AI and data centers are driving electricity demand higher just as Americans are feeling the pressure of rising energy bills. Meanwhile, utilities are seeking approval for unprecedented levels of grid investment. As state regulators gather this week for their annual Winter Policy Summit, the question is front and center: how do we keep the lights on without breaking the bank?

In this episode, Ann Rendahl—who leads state utility regulators nationwide as president of NARUC and serves as a utility commissioner in Washington State— discusses how regulators balance reliability and affordability, the tools they use to decide which investments are truly needed, and where the biggest cost pressures are emerging. Drawing on her experience working with organized wholesale power markets in the West and Midwest, she explains how competition, private investment, and early collaboration between industry and regulators can help manage costs and deliver the reliable infrastructure customers expect.

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With AI, data centers, and electrification are driving a surge in electricity demand, the pressure is on to keep America’s power grid reliable and affordable. The real question is whether we’ll meet this moment with competitive, market-driven investment – or shift the risk and the cost back onto consumers.

In this episode of Energy Solutions, EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler sits down with Mason Emnett, Senior Vice President of Public Policy at Constellation Energy, the nation’s largest nuclear power plant operator and largest private-sector power producer.

They discuss what’s really behind today’s energy demand forecasts, why misunderstanding new load profiles can lead to costly overreactions, what the Crane Clean Energy Center restart tells us about the future of nuclear power, what’s happening in PJM, and why competitive markets – where investors bear the risk, not consumers – matter more than ever as the U.S. enters a new era of electricity growth.

Topics include:

• Why AI and data centers are changing electricity demand,
• The biggest misunderstandings about new load growth,
• Who should bear the risk when demand forecasts or projects are wrong,
• How competitive markets protect consumer from risk better than vertically-integrated models,
• What the Crane Clean Energy Center restart means for nuclear’s future,
• How permitting, interconnection, and market reform can unlock private investment,
• What Maryland’s CPCN process reveals about state energy policy choices,
• And why abandoning competition would raise costs and slow progress.

Host: Todd Snitchler, President and CEO, EPSA

Guest: Mason Emnett, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Constellation Energy

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What would happen if a coordinated cyber and physical attack disrupted the systems that power daily life—not just power plants, but data centers, pipelines, and communications?

Cyber and physical threats to the electric grid are growing more advanced, more frequent, and harder to detect. The impacts can ripple far beyond the energy sector, affecting communities, public safety, and the broader economy. From sophisticated phishing to copper theft from power plants, competitive power suppliers, grid operators, and utilities must stay prepared.

In this episode of Energy Solutions, EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler sits down with one of the nation’s top grid security leaders to unpack today’s threat landscape and what it takes to strengthen the power system. Michael Ball is Senior Vice President of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and CEO of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC). They discuss the rising role of AI in cyberattacks, how adversaries target industrial control systems, and why information sharing across the energy sector is essential.

They also cover insights from the recent national GridEx VIII exercise—as well as a new “Grid-Ex-in-a-Box" drill EPSA customized for member companies this November in Houston—and explore how competitive power suppliers can get prepared before a real crisis hits.

Topics include:

• How cyber threats have become constant and increasingly sophisticated,
• The rise of almost autonomous AI-enabled cyberattacks,
• Physical security risks including vandalism, copper theft, and drone activity at power plants,
• How adversaries target industrial control systems with advanced toolkits,
• The critical role of information sharing across competitive power suppliers, utilities, and government partners,
• What the E-ISAC does and how it supports industry-wide situational awareness,
• Key insights from GridEx VIII,
• The importance of resilient communications strategies and updated playbooks,
• And what competitive power suppliers and utilities should focus on heading into 2026.

Host: Todd Snitchler, President and CEO, EPSA

Guest: Michael Ball, senior vice president, NERC, CEO, E-ISAC

Liked this episode? Share it on X @EPSANews or LinkedIn at Electric Power Supply Association. Want more competitive power updates? Sign up for our monthly Power Moves newsletter.