1. Helping Utilities Invest in EV Trucks: An RMI Case Study

Learning: "To proactively prepare the grid forthe demand from electric fleets, Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) has analyzedthe economics, vehicle behavior, and policies driving commercial fleet vehicleelectrification. RMI and Atlas Public Policy, with input from BGE, modeled how many electric fleet vehicles BGE’s gridwill need to support in the coming decades, and where this demand willmaterialize" 

Implication: " This localized vehicle electrificationmodel will help BGE to plan and prepare for localized infrastructure needs andpersonalized customer offerings to maximize the benefits of fleetelectrification for its 1.3 million customers."

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2. Texas is becoming the testing ground for the energy transition

Learning: "Many of today’s most pressing energy trends are converging in Texas. Data center growth and electrification are driving up electricity demand; the state’s grid is moving increasingly toward renewables; and at the same time, Texas electricity prices have continued to drop.

According to the 2025 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, a report out today from BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Texas was the largest market for new utility-scale solar last year, adding nearly 10 gigawatts of new capacity in 2024, plus another 10 GW on rooftops."

Implication: "That growth came as the United States experienced an overall increase in power generation, which offset declines in energy consumption elsewhere in the economy. In Texas in particular — where power demand has climbed 17% since 2021, jumping to 86 GW last year — that growth has come from the electrification of oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, in addition to data center growth and electrification."

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3. As Texas’ energy demand soars, a pilot program looks to bolster grid with “virtual power plants” fueled by people’s homes

Learning: "Some Texans who install residential batteries, solar panels and smart thermostats can now send power back to the grid and get a credit on their bill."

Implication: "Along with Tesla, Bandera Electric, a small co-op based in the so-called Cowboy Capital of the world, qualified for a state pilot program to show how everyday Texans could participate directly in the wholesale power market.

The companies facilitate that participation by pulling together small energy resources spread across communities — like residential solar panels and batteries, smart thermostats and the batteries in electric vehicles — and funneling that extra power to the state grid when the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the primary grid operator, signals a need for it."
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4. New Report on Louisiana: Pathways to Propsperity

Learning: "A focus on climate resiliency — and building new industries in Louisiana around it — could address the state's population decline and lack of economic opportunity, nonprofit analysis firm Data Center suggests in a new report.

For more than two decades, the state has had one of the lowest job growth rates in the nation, the report says.

Louisiana has been struggling to grow its population. A declining population and tax base can create major challenges for policymakers and residents' quality of life.

Since 2020, Louisiana has also been home to more billion-dollar extreme weather disasters than any other state, the Data Center says.

Plus, Louisiana is experiencing a record-high number of extreme heat days, our life expectancy rates are among the nation's lowest and drug overdoses are a leading cause of our deaths.

While important factors, they're not what drives most people to move away. When people leave, the Data Center says, it's because they're searching for better economic opportunities.

Implication: "The report points to opportunities presented by new federal dollars and remaining BP oil spill fines that could help the state boost the economy through industry diversification.

For instance, the report suggests, by investing in water management or renewable energy, the state could become more climate resilient while attracting new industries, which means new jobs and people who could work them."

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5. Southern Company Increases Capital Plan to $63B With Significant Transmission Expansion

Learning: "Southern Company has increased its five-year capital plan to $63 billion, including additional generation and expanded transmission to meet growing electricity demand from large-load customers."

Implication: "The economic development pipeline from large electric load customers, including datacenters and large manufacturers, represents over 50,000 megawatts of potential incremental load by the mid-2030s... Datacenters alone represent roughly 80 percent of that potential load."