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

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

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

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

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

‘The Demand Is Here Now’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Innovation Needs to Be Part of Culture’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Technology Is Forcing Us to Rethink Everything’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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