The direction of executive orders will hopefully address infrastructure constraints.
Key takeaways
Energy infrastructure across North America is aging and struggling to meet growing demand.
Energy companies are increasingly adopting analytical AI technologies, including machine learning.
Energy sector trend #1: Grid modernization: Digital solutions to legacy energy infrastructure
The electric grid across North America is facing a period of significant stress and change, with a variety of constraints and pressures. For utilities looking to address these challenges, an “all of the above” approach is necessary: increasing capacity through new infrastructure for all types of energy, updating existing infrastructure, and modernizing the grid with emerging technology solutions.
Energy sector trend #2: Impacts of executive actions and policies on energy
Since January, the U.S. administration has put forth a series of executive actions—ranging from executive orders to tariff announcements—that clearly signal a new direction in domestic energy policy. This new approach favors growth in fossil fuels and electricity while scaling back the support that renewable energy had under the prior administration.
Uncertainties remain in the specific implementation of these new policies, so we approach these actions in the same way that energy business leaders should: by considering the general direction set by the administration as well as the market and policy forces that will shape the final outcomes.
Energy sector trend #3: Infrastructure constraints limit energy scalability but present opportunity
The energy sector is gaining renewed focus in the national and global conversation following record U.S. oil and natural gas production, a surge in electricity demand, and a boom in renewable energy growth. These trends are affecting communities and economies across the country, creating both significant promise and serious challenges in scaling the production and distribution of these energy sources. The challenges have ramifications for a range of projects, from drilling wells in West Texas and Pennsylvania to building new data centers in the mid-Atlantic and solar farms in California.
