Released November 03, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)
Summary
The outlook for the electric power industry in the U.S. is brighter than it has been for years due to a convergence of factors, but ongoing supply-chain bottlenecks and the scarcity of skilled domestic labor could act as limiting factor, speakers told the "Experience POWER" conference in Denver last week.
Electric Generation a Dynamic, Exciting Industry Now
All segments of the electric power industry are growing faster now than in recent memory, but the growth of the generation segment was particularly exciting, speakers told about 725 attendees at the Experience POWER conference, sponsored by Access Intelligence (Rockville, Maryland) October 29 and 30.
"The industry is insanely busy right now," said Ty Remington, vice president of North American New Unit Sales, Gas Power, for GE Vernova (Boston, Massachusetts). "What a difference two years makes! Is it more fun today than it was in 2023? Yes!"
In a state of the industry keynote address October 29, Mike Caravaggio, vice president of energy supply reliability for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) (Palo Alto, California), echoed Remington: "This is the most exciting time in my 25 years in this industry," he said, predicting that coal, natural gas, hydro and nuclear will remain the backbone of the power market for the years ahead, both in the U.S. and overseas.
But the worldwide generation market will continue to have a lot of regional variability, he continued: "There's not a lot of coal power projects under development outside China."
In the U.S., Upbeat Generation Outlook Stems from Many Drivers
Turning to the U.S. market, Caravaggio said the coal-fired generation fleet is nearly 50 years old, on average, and making those plants ramp up and down more frequently has placed additional stress on the equipment.
Although construction of intermittent renewable electric generation such as solar and wind has surged in recent years, the amount of electricity generated in the U.S. from natural gas has more than tripled, Caravaggio said, to about 1,800 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024 from about 500 TWh in 2000. During that period, by contrast, intermittent renewable generation has risen to about 700 TWh in 2024 from virtually nothing in 2000.
"We have become very, very dependent on gas-fired generation," Caravaggio commented.
Over a 24-year period, the U.S. has retired thousands of coal-, gas- and oil-fired generators, and their dispatchable generation replacements are only now starting to get built. Gas power development has surged in the last year or so, he said, and that will help meet projected surging demand.
An estimated 90% of U.S. coal-fired power plants will be retired by 2035, predicted GE Verona's Remington. Gas-fired units, both peakers and baseload plants, increasingly are stepping into the void left by plant retirements. That needs to accelerate, speakers agreed.
While the U.S. generating fleet is turning over, electric demand growth is surging, driven largely but not exclusively by planned data centers, observed Caravaggio. Also, the seasonality of peak electric demand has shifted. "The U.S. used to experience peak electric demand in the summer, but since 2021, about 125 gigawatts (GW) of new winter peak electric demand has materialized," he continued. "That's a lot of new generation." In the Lower 48 states, six of 10 highest peak electric demand days have occurred in 2025, including two days in January, he commented.
Going forward, developers and utilities plan to sharply increase the construction of gas-fired generation, but solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS) remain the two largest segments of power generation under development, Caravaggio said.
Trump Administration Has Sped Up Construction of Dispatchable Generation
Caravaggio was one of several; speakers who credited the Trump administration's effort to roll back environmental regulations on the power industry. But "a gigawatt is not a gigawatt for all (power) sources," he said, alluding to power-sensitive large load customers' demand for extraordinarily reliable power.
But the unasked question was, will the new dispatchable generation get built in time to meet projected peak electric demand growth.
Turning to data centers, a topic widely and eagerly discussed at the Experience POWER event, Caravaggio showed a data center electric demand growth chart he said was "horribly out of date." He projected data center electric demand will increase by 20% per year until 2030 or so, adding that an updated growth projection will soon be available from the organization.
"Data center demand for electricity is fundamentally changing our industry," he told attendees.
Shortfalls in Domestic Labor, Manufacturing Capacity Could Dim Outlook
Caravaggio was one of several speakers, and many attendees, who said the bright future for electric generation in the U.S. may not be fully realized due to a shortage of skilled domestic labor and power-equipment manufacturing capacity.
"The biggest challenge, in my mind, is the workforce," Caravaggio said. "We need a lot of people to build these (manufacturing) plants and a lot of people to run them. It's a huge challenge and it's going to get worse before it gets better."
Another conference speaker commented, "At some point, the industry is going to have to increase reliance on contractors and imported equipment."
GE Vernova's Remington agreed. "We may have to consider supplementing domestic labor with overseas labor. Everyone is chasing the same talent pool and there's a limit to domestic talent."
In addition to labor shortfalls, the industry is facing a critical shortage of manufacturing capacity for breakers and transformers, among other equipment.
"Our twin challenges are talent and technology," said one speaker from a utility. "Young people with technical skills don't want to work for a utility or a manufacturer, they want to work for high-tech companies like Nvidia."
Increased reliance on foreign labor or equipment manufacturing capacity could put the industry at loggerheads with the Trump administration, which has prioritized reshoring manufacturing capacity and creation of high-paying jobs for U.S. citizens. None of the conference speakers said this from the podium, but it was a clear implication of their shared concerns.
Caravaggio said part of the solution is the recently formed Generation Workforce Affinity Group, which he described as "a big tent, industry-wide approach" that included industry leaders; labor unions; original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)' engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms; and other interested industry members. The group's goal is to "coordinate, facilitate and expedite workforce solutions." There is no cost to join this group.
Key Takeaways
- The electricity business, particularly the generation segment, is more vibrant today than any time in recent memory.
- A variety of trends, including power plant closures and expected electric demand growth from data centers, are driving this outlook.
- The outlook could dim unless the industry can solve is labor and manufacturing shortfalls.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
