Clean Energy EXPO 2025: Securing America’s Energy Supply

The 28th Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum was held on Thursday, July 24, 2025. The event was hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), with the House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEE) Caucuses serving as honorary co-hosts. It featured eight panels, including Securing America’s Energy Supply.

John Hensley, Senior Vice President, Markets and Policy Analysis, American Clean Power Association (ACP)

Jake P. Gentle, Senior Manager, Distributed Energy Systems, Idaho National Laboratory (INL)

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The next 10 years will require an additional 1,000 terawatt-hours of new power generation, an increase driven by manufacturing, artificial intelligence and data centers, and an increasingly electrified world.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has a vested interest in resilient and reliable energy transmission, as domestic military installations that support overseas military operations rely on resilient and reliable power from the commercial power grid, and have the energy needs of a small town.
The Idaho National Laboratory has one of the largest full-scale power grid test beds in the country, allowing it to verify and validate new innovative technologies at scale and test these technologies against extreme weather and cyber threats.

John Hensley, Senior Vice President, Markets and Policy Analysis, American Clean Power Association (ACP)

The resurgence of manufacturing; increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence and its associated strain on data center loads; and increasing electrification of energy sources, transportation, and industrial processes will drive significant increases in energy demand over the next five years.
The next 10 years will require an additional 1,000 terawatt-hours of new power generation—more new energy generation than during any other ten-year period in U.S. history, and the equivalent of adding two Texases to the grid.
The United States has the resources to meet increased demand, from renewable power and storage technologies to manufacturing capacity and development expertise.
The remaining barrier to meeting this growing demand is the need for improved permitting processes to bring new energy generation projects online.

Will Rogers, Principal, Converge Strategies

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has a role, and vested interest, in resilient and reliable energy transmission.
Domestic military installations host command-and-control facilities for special operations overseas, drone squadrons supporting troops deployed overseas, and offensive and defensive cyber squadrons disrupting foreign bad actors—all of which rely on resilient and reliable power from the U.S. commercial power grid. These installations look like small towns, and have similarly-sized energy profiles.
Military installations typically also have two weeks’ worth of on-site backup power, supported by renewable energy sources, battery storage, and microgrids—but this power is increasingly insufficient to ride out disruptions to the commercial grid.
Converge’s latest report, Unleashing the Grid: Energy Dominance for National Defense, examines how the DOD can work with utilities and grid planners to strengthen the electric grid.

Jake P. Gentle, Senior Manager, Distributed Energy Systems, Idaho National Laboratory (INL)

When considering electric grid modernization and expansion, top priorities include security against cyberattacks, physical attacks, and natural disasters; transmission access; and increased energy generation to meet growing demand from data centers.
We need to use our grid infrastructure more efficiently and more effectively. Although the country has the tools to make our grid more efficient, market drivers are hindering investment.
INL has one of the largest full-scale power grid test beds in the country, allowing it to verify and validate new innovative technologies at scale and test these technologies against extreme weather and cyber threats.
Microreactors, small modular reactors that can generate nuclear energy in the megawatt range, are a game-changer for microgrids, but high costs hamper their deployment. Increased deployment, however, would lower costs.

Compiled by Isabel Rosario-Montalvo and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.