How States Can Address Load Growth While Decarbonizing

The past few years have seen an increase in electricity consumption, and this trend is expected to accelerate rapidly in the coming years. Driven by data center development, expanded manufacturing, and the electrification of transportation and buildings, much of this heightened electricity demand is projected to be met with fossil fuels. Yet there is the potential for clean energy solutions to play a major role. This will be especially important for states that have adopted decarbonization or clean energy targets.  

This report by the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) aims to help state officials, as well as other stakeholders, understand how policymakers can respond to electric load growth in ways that continue to advance decarbonization of the electricity system. The authors, Todd Olinsky-Paul and Warren Leon, cover strategies such as prioritizing energy efficiency, addressing peak load through demand response and virtual power plant programs, implementing energy storage technologies, incentivizing clean energy generation, and more. 

This report is a follow-up to CESA’s July 2025 report that surveyed the causes of electricity load growth and outlined what states have done to date to meet the challenge.