Doug Arent and Robin Millican on What's Really Driving Electricity Prices

Concerns about the affordability of electricity in the US have been rising along with prices. And while the headlines have pointed to AI and data centers as the underlying factors, the exact causes are more complex. 

The problem reflects a convergence of pre-existing structural failures, including inefficient infrastructure planning, utility incentives that are misaligned with cost efficiency, slow permitting times, and storm damage and wildfire costs. And now, higher electricity demand, including from data centers, is accelerating all of these pressures and adding some of their own.

Today on the show, Bill Loveless speaks to Doug Arent and Robin Millican about their recent reports for the Center on Global Energy Policy that examine the structural roots of rising electricity prices and look at approaches to improving grid investments and resilience.

Doug is a global fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy and the emeritus executive director at the Foundation for the National Laboratory of the Rockies, a nonprofit established to support the Department of Energy lab, where he served for nearly 30 years, rising to the role of deputy associate director.

Robin directs research programs and strategic partnerships at CGEP, leading its research agenda. Previously, she was the head of strategic initiatives and integration at Breakthrough Energy, the global organization founded by Bill Gates to accelerate the transition to affordable, reliable, and clean energy. 

Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.