're prepared to deliver on the needs of our customers and communities.

And, it's not just lineworkers. There are a lot of important positions to fill in this space. As we're thinking about the future, we need to consider how we can best be positioned to lead on technology and AI.

MH: Prioritizing workforce development is a Page One issue. You also need to engage not just on your own, but through sector strategies—working with others at the state and national level. And, get involved with the Energy and Natural Resources Career Cluster. Just make sure, as John said, to act now. Make workforce development a priority.

In October, EEI published new data detailing capital expenditures that America’s investor-owned electric companies are expected to make in 2025.

“America’s electric companies are working every day to help lower costs and improve reliability for their customers,” said EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney. “Our new data shows how our industry is strengthening the energy grid with real investments—in jobs, critical infrastructure, and communities across the nation. These long-term investments will benefit customers, drive economic growth, and help America achieve energy dominance.”

Key findings include:

• EEI member companies are projected to invest nearly $208 billion in 2025 to make the energy grid smarter, stronger, more efficient, and more secure.
• 91 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity is currently under construction, and 488 GW is planned or has been proposed for the next five years.
• As the economy electrifies and more power flows through the grid, EEI member companies’ investments will be distributed across a larger customer base, driving down costs for American families and businesses while fueling sustained economic growth and prosperity.

Scroll to read the full report, and visit eei.org/data for more industry research and statistics.

Harry Sideris is president and CEO of Duke Energy, having served in various leadership roles at the organization for nearly three decades.

Sideris recently joined the Electric Perspectives podcast to discuss his vision for Duke Energy and reflect on the devastating 2024 hurricane season.

Following is an abbreviated transcript, lightly edited for length and clarity. To listen to the full episode and catch up with other recent interviews, visit electricperspectives.com/podcast.

Electric Perspectives (EP): You’ve had a long career in the energy industry and at Duke Energy. Tell us about your career journey and how your background is shaping your leadership of the company?

Harry Sideris (HS): I've had the honor and privilege of working for Duke Energy and its predecessors for almost 30 years. It all started with responding to a classified ad in the newspaper. I know that's a foreign concept to people today. That's how I ended up getting my job at Carolina Power & Light (CP&L) back in 1996.

As an engineer, I thought I was applying for a job at a power plant, solving mechanical, chemical, and process issues. I quickly learned there was so much more to working at CP&L and in the power industry. Our product is so vital to life. I fell in love with the sense of purpose I got coming to work every day, knowing that I was making a difference and that our product had a real impact.

At Duke Energy, our purpose is to power the lives of our customers and the vitality of our communities. Throughout my 30 years here, I have seen our employees volunteer with their communities, teach children about electricity at schools, and support vulnerable customers working to provide for their families. Seeing those efforts firsthand is something that I love about our company.

I've had 20 different roles at this company. I've done a little bit of everything, so I feel perfectly suited to running each and every aspect of our business, providing reliable and affordable service to our customers.

EP: What is your vision for Duke Energy, particularly as the energy landscape continues to rapidly evolve?

HS: My vision for Duke Energy is simple: We want to continue to operate as the premier electric company, with a reputation for reliable and affordable service for our customers. We want to be the company that people want to work for, where they can build meaningful and prosperous careers and feel empowered to make decisions that serve their communities.

We put customers first in everything that we do. We're ensuring reliability while serving our customers at the lowest possible cost. We are a company that's there for customers, both when a storm hits and when times are good.

We are mindful of the vast array of stakeholders out there, including regulators, politicians, large customers. We want to be known as an honest broker that contributes to energy policy discussions while looking for ways to make the communities and the states we serve better through economic development.

Finally, we strive to be a company that investors believe in and trust to deliver results and value—that they want to be invested in for the long term. With the demand growth that we're seeing, we're blessed to serve some of the fastest-growing states in the country. We are prepared for this moment, serving our customers and meeting this dynamic growth.

We are working directly with stakeholders and our states, and we're doing some great things. Earlier this year, we announced a contract with GE Vernova that will allow us to reserve gas turbines, which will allow us to move quickly and meet this explosive growth. In June, we announced the largest economic development project in the history of North Carolina, partnering with Amazon Web Services on a data center campus in Richmond County. It's a $10 billion investment that will create 500-plus jobs. Particularly in a rural community, that's going to have a huge impact.

EP: You’ve been outspoken about Duke Energy’s storm response work. Last year, Hurricane Helene’s destructive winds and catastrophic flooding devastated the Carolinas and several other states that you serve. What can you share about Duke Energy’s response and recovery efforts following Helene and how that informs your work today?

HS: We had quite the fall last year. We had three storms back-to-back-to-back: Debby, Helene, and Milton. All hit Florida, and all moved up the coast into the Carolinas. Helene, which was the most destructive of the three, hit all seven states that we serve. We saw 3.4 million outages during Helene and 5 million across the three storms combined.

I'm so proud of our team and how they responded to all these storms, particularly Helene. No one could have imagined the destruction that we saw in western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. I grew up in Asheville, N.C., so it was personal for me to see the destruction, to think about 18 feet of water coming down the valley, washing out our substations, our poles, our homes, and our cars. It was just so devastating. In upstate South Carolina, there aren’t very many trees left from that storm. It seemed like every one of them was toppled last fall.

I joined our teams on the ground soon after the storms passed. It was heartbreaking to see some of the sites where, as a kid and as a teenager, I used to drive around. Seeing the destruction where my dad worked, where I set up my first bank account when I was 5 years old—it was very impactful to us.

We have a mantra here at Duke Energy that everybody has a storm role. So, when something like this happens, all 26,000 people at the company get behind it and work tirelessly, sometimes 16-plus hours a day, to make sure that we're getting the lights back on for our customers. That’s what really helps them find a sense of normalcy to start rebuilding.

The Duke Energy Foundation also did a tremendous job supporting our local communities—supporting food banks, many of which were washed out by floodwaters. We partnered with these communities that we've been a part of, in some cases, for more than 100 years, making sure they rebuilt and rebuilt well. We've been at it for the past year, because this work doesn't end when you get the lights on.

EP: Following the storms, Duke Energy replaced 16,000 poles, 13,000 transformers, and more than 9 million feet of wire. That’s a tremendous amount of work that your team undertook.

