Energy affordability comes down to how efficiently we use the grid we already have.
That’s the big takeaway from The Brattle Group’s latest report. And it lands at exactly the right moment, as utilities face rapid load growth from electrification, data centers, and new industries coming online. ⚡
The default response has been to build. More capacity, more infrastructure, more investment. But the report challenges that instinct. It shows that outcomes for customers are shaped just as much by use as by expansion.
💡 This is where flexibility starts to matter in a very real way. When you look closely, many of the most powerful levers are not physical. They are operational and programmatic.
Time-varying rates can shift when energy is used. Demand flexibility can move load away from system peaks. Targeted efficiency can relieve pressure at specific constraints. Grid-enhancing technologies can unlock latent capacity in existing assets.
Individually, these are familiar ideas. But together, they point to something bigger. They turn flexibility into infrastructure. A layer of software can increase what the grid delivers without immediately adding cost.
🔌 None of this works in isolation. The report makes it clear that you need alignment between tariffs, incentives, planning assumptions, customer programs, and real-time operations. You need to design rates that encourage the right behavior, then actually orchestrate that behavior on the system.
When those pieces connect, something important happens. New load can add revenue without driving proportional peak demand. Existing customers are protected from unnecessary cost increases. And utilities gain more headroom to grow.
🌍 The model for affordability under load growth. At Kraken, this is exactly what we focus on. We connect a layer of rates and incentives with operations, so utilities can move from static design to active system management.
That means:
- Designing and deploying tariffs that influence customer response
- Dispatching flexible demand in real time to manage constraints
- Optimizing assets continuously, not just planning them years ahead
- Measuring performance so programs can improve quickly
The result is a grid that runs harder, adapts faster, and integrates new demand without putting pressure on existing customers.
Brattle’s report is a strong signal of where the industry is heading. More growth is coming. The question is how we handle it.
Run the grid smarter, and affordability and expansion can move in the same direction 🚀
