About Accelerating Energy: Powering Business Through the Energy Transition
Welcome to Accelerating Energy, a new podcast powered by Sidley Austin LLP. Join us as we drill down on critical, and late-breaking, energy transition topics from all corners of industry. Each episode will introduce you to guests with unique perspectives as we investigate the business, legal, and policy concerns of this fast-evolving landscape.
Accelerating Energy is hosted by Ken Irvin and Cliff Vrielink, partners in Sidley’s global Energy practice.
With strained supply chains, stubborn inflation, and the exploding demand from AI and data centers, the pressure on today’s power grid is unlike anything the industry has seen in decades. While solar, energy storage, and natural gas are all expanding rapidly, the question remains: are we building a system that can actually keep up? In episode 12 of Accelerating Energy, former PJM Chief Risk Officer Carl Coscia joins Sidley partner Ken Irvin to unpack the high-stakes tradeoffs between re...
3 Feb 2026
Powering the Surge: How PJM, the White House, and States Are Responding to Explosive Load Growth
Electricity demand across PJM is accelerating at a pace few anticipated, driven by AI, data centers, and advanced manufacturing. What was once a long-term planning challenge has become an immediate test of market design, grid reliability, and regulatory authority. In response, the White House has stepped in, urging faster generation development and greater investment certainty. PJM is deploying new reliability tools. States are increasingly acting to protect consumers as capacity...
5 Jan 2026
Managing the Surge: The Debate over FERC’s Large-Load Interconnections
As data centers continue to put stress on the nation’s electricity grid, federal regulators are moving quickly to stave off overwhelming it. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is now considering major reforms for large-load interconnections and has launched an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking. Final comments were due on December 5, and final action is expected by April 30, 2026. But conflict is threatening the process, as developers, utilities, state commissions, and other ...
5 Nov 2025
Energy Policy in Motion: What DOE Section 403 Instruction to FERC Means for Data Center Power Supply
DOE Secretary Wright’s Federal Power Act Section 403 direction to FERC calls for a sea-change in the way large energy users — especially data centers — interconnect to the power grid. In the ninth episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner Ken Irvin is joined by colleagues Terence Healey, a partner in Sidley’s Energy practice, and Peter Bruland, a senior managing associate in the firm’s Supreme Court, Appellate, and Litigation Strategies practice. Together, they examine how...
7 Oct 2025
Deal Disruption or Market Opportunity? The Impact of Texas Senate Bill 6 on Project Finance
Demand for electricity is surging in America, driven largely by AI data centers and other energy-intensive users powering the digital economy. This rapid growth has heightened concerns among businesses and consumers over rising costs and grid reliability. In response, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 6 (SB6), a sweeping overhaul of how the state regulates large power users and behind-the-meter projects such as solar, battery storage, and data centers. These changes could significantly...
14 Aug 2025
Speed to Power or Policy Paralysis? The OBBBA and America’s Clean Energy Future
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is now law, marking a major shift in U.S. energy policy and the beginning of a broader effort to rewire America’s energy future. With its passage, the OBBBA rolls back many key clean energy tax incentives and reestablishes a focus on fossil fuel development. This seismic shift comes just as the stakes for U.S. leadership in climate and technology continue to rise. How can policymakers and businesses keep pace with an evolving energy landscape? As A...
21 Apr 2025
Investing in Tomorrow: How Innovative Investments Will Begin Fueling the Energy Transition
All of a sudden there’s a new landscape for energy transition. The new administration is reducing the workforce of several federal agencies, including the EPA, where administrator Lee Zeldin is committed to eliminating 65 percent of what he calls the agency’s wasteful spending, and President Trump just signed four executive orders that direct different agencies of the federal government to revive American coal. State governments, businesses, and financial stakeholders will need to navigate al...
21 Feb 2025
Sustainable Success: How Utility Companies Can Thrive in Turbulent Times
The countdown has begun on state-wide zero-emission mandates. Blue state governors have created strict timelines for implementing their renewable energy objectives. And these mandates will significantly impact operations for utility companies and the United States power grid. Will power-hungry data centers and extreme weather events impede success for these goals? And what will be the impact of the Trump administration, which has just declared an “energy emergency,” and is promising to increa...
18 Nov 2024
Taking Charge: Can Battery Energy Storage Systems Unlock the Full Potential of Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy can be intermittent, making it a challenging power source for power grid operators to manage. But the burgeoning technology of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is poised to help fill those critical gaps. BESS is expected to quintuple in capacity by the end of this decade. These systems play a crucial role in the renewable energy life cycle, ensuring a stable supply of electricity to customers, data centers, the national grid, and energy needs worldwide. But the installat...
3 Apr 2024
Tackling EV Infrastructure. Why Truck Manufacturers Are in for the Long Haul.
The future of commercial transportation is zero-emission. More than one million medium- and heavy-duty trucks are expected to hit the highways by 2031. But as the fleet of commercial zero-emission vehicles begins to grow, the infrastructure needed to power these trucks is struggling to keep up. In response to this reality, a coalition of major truck manufacturers have launched an initiative to help speed the deployment of charging stations nationwide.
In the third episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin, speaks with Dawn Fenton, Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs at Volvo Group North America, a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer committed to shaping the future of sustainability transport and infrastructure solutions. Together, they discuss what businesses should know about the nascent zero-emission commercial transportation industry and what Volvo Group North America and its partners are doing to accelerate electric-charging infrastructure development.
Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.
25 Jan 2024
Are Tax Incentives Enough to Spur the U.S. Energy Transition Forward?
The United States government is authorizing millions of dollars in grants to electric cooperatives in the hopes of promoting grid resiliency and alternative energy adoption. Will grants and other incentives entice businesses to adopt clean energy? Or will political uncertainty in this election year tamp down these efforts?
In the second episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin, speaks with Robin Lunt, Chief Commercial Officer at Guzman Energy, a wholesale power provider dedicated to helping communities seeking affordable and reliable energy. Together, they discuss what businesses need to know about adopting clean energy and infrastructure amid legislative and regulatory uncertainty.
Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.
20 Nov 2023
How Energy Transmission Can Save the Grid – and Electrify the U.S. Economy
U.S. energy regulators warn that elevated threats of outages from storms and prolonged cold snaps will continue to impact our electric grid and the economy. The Biden administration recently announced $3.5 billion in grants to fund clean energy projects that combat climate change and promote renewable energy; but mounting costs, development snags, and regulatory roadblocks threaten to impede progress.
In this introductory episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin, speaks with Larry Gasteiger, Executive Director of WIRES, a nonprofit trade association that promotes investment in the North American electric transmission system. Together, they discuss the challenges and opportunities of energy transmission as the U.S. works to electrify our economy and enhance the resilience of our grid.
Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.
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