The power industry is facing an increasingly delicate balancing act as policies drive some generators to retirement, while major new loads are popping up and making planning more difficult.

California’s “leadership in electrification” will be a key driver of Pacific Gas and Electric’s expected customer growth over the next five years, CEO Patti Poppe said during an earnings call.

After years of low load growth, U.S. grid planners now predict a sharp increase in electric demand, according to a report by consulting firm Grid Strategies.

Industrial decarbonization is lagging the effort in the power sector and transportation, and many companies are considering directly linking big industrial demand with clean energy.

Parag Mitra of EPRI warned that the growth of data centers and cryptocurrency mining has created new risks for system modelers.

NYISO did not identify any new near-term reliability issues in its third-quarter STAR, but it does anticipate significant load increases in western and central New York that could warrant more attention.

The PJM Market Implementation Committee endorsed the creation of a fifth cost of new entry area for the Commonwealth Edison zone, as well as two proposals aiming to limit the prospective performance impact of implementing multi-schedule modeling in the market clearing engine.

PJM stakeholders approved a load model for the 2023 reserve requirement study during the Planning Committee's Aug. 8 meeting.