After years of relatively flat electricity demand, the power market is entering a new era. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, electrification, and a wave of data-center development are driving surging demand — and raising a fundamental question: Can the power sector keep up?

As new generation faces equipment backlogs, rising costs, interconnection delays, and regulatory timelines, data-center developers are looking for ways to secure power, while investors and lenders weigh which projects can be built, financed, and brought online.

In this episode of Accelerating Energy, host Ken Irvin is joined by Xander Hector and Mario Manna of Houlihan Lokey to explore how AI and data-center demand is reshaping the value of generation and the financing markets. They discuss what makes projects bankable, how investors are distinguishing durable demand from speculative forecasts, and where the most significant constraints — and opportunities — may lie ahead.

Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.

With strained supply chains, stubborn inflation, and the exploding demand from AI and data centers, the pressure on today’s power grid is unlike anything the industry has seen in decades. While solar, energy storage, and natural gas are all expanding rapidly, the question remains: are we building a system that can actually keep up?

In episode 12 of Accelerating Energy, former PJM Chief Risk Officer Carl Coscia joins Sidley partner Ken Irvin to unpack the high-stakes tradeoffs between reliability and affordability. From volatile capacity markets to the rising cost of capital, they explore what’s really driving today’s energy crunch — and whether the solutions on the table are setting us up for resilience or risk.

Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.

Electricity demand across PJM is accelerating at a pace few anticipated, driven by AI, data centers, and advanced manufacturing. What was once a long-term planning challenge has become an immediate test of market design, grid reliability, and regulatory authority.

In response, the White House has stepped in, urging faster generation development and greater investment certainty. PJM is deploying new reliability tools. States are increasingly acting to protect consumers as capacity prices rise. Yet despite gigawatts of generation approved for interconnection, much of that supply is not arriving fast enough — or in the right form — to meet near-term needs.

The result is a high-stakes question facing policymakers, developers, and market participants alike: how do we move faster without breaking the system we rely on?

In episode 11 of Accelerating Energy, Sidley partner Ken Irvin sits down with Terence Healey of Sidley’s Energy practice and Todd Snitchler, President and CEO of EPSA, to unpack PJM’s evolving approach to large loads, the implications of FERC’s co-location order, the White House’s intervention, and the expanding role of states in an increasingly stressed power market.

Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.