Posted: September 12, 2025, 2:31 pm

We begin this week by looking across the Atlantic. The U.S. continues leaning hard into its role as Europe’s gas lifeline. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told EU leaders they could quit Russian gas in as little as six to twelve months, well ahead of Europe’s 2028 formal deadline. On paper, it sounds bold to swap Russian molecules for American LNG, cut off Moscow’s cash flows, and call it a win for energy security. But anyone following this knows it’s not that simple. Europe still lacks enough LNG terminals, not every member state is eager to move that fast, and consumers aren’t thrilled about the higher prices that could come with rushing the transition. The politics of who wants to move quickly versus who’s dragging their feet are only going to intensify, but one way or another, Europe is shifting its energy mix faster than it planned.

Back home, the EIA is showing U.S. electricity demand set to keep breaking records through 2026. The driver here isn’t mysterious: data centers (AI, crypto, and everything in between), electrification, and steady industrial load growth. The forecast is 4,187 billion kWh in 2025 and 4,305 billion kWh in 2026, both all-time highs. Renewables are supposed to climb from about 23% of the mix to 26%, with gas giving back a little ground, but that’s the optimistic version. The risks are obvious considering interconnection queues, siting fights, permitting delays, and transmission projects that take a decade when we need them in half the time. Throw in the wild card of extreme weather, and you’ve got a grid that looks stretched thin. The opportunities are there with renewables, storage, micro-grids, and smarter pricing all ready to be scaled but the clock is ticking on whether we can build fast enough.

And while all of this is playing out in markets, politics is never far behind. FERC, the agency that signs off on transmission and oversees wholesale markets, is itself turning into a drama. Last week the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced two nominees of Laura Swett and David LaCerte on a strict party-line vote, with only Sen. Angus King breaking ranks to move them forward. Republicans praised their résumés, Democrats blasted the administration for stop-work orders and grid stress, and the whole thing quickly turned into a proxy fight over who controls the direction of U.S. energy policy. Swett having more of a qualified background than LaCerte, but both promised to keep FERC “independent” if confirmed. That’s the line everyone gives, but the reality is clear: the decisions FERC makes over the next few years on transmission, interconnection, and market rules are going to determine whether we can actually handle the demand wave coming our way.