HS: It was unbelievable. We had to move poles in with helicopters, because roads were washed out. The amount of wire that we replaced would have been long enough to stretch from Charlotte to Denver.

And, in a lot of these impacted areas, the level of damage was just something we had never experienced before. Roads were completely washed out. Crew quarters didn't have running water, because Asheville did not have water for almost two months. We made it a priority to serve our lineworkers and our employees on the ground, making sure they had what they needed to be successful in their restoration.

EP: What can you share about the grid enhancements and broader resilience work that Duke Energy is leading now?

HS: I always say that the grid is the eighth wonder of the world. It is truly an engineering marvel in how it handles the puts and takes of the system—how it serves customers and handles extreme weather, particularly during hurricane season but also during ice season.

We've invested $70 billion to upgrade the grid across our service territory. We are installing smart devices, replacing wooden poles with concrete and metal poles, building flood protection around our substations.

We're also continuing to invest in technology. Our self-optimizing grid technology is something we've been focused on—I call it the GPS for the grid. When something happens, it's able to reroute power around the issue, saving many, many hours of customer outages. Last year alone, we avoided 1.5 million outages by quickly rerouting power.

We plan to invest more than $100 billion in our grid during the next decade, continuing to strengthen it, make it smarter, and help us meet demand growth. We're all in on making sure that eighth wonder of the world continues to operate reliably and affordably for our customers.

EP: How do you and your team think about balancing the investments that are needed today with maintaining affordability for customers? And, how are you discussing this with customers?

HS: : Affordability is front and center on every customer's mind. A lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet. We've always focused on reliability and affordability as we meet our customers’ needs, and it's no different now. We always look at what is the most reliable solution—but also what is the lowest-cost way we can deliver that reliability.

We continue to look for other opportunities to support our customers and lower their bills. Earlier this year, we worked with our partners in Washington to ensure that the $500 million in tax credits earned by our nuclear plants—which are safe, reliable, and cost effective—flow directly back to customers annually to help offset investment.

We're also focused on working with data centers and other customers with substantial energy demands. We are making sure that these large loads pay their portion of infrastructure investments, so that work doesn’t drive up bills for residential customers.

And, we spend a lot of time focusing on our vulnerable customers—those that have the greatest financial need. We distribute more than $130 million per year in federal and local assistance to help customers pay their bills, and the Duke Energy Foundation works directly in our communities to help vulnerable customers working to make ends meet. Electricity is a vital part of everybody's life.

EP: Duke Energy is a key driver of economic development in your service territory. How are you meeting growing energy demand while supporting and creating new opportunities for your communities?

HS: We are truly blessed to serve the communities that we do in the Southeast and Midwest. They are some of the fastest growing regions in the country. We have added more than 200,000 customers two years in a row, and we are on pace to do so again this year.

A lot of people are migrating here. We also have a lot of manufacturing facilities going in, and plants and data centers are expanding. It feels like everywhere we turn, there are opportunities to add data centers. We are focused on moving quicker, working with customers, and meeting the moment.

We are truly at the front and center of economic development. We will help create more than 160,000 jobs on an annual basis, based on our investment plan going forward. That activity will generate more than $130 billion in labor income and $370 billion in overall economic impact.

EP: “Calm is contagious” is one of your mantras. What does that phrase mean to you, and how does it influence your leadership style?

HS: I wish I had made that up myself. I stole it from the Navy Seals. That is their mantra as well. Calm is contagious because, when you're on a mission, you don't need people to be nervous. You don't need people to overreact. You want to be in lockstep. You want to have clarity of thought as you're making decisions. I think that's a core leadership principle here at Duke Energy.

We're in a high-stakes industry, and we have to have clear thinking, sound decision making, and effective action, particularly during a storm or when we’re under pressure. We need to stay calm, involve all stakeholders, talk to customers and regulators, and make sure our employees have a voice. That empowers everybody to come up with the right decision and avoid the bad decisions. “Calm is contagious” is something I've always subscribed to in my career, and I think it serves us well.

Driven by the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and data centers, industrialization, and electrification across the economy, electricity generation in the United States climbed 3 percent in 2024, reaching 4,303,038 gigawatt hours (GWh), according to EEI’s 2024 Statistical Yearbook.

It was the largest year-over-year jump in electricity generation in five years, according to the report, which EEI publishes annually to track key industry benchmarks. America’s energy demand is expected to continue climbing in the years ahead, as AI and ongoing electrification trends reshape customer needs. By 2030, domestic electricity generation is projected to climb north of 4,500,000 GWh and reach 6,179,000 GWh by 2050.

Fueling that additional generation capacity is a diverse energy mix: Natural gas accounted for 43.3 percent of electricity generated last year, with nuclear energy accounting for 18.2 percent of all generation. Coal (15.2 percent), wind (10.5 percent), hydro (5.5 percent), and solar (5.1 percent) were also important tools in the industry’s energy toolbox.

Investor-owned electric companies have been investing tens of billions of dollars to build new critical energy infrastructure of all kinds and will invest more than $1.1 trillion during the next five years to build out the grid and power prosperity. The U.S. energy grid was powered by more than 1,352 gigawatts (GW) of installed generating capacity at the end of 2024—up nearly 5 percent year over year.

More than 52 GW of generating capacity was added to the grid last year, along with nearly 12 GW of battery storage technologies. Battery storage capacity added last year was up 55 percent from what was added to the grid in 2023.

Looking back an additional year for the most recent data, the report found that industry construction spending on transmission projects was up 12.5 percent in 2023 from the year prior, totaling $30 billion. Distribution expenditures were up 17.8 percent during the same period, totaling $56.7 billion.

To read the report and to view more of the latest industry data, visit eei.org/data.

This summer, EEI welcomed Drew Maloney as its new president and CEO. Maloney has spent the past 30 years at the cross-section of politics and policy.

He previously served as president and CEO of the American Investment Council (AIC), where he built a reputation for effective industry advocacy and strategic leadership. Prior to that, he was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs.

Maloney appeared on the Electric Perspectives podcast to discuss his priorities for EEI; the electric power industry’s commitment to providing reliable, affordable energy for customers nationwide; and how the industry is strengthening America’s energy dominance.

