Rappahannock Electric Co-op
Peter Muhoro is the Chief Strategy, Technology, and Innovation Officer at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC), where he leads long-term strategic initiatives and technology planning. He also serves as EVP and General Manager of REC’s subsidiaries, BrilliT and Vividly Brighter, focusing on cybersecurity, data analytics, and consumer energy solutions. With over 20 years of experience, he has held leadership roles at the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. and Pedernales Electric Cooperative. A dedicated advocate for equitable energy access, he chairs the Board of the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) and serves on the GridWise Alliance board.
The electric utility industry has moved past the era of predictable one percent growth. As we reach the middle of 2026, however, the question is no longer whether new load is coming, but rather how providers can build fast enough to meet the demand. This month, we spoke with eight leaders currently navigating unprecedented growth challenges to discuss the strategies and infrastructure we all need to modernize the grid.
The scale of the current challenge is significant. In Virginia, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative is managing five GW of contracted data center load against a foundation where the current peak is only 1.2 GW. In New York, Con Edison is executing a $17 billion investment plan to ensure the grid remains resilient as the city electrifies its buildings and transportation. However, as Rajesh Kumar of NYPA and Jacob Lucas of Eversource emphasize, a central challenge is the timing mismatch; while large loads can be commissioned in eighteen months, transmission and generation projects require significantly more time to complete.