{"id":6529,"date":"2026-06-10T03:32:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T03:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=6529"},"modified":"2026-06-10T03:32:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T03:32:39","slug":"tesla-cofounder-we-should-be-really-worried-about-the-u-s-grid-as-china-leads-the-power-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=6529","title":{"rendered":"Tesla cofounder: \u2018We should be really worried\u2019 about the U.S. grid as China leads the power race"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

China is building new power generation at an unprecedented pace to power the AI boom as the U.S. grid struggles to keep pace with the development of data centers, triggering more delays and project cancellations.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think we should be really worried,\u201d said Tesla cofounder JB Straubel at\u00a0Fortune\u2019s Brainstorm Tech conference\u00a0in Aspen on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the grid can\u2019t handle it,\u201d said Straubel, who left Tesla in 2019 to build the Redwood Materials battery recycling firm as its founder and CEO. \u201cThe pace of growth and demand of energy is unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Straubel and Redwood are increasingly interested in the grid. Originally focused on electric-vehicle battery recycling, Redwood is now growing even more on using battery recycling to build battery energy storage for hyperscalers and the grid.<\/p>\n

With U.S. electricity demand expected to surge\u00a0anywhere from 50% to 80% between 2024 and 2050, depending on projections, the need for more sources of energy is critical.<\/p>\n

Redwood just announced this week a new partnership with General Motors to use recycled EV batteries to power GM\u2019s plant operations\u2014just as GM invests in the next wave of battery technologies for EVs.<\/p>\n

Straubel said the industry requires a mix of rapid grid growth and more behind-the-meter power solutions to hopefully meet the challenges. \u201cIt\u2019s a period of renaissance for the energy industry,\u201d he said, arguing that big problems spur the most innovative solutions.<\/p>\n

Dana Guernsey, cofounder and CEO of Voltus, focused on the optimistic side of the future. \u201cThe grid can\u2019t handle it yet,\u201d Guernsey said during the panel, emphasizing the \u201cyet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEnergy is now often the gating thing to furthering the AI economy,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing able to get more out of the current grid\u201d is critical.<\/p>\n

In that vein, Voltus focuses on demand response and virtual power plants, convincing industrial users and residential customers to turn their thermostats over to AI at times of peak demand\u2014and returning excess renewable energy back to the grid if available\u2014to save energy and keep energy prices lower, essentially acting as a de facto power plant.<\/p>\n

\n

More from Fortune\u2019s 25th Brainstorm Tech:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Anthropic\u2019s Boris Cherny, creator of Claude Code, says there are days he manages tens of thousands of AI agents at once<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Not an Allbirds Moment\u2019: Xbox\u2019s new CEO says she is grounding the console in gaming roots not AI<\/em><\/p>\n

Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf says economic warfare is the \u2018new normal\u2019 for military conflicts\u2014and the U.S. needs to get serious<\/em><\/p>\n

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In addition to power growth, Guernsey said, the key to winning the AI race is maximizing the potential of the existing grid because it is built to accommodate peak power demand times, wasting much of the power capacity the rest of the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a ton of excess headroom on the grid,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople need power yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otherwise, she added, \u201cthe energy space moves at the pace of regulation, and the tech space moves at the pace of tech. It\u2019s just a really, really big problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tori Shivanandan, chief operating officer for Radiant, which is developing portable nuclear microreactors, also struck a positive tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen our back is up against the wall, we build, and that\u2019s what America is doing right now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Grid failure doesn\u2019t just mean the lights turning off, Straubel said. It means projects delayed and data centers that get built overseas. More than half of all data center projects are behind schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a lack of competitiveness. If it\u2019s not the U.S., that to me is a failure. We\u2019ve lost our competitive edge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Battery storage is rapidly growing, Straubel said, enabling all of the power sources to work together, from fossil fuels to nuclear to renewables. But about 100 times more energy storage is needed on the grid than today, he said.<\/p>\n

The industry also needs to win over the hearts and minds, they said, as public opposition to data centers grows and more people blame them for rising electricity prices.<\/p>\n

Straubel said the industry needs to explain what the energy and data centers are accomplishing with AI\u2014and how the consumers are benefiting\u2014so that data centers are seen less as the \u201cboogeyman\u201d and the \u201cdeath star that\u2019s just sucking this energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And hyperscalers need to do more to ensure they are covering the costs, Guernsey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a huge affordability crisis. As electricity has become more scarce, the laws of economics kick in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Tesla #cofounder #worried #U.S #grid #China #leads #power #race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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