Electric Perspectives (EP): During your first few months in your role, what are your first impressions of the work underway at EEI and with its member companies?

Drew Maloney (DM): This is a tremendous time to be involved in the electric power industry. I have been impressed with the amount of work underway, and the commitment to energy policy, here at EEI.

Member engagement is one of the unique values that EEI has, and members are really engaged in policy discussion.

An example of the commitment our members have to the customers they serve is the annual EEI Emergency Response Awards. What some of these members have done for disaster relief in their communities is just amazing. In a matter of days, they've rebuilt millions and billions of dollars of infrastructure that was impacted by storms, wildfires, or extreme weather. This kind of response—and this type of commitment to communities—really stands out for our members.

EP: What led you to EEI, and how will you leverage your background and expertise as EEI and its members engage in policy discussions?

DM: When I started my young career as a staffer on Capitol Hill, energy was one of the first areas with which I was involved. I was working for a lawmaker from Mississippi, and I distinctly remember Southern Company and Entergy coming into our offices to educate me on energy policy.

Ever since, I've had a fondness for energy. I later ended up working for an oil and gas company and am now leading EEI. This is the culmination of my policy background—understanding how Washington works and how to navigate that to achieve outcomes that help our members serve their customers in a reliable, affordable way.

EP: What insights can you share about cutting through the noise in Washington and working with our partners on Capitol Hill?

DM: Washington has become a very noisy place. It requires you to stay focused on what your message is and to repeat your message, because so many other people are out there with their own messages.

A lot of people make the mistake of being too complicated in their messaging. You really need to focus on your one pager. 

The other thing to remember is that you have to build champions to achieve the legislative outcomes that you want in Washington, and those champions aren't always built in Washington. EEI’s secret sauce is that we build those champions in every community across America. That's how you are ultimately successful in advancing policy goals.

EP: Things also change quickly in Washington. How are you making sure EEI is ready to engage and to create opportunities for changing the conversation?

DM: I've given a lot of thought to what makes a trade association successful. In today's very complex and noisy environment, you have to be very proactive, very nimble, and very impactful. That's the culture that I want to build out at EEI.

We have to be ahead of the curve. In the current construct, you could have state policies, federal policies, or engagement on Capitol Hill switching on a dime. As an organization, you have to be able to act quickly.

You also need to create a “surround sound” supporting your advocacy. It used to be that you just had a team of lobbyists that would advocate on your behalf. Today, you not only need that team of lobbyists—you need support from third-party advocates. You need partners out there who are supporting you.

You have other trade associations working with you. You have a social media plan. You have research. You have all these other items out there that complement what you’re doing. You have to make sure they’re all working in concert to deliver the message and deliver the value and the advocacy that you need.

You have to be a results-oriented organization. That’s exactly what I intend EEI to be. I can already see, as we’re responding to different needs with the Administration, how we’re being proactive and how we’re being nimble. That’s how you get the impact that you want here in Washington.

EP: Earlier this summer, you attended the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, which was hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). What did you think of the event? How were attendees thinking about the role that electric companies play in these conversations?

DM: We are at a unique moment in time, with unprecedented growth in the energy sector. You have the reshoring of manufacturing that's requiring more energy. You have AI and innovation requiring more energy. You're seeing electrification—whether that involves cars or homes—raising demand for energy.

We have a critical role to play, and we are playing that critical role to meet demand. What that event allowed us to do is highlight the investments we're making and show the partnerships we're forging in the private sector to deliver power in a reliable and responsible way.

EP: Earlier this summer, you attended the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, which was hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). What did you think of the event? How were attendees thinking about the role that electric companies play in these conversations?

DM: We are at a unique moment in time, with unprecedented growth in the energy sector. You have the reshoring of manufacturing that's requiring more energy. You have AI and innovation requiring more energy. You're seeing electrification—whether that involves cars or homes—raising demand for energy.

We have a critical role to play, and we are playing that critical role to meet demand. What that event allowed us to do is highlight the investments we're making and show the partnerships we're forging in the private sector to deliver power in a reliable and responsible way.

EP: Was it encouraging to see participation from President Donald Trump?

DM: Yes, and there was an incredible turnout. We also had Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was there. It really showed a bipartisan breadth of support for innovation and for energy. We also had several of our Pennsylvania members in attendance talking about the investments and commitments they're making to drive innovation and economic activity.

EP: EEI recently published its annual Financial Review, which detailed the industry’s financial performance during the past year. What are your key takeaways from the report?

DM: What stood out to me is the scale of investment planned in the years ahead. We’re projected to invest more than $1.1 trillion into energy infrastructure across America during the next five years. And, I actually think that number could be conservative.

That demonstrates that we are a partner for local communities. We're a partner for the government. We are working with a spectrum of stakeholders to meet energy demand in our communities while prioritizing affordability for customers, for small businesses, for farmers, all while meeting our nation’s growth and innovation needs.

EP: Earlier, you mentioned the importance of strategic communication and storytelling in Washington. How did you think about these priorities at AIC, and what do you think can be applied to your work at EEI?

DM: A great example of an opportunity for EEI would be the Emergency Response Awards, highlighting what our member companies have done in their communities to respond to natural disasters—or partnerships that we have with different groups that enhance or demonstrate our customer solutions.

Every industry is challenged with getting their story out, especially in Washington, where everyone is trying to tell their own story. You just can't tell your story often enough, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.

I want to improve our storytelling. I want to tell our stories more often. I want to be louder about it. I want to make sure that the stories we're telling are being told in the communities that our members serve. Then, we need to translate those stories in Washington, because these are great stories. We're great community partners, and we need to be better about highlighting our stories.

EP: For many years, EEI’s tagline has been Power by Association^SM. What does that concept mean to you as you think about delivering value to EEI’s members?

DM: EEI’s CEO engagement is unique. Our member companies want to see their message and their policy successful here in Washington. What EEI's mantra—“Power by Association”—means is that we can accomplish a lot more by working together. When the most successful companies in Washington can come together with one single voice, they are so much more effective. 

As a former government worker, having worked on Capitol Hill and in a previous Administration, I would go to trade associations when I wanted to get a view on energy or financial services. They represent the collective voice, and it's easier for a policymaker to go one-stop shopping as opposed to piecing together the views of different member companies.

