The U.S. must invest in power generation of all kinds, including renewables, and focus on improving efficiencies to keep the grid from breaking down and utility prices from soaring out of control, said Calvin Butler, president and CEO of the major utility Exelon.
While now is not yet the time to panic, it is time for immediate action to meet surging demand from the AI boom and electrification, and to keep everyday Americans from drowning in costs from spiking utility bills, said Butler, who also chairs the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities nationwide.
“The warning lights are on. You’re driving your car and the check-engine light is on. You’re like, ‘I’m going to keep pushing this.’ And no one is going to pay attention until it breaks down,” Butler said Tuesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco.
The fear is that the grid will break down in different regions on their hottest and coldest days. “And people are going to suffer. You have to fix it now,” said Butler, whose Exelon (No. 192 on the Fortune 500) services communities from Chicago to Washington, D.C.
After nearly 15 years of flat demand, U.S. electricity generation growth is expected to hit 2.4% in 2025 and rise by close to 2% next year as well, the U.S. Department of Energy said Dec. 9.
Residential electricity prices have skyrocketed about 30% since 2021. As of the end of September, electricity costs are up nearly 7.5% in 2025 from the prior year, and are projected to continue rising in 2026, according to the DOE.
Electricity and natural gas for heating and cooking are now the leading pressures on inflation in 2025, even exceeding food and grocery costs, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data. Utility bills have surpassed the price at the pump and the cost of eggs as a top political bellwether in 2025 and heading into next year’s congressional midterm elections.
Renewables are projected to account for 25% of U.S. electricity generation in 2026 for the first time ever, trailing only natural gas as a fuel for power, the DOE said Dec. 9.
“We need every electron to make a difference,” Butler said, citing the need for everything from renewable energy to nuclear power and natural gas. Butler has bemoaned the Trump administration’s attacks on wind and solar this year.
“We’re 5% of the economy,” Butler said of the utility and power sector, “but we power the next 95%.”
Exelon is doing its part, he said. Exelon and NextEra Energy partnered Dec. 8 to build a new, 220-mile power transmission system through parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia to increase grid reliability, especially in areas where data center campuses are growing.
The concern is that utilities need to serve the wealthiest and the poorest of customers in cities that have huge wealth gaps and high poverty rates. Keeping prices lower is increasingly harder when power generation and wholesale electricity prices continue to rise.
So, what’s going to happen to prices next year? “They’re going to go up,” Butler said.
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