The Grid Is Under Pressure — Why Reliability Concerns Should Matter to California Businesses
The nation's top power operators have issued a stark warning to Congress: America's electric grid is under increasing stress, and without rapid action, system reliability could falter. For businesses across California—especially those in manufacturing, logistics, cold storage, and other energy-intensive sectors—this matters more than ever.
Rising Demand, Falling Supply: A Widening Gap
In a rare joint appearance before Congress, the CEOs of PJM, MISO, CAISO, ERCOT, NYISO, ISO-NE, and SPP laid out the key challenge: explosive electricity demand is outpacing supply. Major contributors include:
The AI and Data Center Boom
Electrification of vehicles, buildings, and industry
Rapid economic expansion, particularly in regions like Texas and California
Grid operators project load growth between 17% to 70% over the next 10 to 15 years. But many dispatchable (on-demand) power plants are retiring, while newer, intermittent sources like solar and wind can’t always meet peak needs.
Why It Matters to California
California ISO (CAISO) expects peak demand to rise by 45% by 2035. Data center load alone is forecast to triple by 2035. At the same time, much of the state’s legacy power fleet is retiring, and new infrastructure is struggling to keep pace.
As a business owner, facility manager, or sustainability lead, the key takeaway is clear: grid stress = higher energy costs, more outages, and slower electrification progress unless proactive steps are taken.
The Opportunity: Be Part of the Solution
Grid operators are calling for urgent coordination, smarter market reforms, and major infrastructure investments. But businesses don’t have to wait:
Install solar + battery systems to ease peak demand and lower your utility bills
Use energy management systems (EMS) to optimize energy use and shift loads
Explore on-site generation or backup power to mitigate outage risk
Take advantage of state and federal incentives to improve ROI
Promise Energy's Role
At Promise Energy, we help commercial and industrial clients across California:
Design and install turnkey solar and battery storage solutions
Navigate local policies like WAIRE and building decarbonization mandates
Future-proof facilities for electric fleets and DER integration
Improve energy resilience and lower operational costs
Bottom Line
America’s grid is being transformed—but the road is bumpy. Businesses that act now can lead the way, avoid rising energy volatility, and become part of the reliability solution.
Let’s build the future of energy reliability—starting with your facility.
Contact Promise Energy to learn how we can help you reduce risk, cut costs, and contribute to a more resilient California grid.