When we as EEI come in, we bring member companies, and we bring one unified voice. That is a real value add that we have at EEI.

EP: Switching gears, you serve as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Meridian International Center. You and your wife established the Klein-Maloney Fellowship for Women in the Sciences at your alma mater, Randolph-Macon College. What more can you share about your philanthropic work and life outside of EEI?

DM: My wife and I met in college. She's a very accomplished scientist at Johns Hopkins University. She studies women's health, and she noticed a need for more women going into scientific fields. We decided to create a fellowship at our alma mater, encouraging women to perform research projects during the summer that we fund.

It's very exciting for her and for me, as well. We're the parents of two daughters, so we're committed to making sure that they have a path forward in life. We thought it was important to give back, because our college was instrumental in our lives.

The Meridian International Center’s global diplomacy work also is very important. While most of our activities at EEI are focused on domestic markets, what happens overseas and the trends that you see internationally are important and ultimately influence what happens in the United States.

I have always been interested in that sort of work, and it helps make me a better advocate who has a better grasp on what's happening in other regions of the world that may influence what we do here at home.

EP: During EEI 2025 in New Orleans, you mentioned that your first job was a sheep and poultry farm worker. Did you learn any lessons in that role that still guide you today?

DM: You have to get up early to finish your chores on a farm. I'm glad that, today, I don't have the same chores that I did when I was a young 4-H and FFA member. But, that sort of work does teach you responsibility early on.

I grew up in a rural part of Virginia, and I've lived in Washington, D.C., for most of my adult life. I appreciate having that perspective, understanding the challenges faced by people on a farm where I grew up. I have a better understanding of what and how to communicate with different audiences, because I feel like I've lived in different places.

I really do treasure growing up on a farm, raising sheep, going to the county fair. It was a lot of fun, and I wish my kids had that same opportunity.

On a recent episode of the

Following is an abbreviated writeup of Anthony’s interview with EP, lightly edited for length and clarity. To catch up with other recent interviews, visit electricperspectives.com/podcast.

Electric Perspectives (EP): Tell us a little bit about your background.

Tyler Anthony (TA): I've spent more than three decades in the energy industry, with more than 20 years in nuclear and 15 years on the transmission and distribution side of the business. That perspective has shaped how I approach this role at Pepco Holdings, where we serve more than 2 million customers across Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and here in Washington, D.C., including some of the country's most critical government and institutional facilities.

We take that responsibility very seriously at Pepco. It's an honor to serve this area. Our mission is to deliver safe, reliable, and affordable power to these communities, and that includes ensuring continuity for the institutions that keep our region and our nation running.

We're doing all of this at a time when the energy landscape is undergoing, frankly, unprecedented change. In the last five years, we've seen more transformation than we had in the previous 50. From the rapid growth of data centers and electric vehicles to the impacts of climate change and evolving customer expectations, our grid is under more pressure than ever. 

At the same time, exciting opportunities are emerging. We're seeing a resurgence of interest in clean, baseload generation like nuclear. I'm looking forward to talking more about how we're responding to surging demand, especially from areas like AI and data centers, how we're investing in grid modernization to prepare for what's ahead, and how we're building the workforce needed to power this transformation in a way that's equitable and lasting.

EP: The rapid growth of AI and data centers is accelerating grid transformation. At the same time, the industry is navigating rising electricity demand and extreme weather events. How is Pepco developing long-term plans to power its communities in the face of all of these sometimes-competing dynamics?

TA: We're at an inflection point. The convergence of AI, data center growth, electrification, and extreme weather is transforming the energy system faster than anything I've seen in my 30-plus years in the industry. As an example, battery storage at scale in the United States is poised to more than double during the next two years and will close out 2026 at nearly 65 gigawatts (GW). When you put that in perspective, it's a rapid rise from the 17 GW in the first quarter projected for 2024. A gigawatt is roughly equivalent to building an entire nuclear power station.

At Pepco, we're focused on energy security as older baseload resources that operate 24/7 retire and new energy resources come online. We've retired all the fossil generation in New Jersey. We've just retired the last fossil plant in Delaware in December of last year. That just means the need for renewables will continue as we build these larger baseload, 24/7 resources.

We also are advocating for market and policy reforms that ensure large-scale users like data centers pay their fair share, and that customers aren't left shouldering the costs of rapid transformation. Both Pepco and Exelon Corporation support co-location of data centers with energy generation. We see that as a key part of the solution, but it has to be done responsibly. We need to ensure that it doesn't drive up costs for residents and small businesses while also helping position the United States to lead in the global race for AI.

This is all about national security. And, it's about striking the right balance between growth and accountability, innovation, and equality. As long as we're working together—electric companies, policymakers, regulators, as well as our partners in labor in our communities—we can solve these issues and continue to advance improvements to the grid. I can't stress enough the importance of partnerships.

This moment calls for urgency but also discipline. We can move fast and still do it the right way. 

EP: Can you tell us more about Pepco’s Capital Grid project?

TA: I mentioned the importance of partnerships. The Capital Grid project pulled all of our regional partnerships together to essentially set a foundation with our stakeholders to put a $1.6-billion investment in the future of energy in Washington, D.C.

It's going to serve as a springboard to our long-term strategy to enhance the energy grid. The project was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our employees to work on something that is transformative for our customers, our communities, and our partners. It essentially puts 230 kilovolts 25 feet into the ground across the entire District of Columbia, increasing capacity and replacing aged infrastructure.

The Capital Grid project started in 2016, and we're quickly coming to its conclusion.

EP: Exelon, which is the parent company of Pepco, recently announced a $50-million charitable contribution to help customers in need of financial assistance across its network. Can you tell us about Pepco's role in this program and how it will help customers?

TA: This is one of the reasons I'm so proud to work for Exelon. We spend a great amount of time in our communities, and that builds a level of trust. What we've seen across the different jurisdictions, as supply costs have increased, is that our customers’ bills are increasing.

Exelon and companies like Pepco asked ourselves: What more can we do? How can we be part of the solution? This was a step in that direction—to say to our customers, ‘We're here for you.’ We're part of the broader community. It's very important that we show up when our customers are in need in any way that we can. This is another step in that direction—to build that trust with our community and our customers.

