
13 segments available
U.S. per capita energy usage peaked in 1973. Since then? Flat. Meanwhile, China’s per capita energy use has grown 9x. Today, AI, EVs, manufacturing, and data centers are driving demand for more electricity than ever—and our grid can’t keep up. In this episode, a16z general partners David Ulevitch and Erin Price-Wright, along with investing partner Ryan McEntush from the American Dynamism team, join us to unpack: – How America’s grid fell behind – Why we "forgot how to build" power infrastructure – The role of batteries, solar, nuclear, and software in reshaping the grid – How AI is both stressing and helping the system – What it’ll take to build a more resilient, decentralized, and dynamic energy future Whether you’re a founder, policymaker, or just someone who wants their lights to stay on, this conversation covers what’s broken—and how to fix it. Timestamps: 00:00 The Future of the Energy Grid 01:09 Historical Context and Current State of the Grid 03:08 Decentralization and New Technologies 07:31 Policy and Workforce Issues 10:45 The Role of Solar and Batteries 15:07 Diverse Energy Sources and Demand 24:24 Challenges in Grid Monitoring and Communication 25:55 Load Forecasting and Energy Markets 27:40 The State of Nuclear Energy 31:08 Advancements in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) 35:56 The Role of Technology in Mega Projects 38:20 Opportunities in Grid Management and Monitoring 43:08 The Future of Energy Infrastructure and Policy Resources: Find David on X: https://x.com/davidu Find Erin on X: https://x.com/espricewright Find Ryan on X: https://x.com/rmcentush Stay Updated: Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
"the energy grid and electrical grid of the future. It's not just going to be the dichotomy of generation, transmission, and storage. This sort of next generation of sort of what the grid looks like is..."
"with you? Yeah, I mean the history of the grid in the United States was build big power plant industry formed around it. Uh the grid grew sort of incredibly fast through the 20th century. Then around ..."
"you know, this this sort of next generation of sort of what the grid looks like is going to be in a much more decentralized way. So there's also an element of sort of relearning of what is the grid ac..."
"Well, I think the reason we're having this conversation is we're sort of touching on a bunch of these topical um themes which is that we're at a moment in time where exactly like Ryan said the the gri..."
"think I mean Texas has famously historically had massive grid failures several years ago when you know big heat wave came through the grid couldn't keep up with all the air conditioners that were goin..."
"Uh, Erin, I believe the quote in your college yearbook was drill baby drill. So, how do you uh think about your sort of love for oil and gas with with other sources of energy? Oh, my parents will be s..."
"this went to the point that Ryan brought up that monitoring the grid is really important and being able to send signaling on the grid is really important and you have to remember like you know we're w..."
"So something something very interesting that I learned is is a lot of the load forecasting which is basically like the tasking of when plants uh uh need to go online. And so like there's usually a 24-..."
"the the state of nuclear? Where are we right now? What are the what are the major bottlenecks? What what are we excited about? The biggest thing that's shifted in the last two or three or three or fou..."
"movement um from the government from in the in the DoD in the Department of Energy um and from the national labs to really try to create a more fasttrack process for these small modular reactors or ev..."
"Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, we debate a lot internally like where does it make sense for VCs and VC capital plug it to plug in and like arguably like we're not going to move the needle on, you know, these..."
"of that. I want to hear more about our requests for startups or things that we want to exist that we haven't yet discussed or or maybe put differently like I'm curious where we think there's most bang..."
"to be built there. If our check sizes were in the billions, not not just the millions, which we're in Jason Harwood, you never know. Um, how would our how would our strategy change? Ryan, you're talki..."