Exclusive: Google, Tesla, others tackle energy affordability
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
A new coalition of companies that includes Google and Tesla will address energy affordability by tapping into underused electricity grid capacity, coalition officials told Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: It's the latest example of how soaring electricity rates — from AI data centers and other demands — have moved affordability to the front burner.
Driving the news: The group Utilize plans to work with state lawmakers, regulators, utilities and others to improve how the grid operates by focusing on affordability along with electricity reliability and speed.
- Officials said they plan to release research soon from The Brattle Group showing U.S. consumers could save as much as $180 billion over a decade from system improvements.
- In addition to Google and Tesla, Utilize's members include air conditioning giant Carrier, deployment services company Sparkfund, electric panel firm SPAN, home-energy company Renew Home and data center developer Verrus.
- "We recognize that there's a need to prioritize affordability and do so in a way that really empowers states to make the best decisions," said Ian Magruder, Utilize's executive director.
Zoom in: The coalition hopes that developing and communicating ideas about battery storage, distributed energy resources and other technologies can get them more rapidly adopted.
- "I'm hopeful that this Utilize coalition will make a great impact, because we will collectively share our good ideas, our impact, benchmarking the challenges we're facing," said Hakan Yilmaz, president at Carrier Energy and chief sustainability officer for Carrier Global.
Coalition members said they're already having an impact in Virginia, where new Gov. Abigail Spanberger and other officials are eager to address community concerns about data center development and electricity rates, Magruder and Yilmaz said.
- Utilize members helped usher into passage a first-in-the-nation bill that would require major utilities to spell out how much of the grid is being used and incorporate those metrics into State Corporation Commission plans and reviews.
- The bill is awaiting Spanberger's signature.
- "We think it can be a model for the rest of the country," Magruder said.
What's next: Utilize is talking to several other states as well as federal officials about cooperating with them.
- "People across both parties are interested in energy affordability right now," Magruder said. "And there's an increasing need for more power and to bring down the cost."
Sign up here for Axios' Future of Energy newsletter.
