How utilities can lead the AI-energy economy
Explore how utilities can capture new value by coordinating energy, AI infrastructure, and flexible demand.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the power industry in ways that extend far beyond electricity demand growth. As AI inference moves closer to where data is created and large energy users seek greater control over their power supply, a new opportunity is emerging at the intersection of compute and energy: coordination.
Recent grid emergencies have demonstrated that significant flexible generation and demand resources already exist across the system. What remains missing is a scalable, market-based mechanism to coordinate them. As AI infrastructure expands and grid constraints become more common, the ability to orchestrate energy and compute is becoming one of the most valuable positions in the market.
Utilities already possess many of the assets required to lead this transition, including interconnection authority, balancing expertise, substation infrastructure, customer relationships, and regulatory standing. The challenge is deciding how to convert those advantages into new sources of growth and value.
Three strategic paths are emerging:
Host: Monetize grid-adjacent infrastructure and available capacity by supporting distributed AI and compute deployments near utility assets.
Market-maker: Develop new products, tariffs, and market structures that coordinate flexible AI loads, backup generation, and emerging energy resources.
Platform: Build a broader coordination layer that enables energy and compute providers to interact, transact, and optimize through utility-led platforms.
The future value of the AI economy may not belong solely to technology companies or energy providers. It may belong to whoever coordinates them most effectively.
Download the paper to explore the strategic, technical, regulatory, and commercial implications of becoming the coordination layer for the AI economy.
Dive into our thinking:
The new economics of power and compute
As AI and energy increasingly converge, utilities have an opportunity to move beyond delivering electricity and become orchestrators of a new energy-compute ecosystem. Learn the three strategies utilities can use to capture that value.
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