EP: What can you tell us about your focus on ensuring customer bills are as low as possible? 

TA: This is probably the top issue facing our industry, facing Exelon, and facing Pepco. We're taking it very seriously. Our relief fund is a big step in the right direction. However, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes as we try to drive costs down.

There are four areas that we're focused on currently. One is reforms on the supply side with the PJM Interconnection, looking at how we keep dispatchable resources affordable and available for customers.

The second is our internal costs, looking at how we keep these as low as possible and get the most out of every dollar we spend.

Third, we're working to educate customers. In our customer portal, customers can get weekly and daily updates on the energy they're using, how it compares over time, and how much they're spending. This keeps them more active, because nobody wants a surprise bill. In Washington, D.C., where temperatures can get close to 100 degrees this time of year, more energy will go toward running air conditioners. We have to keep customers informed and help them manage their energy.

Our fourth and final area of focus relates to our regulators and our partners and includes energy efficiency programs, energy efficiency audits, what we're doing around rate structure for low- to moderate-income customers, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and federal programs, and how we’re connecting all of this to customers. 

As the new leader of the Electricity Information Sharing Analysis Center (E-ISAC), I come into the role with a sense of enthusiasm and energy. Not only do I get to continue the mission, vision, and focus I had in my previous role at Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE), I also get to work with another exceptional and highly respected team. I see nothing but potential as we build on the E-ISAC’s historic successes—one of which is GridEx, the largest grid security exercise in North America.

Hosted every two years by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and the E-ISAC, GridEx was launched in 2011. Hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals have participated. GridEx simulates the response and recovery from a coordinated attack on critical infrastructure and is designed as a decentralized, distributed play exercise. Organizations that take part can scale their own participation up or down to meet their unique objectives while coordinating their response with external partners. This year, GridEx VIII (to be held November 18-19) promises to be another major step forward in advancing industry-wide preparedness and resilience against evolving cyber and physical security threats.

Although I have been with the E-ISAC for a relatively short time, I already am struck by the scale and scope of the exercise and the level of industry and government planning, collaboration, and coordination that goes into staging this important event.

In my previous role, I participated in all seven exercises. I always saw them as an opportunity to exercise at scale and to test and continually strengthen our resilience. While GridEx is only one of many exercises that entities take part in, its unique flexibility is an asset and provides a broader view across industry, government, and stakeholder perspectives.

And, importantly, it serves as a call to action to engage and build relationships across those groups before a real event occurs. Planning and engagement include working with federal government partners, such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity—organizations that would be instrumental in responding to a national-level crisis.

Of course, the real impacts of any attack are realized in local communities, making strong relationships among the investor-owned electric companies, electric cooperatives, public power entities and municipalities, local government, and emergency services vital to recovery efforts. GridEx promotes bringing these organizations together to build and strengthen relationships, as participants work together to enhance our collective resilience.

I firmly believe that the E-ISAC’s role in building and coordinating this exercise is about continuously advancing the resilience of our industry. Every exercise should move the needle forward, challenging our plans and capabilities and identifying opportunities to strengthen and improve, because that is the real benefit. At the end of the day, we cannot prevent everything, but we can reduce the likelihood and impact of physical and cyber attacks—and we can ensure that the partnerships and processes are in place to effectively respond and recover.

Participating with BHE in the past provided a valuable perspective and shaped my thinking on how participants should approach the exercise. I believe the aim should be to challenge existing plans, degrade resources, and test assumptions to the point of failure—it is at the point of failure where the lessons are really learned. Effective exercises using challenging scenarios and the resulting lessons learned are what lead to measurable improvement for each participating organization.

The E-ISAC publishes its own Lessons Learned Report following each GridEx, which is posted on the E-ISAC website. A major outcome of the 2023 exercise was the need for the electric sector to improve the resilience of its communications systems. Through document reviews and interviews with subject matter experts, the E-ISAC developed a full report with extensive recommendations for the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council.

The E-ISAC also developed two communications references: an in-depth case study on the unique communications challenges encountered during Hurricane Helene in North Carolina; and a Resilient Communications Technical Crosswalk document, which serves as a quick reference for comparing different resilient communications technologies currently in use across the grid. These references, which are available on the E-ISAC website, are provided to help members as they improve their crisis communications plans and elevate their communications technologies.

Enhanced accessibility was another recommendation identified during GridEx 2023. As a direct result, the E-ISAC has expanded participation options for the upcoming exercise to make it even easier for smaller organizations and first-time participants to get involved. To facilitate their participation, two new formats have been introduced this year:

• GridEx in a Box: A streamlined version designed as a functional exercise, ideal for smaller planning teams or organizations with limited resources.
• GridEx Tabletop: A flexible, discussion-based format designed to be “plug and play” with a slide deck and a facilitator guide.

With more than 300 organizations already registered, GridEx VIII is an opportunity to strengthen internal response capabilities, build relationships across the industry and with other sectors, and help enhance the overall resilience of the bulk power system. More information and registration details are available on the E-ISAC website.

Michael Ball is senior vice president at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and CEO of the Electricity Information Sharing Analysis Center.

EEI on Wednesday published its 2024 Financial Review, a wide-ranging report showcasing investor-owned electric companies’ strong financial footing.

EEI member companies invested a record $178.2 billion last year to make the energy grid smarter, stronger, more dynamic, and more secure, according to the report. This was the 13th-consecutive year of record capital investment for EEI member companies, with more than $30 billion allocated to adaptation, hardening, and resilience projects to strengthen the nation’s transmission and distribution infrastructure for all customers.

“Importantly, EEI member companies are projected to make similar investments of more than $1.1 trillion between 2025 and 2029, creating millions of jobs and supporting local economies across the country,” EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney said in a statement. “As always, we remain committed to keeping customer bills as low as possible as we work to deliver the reliable, secure electricity that is enabling innovation and enhancing the energy leadership of the United States.”

EEI member companies are continuing to invest to support growing electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence and data center expansion, industrialization and the reshoring of manufacturing activity, and the electrification of the broader economy. The sector is the most capital-intensive in the U.S. economy, and these investments support local jobs, empower communities, and drive economic development.

The report also showed that the industry’s average credit rating at the parent company level remained at BBB+ for the 11th-consecutive year, having increased from BBB in 2014, among other financial metrics.

