EEI, Entergy Leaders Highlight Affordability, Grid Investment and Data Center Growth at POLITICO Energy Summit

One of the key findings coming out of the IEEE PES T&D Vision 2050 research project was that the public trusts engineers. And with the massive public attention to the increasing construction of data centers and their need for power, all while reliability and affordability is at the forefront of customers' minds in this rocky economy, the utility industry is trying to do more to step up and communicate to ratepayers. Here is one recent example of the electric utility industry doing just that: Leaders from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and Entergy spoke at POLITICO’s Energy Summit in Washington, D.C. this week, emphasizing the industry’s focus on maintaining reliability, managing customer costs and expanding infrastructure as electricity demand continues to rise.

Drew Maloney, president and CEO of EEI, and Drew Marsh, chair and CEO of Entergy and EEI vice chair, discussed how electric companies are preparing the grid for future growth while working to limit cost impacts on customers.

The summit brought together administration officials, lawmakers and energy industry executives to discuss the nation’s energy agenda.

Affordability and Infrastructure Buildout

Both leaders said affordability remains a priority as utilities balance major infrastructure investments with broader economic pressures facing customers.

Maloney said electric companies remain aware of rising household costs and noted that utility members continue to offer customer support and bill assistance programs.

He also pointed to permitting reform as a way to reduce project costs and ease pressure on customer bills.

“Permitting reform is about affordability and customer solutions… if you look at the cost imposed by the regulatory structure that we have right now in the United States, up to 25 percent of the project cost is regulatory bureaucratic red tape, and the customer has to pay that,” Maloney said.

Grid Reliability and Resilience

The speakers also emphasized the need for continued investment in grid infrastructure to maintain reliability and support economic growth.

Marsh said electricity has become increasingly essential across everyday life, making system performance more important than ever.

“Everything that we do to work, learn, and play requires electricity, and so it’s much more critical today than ever, and so resilience, reliability become really critical factors for our customers going forward,” Marsh said.

Maloney also highlighted utility storm response efforts and the industry’s focus on minimizing outage duration during extreme weather events.

Data Centers and Customer Protection

Data center growth was another major topic during the discussion, with both leaders emphasizing approaches designed to protect existing customers from absorbing new infrastructure costs.

Marsh highlighted Entergy’s “Fair Share Plus Pledge,” which is intended to ensure large-load customers contribute both the direct costs of service and a portion of broader system expenses.

“The idea behind it is that the data centers are going to pay their full incremental costs of serving them, but they also are paying their fair share of our fixed costs that our existing customers are already picking up,” Marsh said.

Maloney added that large-load agreements adopted in multiple states could help support future grid investment while limiting impacts on customer rates. He also said greater transparency from AI and data center developers will be important as communities evaluate new projects.