Grid Crunch Looms as Trump's 'Beautiful Bill' Undermines Resilience

With the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ (OBBB), signed into law on July 4, experts says Congress and President Trump are undermining the resilience of the US power system and ushering in a world where outages, service interruptions, and other grid freak-outs become far more common.

Combine the far-reaching policy changes enshrined in the law with escalating climate impacts and an AI-induced surge in energy demand — of up to 25% by 2030 — and the US has itself a recipe for widespread energy disruption.

“The reality is this is the worst possible moment to take a step like this [passing the OBBB], which is undercutting our ability to build new generation — cost effectively — on the timelines we need to not only meet projected demand, but to help the economy continue to grow. This is just an own goal of historic proportions,” says Brad Townsend, Vice President, Policy and Outreach at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).

The legislation is also expected to bring about a surge in US-induced carbon emissions, which in turn would intensify the very climate shocks that are already causing the US grid so much trouble. Announcements made by Trump’s Department of Energy (DOE) and the president himself this week only make this outcome more likely.