Exelon CEO: The ‘warning lights are on’ for U.S. electric grid resilience and utility prices amid AI demand surge

The U.S. must invest in power generation of all kinds, including renewables, and focus on improving efficiencies to keep the grid from breaking down and utility prices from soaring out of control, said Calvin Butler, president and CEO of the major utility Exelon.

While now is not yet the time to panic, it is time for immediate action to meet surging demand from the AI boom and electrification, and to keep everyday Americans from drowning in costs from spiking utility bills, said Butler, who also chairs the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities nationwide.

“The warning lights are on. You’re driving your car and the check-engine light is on. You’re like, ‘I’m going to keep pushing this.’ And no one is going to pay attention until it breaks down,” Butler said Tuesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco.

The fear is that the grid will break dow...