The electric power industry accounts for at least 5 percent of U.S. GDP and supports more than 7 million jobs across the country. Its financial health is critical to unlocking the capital necessary to build new critical energy infrastructure of all kinds.

Visit eei.org to read through the report.

Committed to Resilience and Reliability

EEI member companies know that a secure, resilient energy grid is our nation’s first line of defense against extreme weather and other threats to America’s energy security. It’s why our members have invested more than $1.3 trillion over the past decade to enhance our critical energy infrastructure—and will commit more than $200 billion this year alone to make the grid stronger, smarter, cleaner, more dynamic, and more secure.

Our industry faces rapid demand growth, a shifting policy and regulatory landscape, evolving customer needs, and a wave of technological innovation that is changing the way we do business. Yet, our commitment to resilience and reliability remains constant. As we reflect on last year’s devastating storm and wildfire seasons, we know that keeping the lights on and our customers and communities safe will be paramount as we head into the summer months.

That’s one of the reasons I find it fitting that our industry’s leaders will be joining government and privatesector partners in New Orleans for EEI 2025, our annual conference and thought leadership forum. New Orleans is a beautiful and vibrant city that exemplifies resilience and knows as well as any the catastrophic potential of Mother Nature.

This upcoming August will mark 20 years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. The magnitude of the storm captured attention the world over, and it prompted electric companies, city planners, federal and state officials, volunteers, charitable organizations, and others to come together to carry out one of the most extensive rebuild and recovery efforts in U.S. history.

As an industry, we take great pride in sharing resources and information. What we learned from Katrina and the storms and events that followed is the power of partnership. It takes all of us working together to strengthen community resilience and to prepare for and respond to the impacts of events that threaten reliability.

It’s why we engage in year-round resilience, restoration, and business continuity planning and why we continue to make strategic and significant investments in new technologies and critical adaptation, hardening, and resilience initiatives. Our customers depend on reliable access to electricity and on safe and swift restorations when outages do occur.

We’ve seen the benefits of these efforts across the country, particularly last year when Hurricanes Helene and Milton tested our industry’s storm response and mutual assistance capabilities. The storms struck two weeks apart along the Gulf Coast of Florida, leaving catastrophic damage in their wake as Helene carved into Georgia, the Carolinas, and beyond and as Milton cut across the Florida peninsula.

The storms collectively caused more than $113 billion in damage, and, yet, we saw that areas that had made significant investments in weather-resilient infrastructure fared better during the storms and had shorter restoration times when outages occurred.

That’s also been true in New Orleans, where Entergy helped lead efforts to build back stronger in the aftermath of Katrina. After the storm cut power to one-third of the company’s service territory, damaging 3,000 miles of transmission lines, 30,000 miles of distribution lines, and 17,400 distribution poles, Entergy made extensive investments to keep the community safe during future extreme weather events. The company worked with regulators and community leaders to develop a plan to enhance grid resilience. 

Those grid hardening efforts continue under Entergy Chair and CEO Drew Marsh and have helped New Orleans build back stronger than ever. They also are helping to increase reliability while helping to keep customer bills as low as possible over the long term, minimizing the repairs needed following storms and mitigating the lost economic activity that results from prolonged outages.

Ready for the Demand Arriving Now

Resilience will be a featured topic of conversation during mainstage keynote discussions, breakout sessions, and programming in The Hub at EEI 2025. I am eager to hear from Occidental President and CEO Vicki Hollub, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, technology thought leader and former AMD President Victor Peng, and the rest of our distinguished lineup of speakers—and for them to learn more about the work underway in our industry.

And, while attending the New Orleans conference will be among my final duties as EEI’s interim President and CEO, I am confident that the industry is well-positioned to deliver an energy grid that is reliable, weather-resilient, responsive, and ready for the demand arriving now.

I am proud to pass the reins to Drew Maloney, who will begin his work as EEI’s new president and CEO on July 1. Drew assumes this mantle at an exciting and critical time for our industry, and I am confident that his proven record of navigating some of the nation’s most complex policy landscapes will be invaluable as our industry works to meet growing demand for electricity and to deliver the reliable, resilient energy future that our customers expect and deserve.

America’s investor-owned electric companies are in the midst of incredible demand growth and on the cusp of tremendous change. I am excited to be serving as EEI’s interim president and CEO at such a pivotal time, working with the talented leaders at our member companies to build a brighter energy future for all.

Today, electricity demand is growing at its fastest pace in decades, as new technologies and evolving customer expectations are driving rapid transformation. This once-in-a-generation demand growth is creating new challenges for our nation, as well as unique opportunities for our industry to better serve customers and communities and to ensure America is home to the industries, technologies, and jobs of tomorrow. EEI and our member companies are leading the way and are working hard to meet these challenges head-on.

At the same time, we are engaging with a new administration and new Congress on a busy policy agenda. We know that our job of educating policymakers, regulators, and industry stakeholders is more important than ever, and we have developed strategic advocacy plans to advance our priority issues and to achieve favorable results that benefit our customers.

Our efforts are fueled by knowledge that we need a modern energy system for our modern age, particularly as data centers and artificial intelligence technologies, the onshoring of manufacturing, and increased electrification continue to drive energy demand and global economic activity. With a supportive policy and regulatory framework in place, we can build an energy grid that is reliable, responsive, weather-resilient, and ready to meet customer demand today and in the years ahead.

Promoting Supportive Public Policy

We all know that electricity is the energy that powers our increasingly digital economy, and our industry is integrally linked to the success of our nation. As a whole, our industry supports more than 7 million jobs across the country and accounts for at least 5 percent of U.S. GDP.

More than ever, it is vital that public policies support energy security by prioritizing the buildout of more critical energy infrastructure and by allowing electric companies to maintain a diverse, domestic, and dispatchable energy
mix. Natural gas, renewables, storage, and new and existing nuclear are all important parts of this equation.

EEI’s member companies have the expertise needed to build the necessary infrastructure. What we don’t have is time—specifically, time for inefficient government review processes to drag on and on.

