Strategy & Planning

“The swings in power block cycling can be very challenging. Because AI model training runs in parallel, these power blocks can swing between five hundred megawatts to a gigawatt, up to four times a minute.”

“An equally urgent priority is helping our clients navigate an increasingly complex regulatory environment. We’re seeing an increase in private capital going into grid solutions and generation, which is challenging the traditional regulatory model.”

Public Utilities Fortnightly Executive Editor Steve Mitnick turned to four experts facing the challenges and opportunities ahead in 2026. Guidehouse Global Energy Providers Practice Leader Michelle Fay, Emerson President of Power and Water Solutions Bob Yeager, and Energy Impact Partners Head of Innovation Evan Pittman with EIP Elevate Future Fund Managing Partner Anthony Oni provided their thoughts on what the new year will bring.

“If we define unaffordability as when households with limited means and assets encounter a confluence of bill spikes and other adversities that compel them to miss payments and forego necessities, then data from all directions are informing us that there is indeed a crisis.”

“Since nanoplastics are so small, they are able to latch onto nutrients and slip past cells, known as pericytes, that primarily form a barrier that clears toxins from the brain. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases are associated with dysfunctional pericyte cells. Scientists are investigating connections.”

“These award winners earned recognition for developing innovative and transformational solutions to some of today’s most challenging operational issues that have achieved success by demonstrating measurable results.”

“AI-driven load growth is geographically concentrated and physically resource-intensive. But the principle holds: structural innovation – alongside technology – may be the unlock.”

“Portugal considers itself a living lab for the energy transition. Renewables now provide more than seventy percent of its electricity mix with a goal of ninety-three percent by 2030.”

“The public needs confidence that spending is being made in the right place, and there is a grid governance role for the customer to be heard. History has shown that when the public understands and supports the utility, rate cases have a greater chance for approval.”

“I’d be hard-pressed to see where there’ll ever be any utility scale generation built again – renewable or fossil fuel – because of dynamics of the region; land is too valuable. Through OPSI, we are trying to work through that process.”