Axios House: Energy industry faces critical cost and supply crunch

NEW YORK – Energy demand and affordability are at the top of the energy agenda in unprecedented ways, experts agreed at a roundtable discussion at Axios House at Climate Week and the UN General Assembly.

• Axios' Amy Harder and Chuck McCutcheon moderated the roundtable discussion on Sept. 22. The event was sponsored by Exelon.

Why it matters: A sense of urgency exists to meet growing domestic energy needs amid the AI boom, while costs for consumers rise at a rapid rate.

5 big things: Here's what the attendees had to say …

1. There is a general sense among the energy industry that current emissions reduction approaches are not working, said Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy. "We're in a new kind of reality in multiple respects, where energy security is front and center, top of the agenda in a way frankly we haven't seen in a long time. Energy affordability … is front and center."
2. There are challenges in navigating complex state and federal regulations on clean energy policy. "At the state level, I think we're really seeing kind of a crisis of conscience right now, and in some ways a lack of courage to keep the big, charismatic projects moving forward," said Kathleen Schmid, deputy executive director at the NYC Office of Climate and Environmental Justice.
3. "We're wrestling with market versus policy," is how Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, described the roadblocks her industry is facing. "There's this incredibly strong market, this demand for energy … and solar and storage are the way to do it, they're 82% of new additions so far in 2025. And then we have this policy framework that is trying to stop us in our tracks."
4. The industry is focused on addressing "the need of the hour," EDP Renewables North America CEO Sandhya Ganapathy said. "I think pragmatic energy policy requires all electrons, all forms of electrons, to go to the grid. We do not have to pick and choose."
5. Meeting energy demand and powering the AI data center boom is a matter of national security, several experts agreed. "We need to be able to be building absolutely everything we can, and for those data centers or any of those large loads," said Lynda Clemmons, NRG Energy SVP, chief sustainability officer and head of strategy implementation.

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Exelon president and CEO Calvin Butler emphasized the need to upgrade the energy grid to meet needs.

• "How are we going to meet this AI revolution head-on?" he asked. "We're caught in a system where we're trying to meet this challenge of the 21st century with 19th century moves. We can't continue to do that."