We must streamline permitting requirements, align policy requirements, and encourage capital investment to rapidly build out the grid and the other critical infrastructure needed to power data centers, bolster domestic manufacturing, and support the electrification of other sectors of the economy. We also must continue to lead efforts to develop, demonstrate, and deploy grid-enhancing technologies that are helping to bolster grid resilience and get more out of the infrastructure that we already have.

Favorable tax policy is particularly important, and we are engaging with members of Congress and their staff on where and how policies like the energy tax credits are driving innovation, creating new American jobs and economic opportunities, and helping electric companies meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity reliably and affordably. During the year ahead, we will work to protect the energy tax credits, secure a repairs fix in the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, and continue to advocate for provisions within the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that benefit electricity customers.

Environmental regulations also remain front and center, and EEI is committed to working with policymakers and regulators to support policies that better accommodate member company fleet transition plans and reflect the challenges of building new generation. We are committed to getting the energy we provide as clean as we can as fast as we can, and we are working to find solutions that drive innovation and the deployment of new energy technologies, allowing our member companies to meet demand growth reliably while helping to keep customer bills as low as possible.

Addressing Wildfire Risk

Among EEI’s priorities this year is advancing a comprehensive national strategy that addresses wildfire risk, with a focus on community protection, prevention, responsible investment, and rapid recovery. The recent fires in Southern California, exacerbated by hurricane-force winds and severe drought conditions, offer a grim reminder of the devastation that these events can inflict. We are grateful for the brave firefighters and first responders who worked around-the-clock to contain the blazes.

EEI and our member companies were actively engaged at the highest levels of industry and government through the CEO-led Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to ensure that impacted electric companies had the resources and equipment needed for the response, restoration, and rebuild efforts that are essential to the recovery.

The threat of wildfires is a societal problem that requires societal solutions. We are committed to working with Congress to advance legislation that will help mitigate risks and support our efforts to protect the customers and communities that we serve. And, we will continue to work with our partners in Washington to ensure that the ESCC remains the center of gravity, where industry and government come together to strengthen our shared responsibility of protecting the grid against all threats.

The growing frequency and intensity of wildfires and extreme weather events of all kinds reinforces just how important it is to invest in resilient infrastructure and a more weather-resilient grid, as few regions were spared Mother Nature’s wrath over the past year. EEI’s member companies invested more than $171 billion in 2023 alone to make the grid stronger, smarter, cleaner, more weather-resilient, and more secure, and these efforts will continue in 2025 and beyond. Securing our grid against threats both natural and manmade is critically important to the success of our industry, as well as to our nation’s role as a global energy leader.

Leading the Way

This will be a busy year for us all. As the leader of an EEI member company myself, I recognize and appreciate the important work that is underway across our industry on behalf of the hundreds of millions of Americans who depend on us to power their lives. I am also grateful for the high levels of engagement from my CEO colleagues on these and so many other critical issues.

We will face no shortage of opportunities, challenges, and change in 2025 and beyond. What will remain the same is our commitment to delivering a secure, reliable energy future that benefits everyone. Through the Power by Association^SM that EEI represents, we will meet the evolving needs and expectations of our customers, and we will engage with partners in industry and government to ensure we have the infrastructure, technologies, and policies in place to power our economy and our lives for decades to come.

Collaboration and coordination between government stakeholders and the electric power industry are vital following weather-related events and natural disasters that cause significant power outages. These partnerships help ensure an efficient response, using the strengths and resources of both industry and government to restore power quickly and to support storm-affected communities and customers. By working together, we can mitigate the impact of disasters, enhance resilience, and expedite recovery efforts.

One of the hallmarks of this industry is its collaborative nature, embodied by the mutual assistance process that brings resources and support to communities that need it most. We are fortunate to be part of a critical industry that keeps the lights on and energy flowing, and we are proud to be there so customers and communities know they can depend on us to reliably deliver the energy they need when and where they need it. That’s true on blue-sky days and in recovering and rebuilding in the wake of storms.

More than power, even, we have the privilege of restoring hope. Nowhere was this more evident than in the recent responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which made landfall within two weeks of one another. More than 200 lives were lost during these devastating storms, which also disrupted power and paralyzed local economies for millions of Americans.

The Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC)—the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power sector—was pivotal in preparing for and responding to these hurricanes. The ESCC brings together industry CEOs and leaders with key federal partners, including officials from the White House, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Departments of Energy and Homeland Security, among others.

During Helene and Milton, the ESCC convened numerous national calls structured to facilitate unity of effort and message. Working through the council ensured that information was shared with all relevant parties and that challenges were promptly addressed to help communities recover safely and as swiftly as possible.

We are incredibly grateful for the involvement and leadership of senior government officials who connected directly with our industry throughout the response to these storms. Especially encouraging was direct engagement from President Joe Biden; Vice President Kamala Harris; Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; FEMA Director Deanne Criswell; and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Caitlin Durkovich, among others.

In the days leading up to and following Helene’s landfall, Southern Company system responders joined tens of thousands of mutual assistance workers deployed from all over the country before pivoting to assist with the response to Milton. In the responses to Helene and Milton, our industry mobilized more than 50,000 mutual assistance workers from at least 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada—highlighting the strength and importance of industry partnerships in storm restoration.

The coordination across companies and state lines, and the unity of effort to move crews and materials where work needed to be done, was a marvel to see.

Customers and communities are at the heart of everything we do. We know that energy is a necessity, not a commodity. It is a critical asset to our nation and to our economy that powers everyday life. That’s why we also know how incredibly essential energy resilience is.

Southern Company, like so many of our peers, has been focused on resilience planning for years. We prepare for extreme weather events and worst-case scenarios so that we can deliver for our customers when they need us most. Since 2015, we’ve invested around $21 billion in our energy grid. And much of our future investment is expected to go toward things that make our grid more resilient, like hardening our infrastructure and enhancing the resilience of our generation facilities. 

Investments in resilience pay off. Even with the magnitude of Helene and Milton, areas in Florida and Georgia that had significantly invested in resilience experienced less damage to the grid and saw faster restoration times. We are working closely with customers, communities, government officials, and regulators to help everyone understand the importance of these investments and the tangible benefits they provide.

I am proud of the team at Southern Company—and of EEI and our peers across the industry—for learning new lessons every year and after every storm. We are always looking for ways to get better. Helene and Milton brought extraordinary challenges. Their lessons will help us to better serve our customers and to be even more prepared for the next storm.

