Grid utilization vs expansion: The 100 GW debate

28 snips

Mar 27, 2026

Brian Janis, co-founder and CCO at Cloverleaf Infrastructure, helps source powered land and unlock grid capacity for digital infrastructure. He dives into the Brattle report claiming better utilization could free ~100 GW. Short takes on how hyperscalers reshaped planning, local impacts of data center siting, the tension between using existing capacity versus building more, and the limits of distributed resources.

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INSIGHT

Underused Grid Can Free 100 GW

The U.S. grid sits idle a lot of the time, and boosting utilization could unlock roughly 100 GW and save tens of billions over a decade.
Brattle modeling shows the system runs about half the time, so shifting/adding load strategically spreads fixed costs and lowers rates.

ANECDOTE

Rural Counties Welcome Data Centers

Rural counties sometimes prefer data centers because they bring tax revenue and manageable job counts without straining schools or traffic.
Brian Janis recounts a Georgia county commissioner saying a data center is 'perfect' for staying rural while improving the high school.

ADVICE

Improve Utilization To Protect Rates

Improve utilization to preserve affordability because building new infrastructure at current capex will otherwise drive rates up.
Even small percentage increases in flexibility materially add usable capacity, per Tyler Norris and Duke work referenced by Brian Janis.

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We’re entering an electricity supercycle that is reshaping how power gets built, where it gets built, and who controls it.

Across the U.S., developers are scrambling to lock up land with access to electricity. And the century-old grid is being pushed in ways it wasn’t designed for. It’s also sparking a new debate about how exactly to modernize the grid.

For all the talk of capacity scarcity, the system sits idle for much of the time. A new report from The Brattle Group suggests that better utilization of the existing system could unlock 100 gigawatts of capacity, while saving ratepayers tens of billions of dollars.

But some are skeptical, saying the focus on utilization and distributed resources isn’t ambitious enough, and doesn’t solve the right problems.

So, do we build our way out of this moment with more steel in the ground? Or do we use what we already have more efficiently and more flexibly?

This week, Brian Janous of Cloverleaf Infrastructure joins the show to unpack the debate over grid utilization vs grid expansion.

Plus, we do a vibes check on the most popular narratives in energy right now — from the revival of coal, to the promise of nuclear, to America’s ability to build.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Caroline Golin. Produced and edited by Anne Bailey, Sean Marquand, and Stephen Lacey.

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