Smart Demand: Managing Energy Use for an Efficient Grid

Today, electricity demand is growing faster than ever—driven by a 30 percent jump in data‑center consumption over the past five years, a 45 percent surge in electric‑vehicle charging, and widespread building electrification. The grid must be modernized—through transmission upgrades, "smart‑grid" controls, and integrated storage to meet this load while improving efficiency, resilience, and carbon‑free integration.

During the Smart Demand: Managing Energy Use for a More Efficient Grid panel at CERAWeek 2026, experts explored what has changed and what still needs to change. Moderated by S&P Global's Sylvain Cognet‑Dauphin, the panel featured:

• Junbo Zhao, Todd M. Cook and Elizabeth Donohoe Cook Associate Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth & Director of Engineering at Plexigrid
• Dana Guernsey, '06, TH'08, Co‑founder & CEO of Voltus
• Scott McKay, Senior Vice President at ABB

Drivers of Change

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Associate Professor of Engineering Junbo Zhao. (Photo courtesy of CERAWeek by S&P Global)

Zhao highlighted three converging forces that are fundamentally reshaping modern electricity grids:

• Bidirectional power flow—enabled by advanced power electronics and digital control—allows distributed energy resources, such as storage systems, to both consume and inject power, transforming traditionally passive networks into actively managed systems.
• The emergence of high-speed, secure communications—driven by fiber-optic infrastructure, 5G networks, and standardized cybersecurity protocols—provides operators with real-time system visibility and the capability to coordinate grid resources with unprecedented speed and precision.
• Accelerated electrification—fueled by the rapid growth of data centers, electric vehicles, and building heating—continues to increase demand while simultaneously unlocking new flexibility through demand response and grid-interactive loads.

Ten years ago, when Guernsey founded Voltus, she and her co-founders recognized that electrification could be paired with demand‑side management (DSM) to create new value streams. Today's capacity crunch driven by the rapid expansion of AI‑driven data centers has intensified the grid's capacity constraints, making the need for distributed resources (e.g., flexible loads and energy storage) even greater.

McKay emphasized that intersecting pressures are accelerating the adoption of smart‑grid technologies and DSM. Forecasts indicate that electricity consumption by AI‑driven data centers will grow at more than 3 % annually. Industrial electricity demand is also rising, and the frequency and intensity of extreme‑weather events are threatening grid reliability. To meet these combined challenges, the nation's aging transmission and distribution assets require significant upgrades and retrofits.

What Is a Smart Grid?

Guernsey explained that a "smart" grid is one that maximizes grid utilization. In the United States, about 20 percent of the existing grid operates at full capacity less than one percent of the time—an inefficiency that a smart grid can remedy. She explained that it's not efficiency for efficiency's sake. Utilizing the existing headroom on the grid will lower energy costs, enable load growth, and accelerate the deployment of lower emissions solutions simultaneously.

McKay added that automation, artificial intelligence, and accurate forecasts of demand, peak‑load periods, and generation availability let us manage demand rather than being forced to follow it. Both McKay and Zhao point out that digital twins—computer models that mimic real‑world grid behavior—help operators see upcoming capacity constraints and proactively manage the grid.

What Are the Challenges to Building a Smart Grid?

All of the panelists agreed that a smarter grid offers huge upside, but several hurdles must be cleared first.

• Funding the right upgrades — Zhao said we need more investments for transmission lines and "grid‑enhancing technologies" (GETs), which are cheaper ways to unlock capacity than building new power plants and lines. Incentives are required to make these investments attractive.
• Making sense of the data flood — McKay pointed out that the grid now generates an overwhelming amount of real‑time data that must be collected, cleaned, and analyzed quickly. Without a unified data platform, operators cannot make timely decisions.
• Keeping the data safe — with huge data flows and new players such as DER aggregators and virtual power plants entering the electricity market, cybersecurity becomes critical. Both Zhao and McKay stressed the need for stronger standards to prevent data leaks.
• Updating the rules — Guernsey reminded the audience that hundreds of state and federal regulations are still written for a static, one‑way grid. Modernizing those rules is essential to unlock the speed and scale needed for affordable, reliable, and clean electricity.

An Optimistic Prediction

Guernsey closed the panel with a brief reflection and a forward‑looking forecast. She recalled that, five years ago, many warned that electric‑vehicle demand would "break the grid." In practice, EVs are batteries on wheels, delivering both transportation and grid‑storage benefits, and they are already helping to balance the system.

Guernsey believes that in another five years, the conversation will turn to data centers. These facilities are operated by some of the world's largest companies, and they are treating the grid as an investment opportunity—participating through DSM and storage deployment. This dynamic creates a massive opportunity to accelerate affordable and reliable energy solutions.

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Dartmouth at CERAWeek 2026

CERAWeek is regarded as one of the most influential annual conferences in the energy sector, drawing more than 11,000 energy leaders, researchers, technologists, and entrepreneurs from around the globe.

At the 2026 conference, Dartmouth faculty members appeared in panels spanning organizational transformation, industrial data infrastructure, grid modernization, electricity market design, and wildfire risk management. 

Explore Dartmouth's engagement at CERAWeek 2026.