Speed to Power Initiative

Written by Andrew Miller

On September 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy announced its Speed to Power Initiative (https://www.energy.gov/speed-to-power).  While this sounds exciting, the initiative is more of an admission of how dire our energy outlook is right now.  We should all be very alarmed.  Recent policy changes have shifted reliance to aging fossil fuel infrastructure.  The need to recalibrate the reliability of that aging fossil fuel infrastructure led to skyrocketing auction prices on the PJM wholesale electricity market in 2024.  Those increases were so dramatic that Pennsylvania had to sue PJM to reach a settlement that caps increases in electricity prices in the annual wholesale market auction.  The recent 2025 PJM auction easily hit that cap and can be expected to do so for the foreseeable future.  Electricity prices will continue to rise more rapidly than inflation.  Consumers will pay the price directly in electricity prices and indirectly in the price of any goods manufactured with any electricity required in the supply chain (just about every consumer product imaginable).

We also know that rate caps never work other than as a very short-term band-aid.  Rate caps discourage investment at a time when the only hope to stabilize future electricity prices is to increase supply – Remember that pesky supply and demand curve from Econ 101? The Speed to Power initiative requests proposals for large-scale grid projects to bring electricity to the grid.  While the Speed to Power initiative sounds slick, it symbolizes that DOE is desperate to save us from what is coming.  We were on a roll under prior policy bringing huge amounts of renewable power to the grid.  With the addition of battery storage we would have a safe, reliable and, most importantly, diversified electrical infrastructure that is not sourced with power plants wholly reliant on a commodity market for fuel.  The progress in renewable energy sources has been knee-capped by the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) and agency policy changes that are targeted at stopping renewables development.  The Plan B to that policy shift?  A press release seeking unicorns that can plug into the grid to fill the gap in future demand left by the reckless course shift.  We should be very alarmed by that Plan B.   

We need diversified energy sources.  No single source will be a solution.  Renewable and other alternative energy sources need to be developed rapidly to diversify and expand our energy supply.  Fossil fuels and nuclear power need to still supply the lion’s share of energy supply for the foreseeable future, but much of the expansion in supply needs to also come from renewables because that is still the largely untapped source of power.  Putting all our eggs in one basket is as risky in the energy market as in the stock market.  Diversification is key to long-term success. 

Pennsylvania’s net metering program has been a shining star in bringing renewable energy to the electric grid.  A strong market price for generators in the program has led to enormous investment and capacity.  We should be continuing expanding that program by eliminating the two-mile distance cap on virtual meter aggregation.  Speeding up interconnection by placing time limits on utilities to review and approve interconnection applications will also improve the program.  The Pennsylvania net metering program has achieved “speed to power” and our policymakers should be studying that program to make it even better.     

The DOE’s Speed to Power initiative only works if we run in the right direction.  So far, the policy behind it seems to be running in the wrong direction and away from an adequate and diversified energy supply. Let’s hope policymakers put aside politics and make rational supply and demand decisions that speed us back in the right direction.  If they do not, we as consumers will all pay a heavy price.  Consumers do not want to compete with Google or Microsoft or OpenAI for a limited supply of power. 

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