👋 Carrie here. Yesterday, I headed to Reuters’s Global Energy Forum to hear Wright speak. Unsurprisingly, he spent a good chunk of that time reflecting on the Iran conflict.

Where things stand: It’s been just over a week since the US and Iran signed a deal—and oil is moving. As of yesterday, roughly 20M barrels of oil had moved through the Strait in just 24 hours, Wright told the crowded room. But a major hurdle remains: Mines still line the Strait (hence why ships are taking alternative routes via US military escort).

And if the deal collapses? In that scenario, Wright said the US will ensure the Strait doesn’t close again. How? 1) Iran’s military industrial complex has been “massively degraded” from US strikes and 2) the US Navy has shown “that we can shut their flow of oil down to zero” over 60 days.

The bottom line: "The world runs on oil, gas, and coal…it did when I was born. It will when I die,” Wright said. “And I'm an alternative energy guy, but that's just the facts."

Also on Wright's mind: Permitting reform—he hopes to "get something done" this summer. Plus, he sees data centers as "the biggest tool we have to stop the rise in electricity prices.” He put it like this: "Demand growth is your friend."

Power throuple: The country’s biggest home energy providers (Tesla, Sunrun, and Renew Home) are linking up their “hundreds of thousands” of home batteries and over 8M smart thermostats to inject much-needed capacity into the grid. The goal? Funnel that power to 17 large data centers during peak demand—no interconnection required.

First steps: In PJM, the companies said they’ve got over 300 MW ready to go ASAP. By 2030, that figure could surpass 500 MW. They also said they could “unlock over a gigawatt of capacity today” for PJM’s proposed Reliability Backstop Process. Beyond that, the trio is “capable of building multiple gigawatts of additional capacity across the country,” according to a Sunrun statement.

What’s in it for ratepayers? The massive network will benefit residential customers, too, the companies said, through “savings and rewards” for households...though they offered scant details on what those might look like.

While we’re talking capacity: The US energy storage market will nearly quadruple to 655 GWh by 2031, Wood Mac predicts.

The details: The federal utility has laid out three possible roadmaps toward 2050: A) Keep leaning on natural gas B) go heavy on nuclear and long-duration storage and C) prioritize renewables, batteries, and VPPs. As for demand, TVA is prepping for either “moderate” load growth or higher growth (which is looking more and more likely). The organization is also considering a future in which legislation limits power sector emissions.

The background: TVA released a draft IRP in 2024…but it failed to launch because President Trump sacked several TVA board members.

In the near(er) term, the utility projects a need for up to 32 GW of new capacity by 2040—it’s eyeing up to 26 GW of natural gas additions, more than double its current capacity. It’s also pushing coal plant retirements back to 2039, straying from a 2035 goal set under President Joe Biden.

Throwing it back: Calvin Butler told Bloomberg that he’s asking officials in deregulated markets (IL, PA, MD, and NJ) to rewrite their rules and enable the utility to own power facilities. Exelon wants to build out gas plants, battery storage, and solar farms in these states (its generation arm, Constellation Energy, split off in 2022).

Not fair: Butler claimed that IPPs sell energy at higher prices, and customers are eating the costs. But these regulatory shifts could also cost ratepayers once new generation gets added to the rate base.

Catch up: The Trump administration has dished out $2.5B to end offshore wind leases in federal waters. Several states have challenged these deals—and California is the latest to push back. 

What happened: CA intends to sue the Interior Department over its “unlawful agreement” with Golden State Wind. This deal hands $120M to GSW in exchange for halting its leases off the state's central coast (and directs the company to invest an equal amount in fossil fuel projects).

What’s at stake: Axing wind projects means Californians lose out on economic benefits, improved grid reliability, and lowered energy costs, according to California AG Rob Bonta.

Money talks: Xcel’s newly proposed large-load tariff (for new loads 100 MW or greater) would lock customers into 15-year commitments and charge exit fees, among other requirements. 

The company has nearly 3 GW of requests from large customers in the pipeline…but they acknowledged that not all will come to fruition. This marks the latest in a long list of similar tariffs and rules rolled out across the country, which vary in the portion of costs assigned to data center developers.