Stan Connally is the executive vice president of operations at Southern Company and chairman, president, and CEO of Southern Company Services. He also serves as the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council’s emergency response lead.

Expanding and upgrading America’s critical energy infrastructure—while ensuring reliability and affordability for customers—has never been more important for our industry. That’s why I was so encouraged to see the warm reception to the findings of a new Critical Consumer Issues Forum (CCIF) report during July’s National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Summer Policy Summit in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The report, Exploring Rate Design and Other Regulatory Tools: Maximizing Grid Benefits and the Customer Experience, builds on a consensus principle that CCIF participants identified in 2023: More focus should go into developing cost-based rate design structures that can help mitigate upward pressure on customer bills while maximizing the value of grid assets. The report is the result of months of CCIF engagement with electric companies, state regulatory commissions, andcustomer advocate groups, who worked together to develop a thoughtful framework for exploring efficient rate design and customer pricing options amid a complicated regulatory landscape.

As a member of CCIF’s executive committee, I am proud of the constructive dialogues and diverse group of stakeholders that contributed to the report, which will help all of us build a solid foundation for positive regulatory outcomes. During an EEI-sponsored breakfast and subsequent panel discussions at NARUC’s fourday summer policy summit, weshared the findings of the report, including ten consensus principles that we hope will guide discussion around costbased rate design moving forward.

Some of these principles, such as developing a sense of urgency around using innovative rate design tools to address issues around affordability and long-term costs for electric companies, are more technical in nature, dealing with the very foundations of rate design. Others, such as strategically promoting and rewarding customer behavior changes as they relate to energy use, focus on community and customer engagement efforts, ensuring that customers understand and can benefit from innovative rate solutions.

These principles should be considered less of a step-by-step roadmap and more of an establishment of common ground shared by electric companies, state commissions, customer advocates, and other relevant stakeholders. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for rate design, and an array of options and regulatory and policy tools should be considered in rate discussions happening across the country.

Our industry is governed by the laws of physics. Balancing energy supply and demand, transferring energy throughout our service areas to balance peaks and fill troughs, is at the heart of our industry. Innovative rate design structures can help ensure affordability for customers while allowing America’s investor-owned electric companies to make the most of the grid of today while proactively building and preparing for the grid of tomorrow.

There are no shortage of challenges for electric companies and state regulators. Once-in-a-generation demand growth is reshaping near- and long-term grid planning, and increasing threats from wildfires and extreme weather events threaten our nation’s critical energy infrastructure.

We should think about innovative and forward-thinking rate design structures in the same way that we think about the technologies in these command centers—as indispensable tools that help us serve our customers reliably and affordably. 

When rate design complements demand-response initiatives, distributed energy resources, and energy efficiency programs that make the most of the infrastructure that we currently have in place, we all benefit.

The road to a resilient clean energy future is not one that we can walk alone, and the latest CCIF report is a testament to the progress that can be achieved by working together with an array of relevant stakeholders. By engaging early with regulators and customer-advocate groups—and ensuring customers can be actively informed and engaged in their energy usage—we can address the challenges and benefit from the opportunities that lay before us, together.

Phil Moeller is executive vice president, regulatory affairs and international programs at the Edison Electric Institute.

The eclipse will spur a celestial show, but electric companies are preparing as if it was a storm due to the potential effect on solar power capacity. Companies also expect there to be congestion on many roads due to the number of people likely to travel to witness the event.

“Electric companies have been working to integrate clean energy resources to combat climate change while also ensuring reliability and resilience for customers today. Each energy source has certain characteristics that electric companies account for," said EEI Senior Vice President of Security and Preparedness Scott Aaronson. 

"In the case of solar power, grid operators manage the impacts of a drop in solar production every day when the sun goes down. They understand that it is intermittent and cannot always be counted on, whether because of cloud cover, nightfall or, more rarely, a solar eclipse. In order to ensure supply meets demand, grid operators understand what resources are available at all times and can account for both increases in demand or dips in supply.  When the upcoming solar eclipse limits solar energy output, electric companies and system operators will be prepared."

Entergy Arkansas and FirstEnergy are just two of the electric companies that have service areas in the path of totality and are preparing accordingly.

Entergy Arkansas is working with officials from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, Arkansas Department of Transportation, and other state and city leaders on a preparedness plan. Like other companies, Entergy Arkansas is preparing for heavy traffic and changes in power capacity but is not expecting outages.

“Planning for power generation during the solar eclipse is very similar to situations where we have thunderstorms or extended cloud cover in the area,” said Adam Effrein, vice president of reliability at Entergy Arkansas. “We’re well-positioned with a diverse portfolio of power generation sources, and we don’t believe there will be any impact on customers’ electric service during this time.”

In Northeast Ohio, FirstEnergy notes that the total solar eclipse won’t be seen again in Ohio until 2099—making this a once-in-a-lifetime event for most Ohioans.

“Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the region to witness this rare event, and we believe our system can handle the additional electrical load and deliver safe and reliable power to our customers and visitors,” said Pat Mullin, acting president of FirstEnergy’s Ohio operations.

The company has activated its Incident Command System and Emergency Operations Center to ensure thorough coordination, planning, and communications among the entire organization and with local government partners. 

Southern California Edison (SCE) is among many electric companies not in the direct path of the eclipse that already has been making preparations, since the region will still experience a partial eclipse. SCE is working closely with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to prepare for possible power capacity changes. Thanks in part to advanced preparation by CAISO, grid impacts during the last eclipse were minimal.

“Our main concern from an operational standpoint is to make sure that forecasts reflect the changes in load and supply and that our operators and solar generation partners are prepared to respond to CAISO’s instructions to manage what’s expected to be a very fast ramp in load,” said Leo Kim, senior manager of forecasting, analytics, and distributed energy resources at SCE.

Across the country, electric companies’ meteorological teams are also heavily monitoring the predicted weather for the event. Companies’ storm response teams will be ready for action, especially given the higher congestion of customers in certain areas and potential for stormy weather. Additionally, electric company workers will be mobilized across the affected service territories to stand ready for any potential outages. 

Read FirstEnergy’s and Entergy Arkansas’ tips to stay safe while viewing the eclipse.