VP of Policy, Sealed. Music fan. Dog lover. Chess enthusiast. Navigating the nexus between policy and politics.
Chicago, IL
Joined February 2021
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David Kolata retweeted
“Large loads are going to find power. The capital that has already been committed to AI infrastructure makes that virtually certain. The question is whether energy regulatory frameworks encourage those loads to develop with the grid while infrastructure catches up, or else incentivize a parallel buildout of privately financed generation outside it. If policymakers want the data center boom to strengthen rather than circumvent the electric system, flexible interconnection may be the most important policy tool currently available.” —@DukeU’s Jackson Ewing @_LatitudeMedia
David Kolata retweeted
Delighted for my swan song at @basepowerco to be the entry into the Illinois market, where customers are now able to turn the table on the high-priced @pjminterconnect capacity market.
By monetizing the battery's length to avoid capacity costs, Base is offering a rate 25% *below* the utility price-to-compare, with only a nominal payment for the battery's backup services -->
David Kolata retweeted
Now that everyone can see firsthand the success of congestion pricing in NYC, looking back on the environmental review process feels even more absurd.
4,000 pages and 3 years of review to study the environmental impact of… using cameras and prices to reduce traffic.
David Kolata retweeted
Another great opportunity to join @Google’s energy team — making the next gen of data centers compliant with emerging grid codes. Everything from smoothing ML-training driven fluctuations to NERC compliance in scope. Focus primarily North America, but you'll have a front row seat & will make big contributions at the frontier of TPU/GPU deployments globally.
David Kolata retweeted
“We have to find solutions to better utilize the system than we’re doing right now,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data center energy. eenews.net/articles/how-big-…
David Kolata retweeted
Out today: My @AmericanAffrs essay trying to reset the often-fever-pitched conversation about data centers & energy, with concrete ideas for how growth can be accelerated and legacy consumers can be protected -->
David Kolata retweeted
There’s a lot of cognitive dissonance in the power debate right now.
On one side: data centers are framed as the source of all evil, driving electricity bills higher and consuming every incremental megawatt.
On the other: people still haven’t fully internalized what broad-based electrification and decarbonization actually require. Electric vehicles, heat pumps, industrial electrification, reshoring, transmission upgrades, battery manufacturing, air conditioning growth, etc. This was always going to be an enormous power demand story.
That’s why I keep coming back to the same point: AI/data centers may be one of the best things to happen to grid investment in decades.
For the first time in a long time, you have:
-governments prioritizing infrastructure
-corporates willing to sign long-duration power contracts at above market prices
-capital markets willing to fund generation/transmission
-customers that can actually support the returns needed for massive buildouts
Does it solve everything perfectly? Of course not. There will be bottlenecks, local stress, permitting fights, bad projects, longer thermal runoff period,and periods of volatility.
But absent another generational supercycle where incentives align across utilities, policymakers, infrastructure developers, and private capital, this may be one of the strongest opportunities we get to materially modernize and expand the grid, ever!
Also a little convenient how some of the loudest proponents of gas stove bans, EV mandates, and broad electrification are suddenly treating data centers as the sole culprit behind higher power prices.
David Kolata retweeted
This series from @The_Michael_Lee is an amazing deep dive into how we actually make the utility of the future one that is a platform for customer services. I haven't read all of it yet, but this post on the reality of culture change is so important. 1/ open.substack.com/pub/distri…
David Kolata retweeted
"Data center expansion is not currently the predominant driver of increased electricity prices in U.S. states"
spglobal.com/ratings/en/regu…
David Kolata retweeted
You should absolutely read @hollyjeanbuck's latest piece on data centers: jacobin.com/2026/04/ai-data-…
David Kolata retweeted
A big problem in the Texas electricity market: Residential customers can do exactly the same thing in terms of reducing their demand as industrial customers but not reap the same reward.
@OctopusEnergyUS @teslaenergy @GotRhythmHQ & @basepowerco team up today to propose a reform:
David Kolata retweeted
This is accurate - but we still lack true nonfirm/conditional firm service tiers for flexible large loads in most jurisdictions. Let’s get it fixed!
David Kolata retweeted
U.S. Energy @SecretaryWright on grid utilization:
"The states that have done the best on electricity prices, all of them have fast demand growth. The faster your demand growth is, the more you can push your electricity prices down. And another reason for this, it's just more efficient use of assets. Our electricity grid today, as we sit here, it only operates at about 50% capacity. So today, we've got hundreds of gigawatts of spare power right now."
David Kolata retweeted
.@SecretaryWright at BlackRock Infrastructure Summit, March 11th:
“Our electricity grid today, as we sit here, it only operates at about 50% capacity. So we have hundreds of gigawatts of spare capacity right now - bring all the data centers you can build in the next 5 years and we can power them at this hour… so now the average utilization of all those assets goes up, the per unit cost goes down, and in addition the hyperscalers like Google, they’re very cooperative - they want to build large assets, they’ll put money up front to build infrastructure, they’ll sign long term contracts that allows long term new assets to be built.”
This is an important, and frustrating, issue
Each municipality (525 in all) in Illinois has its own approach to permitting @basepowerco & other energy-storage tech. That imposes costs & friction to our customers. As a result, whole communities may get left behind as companies just say "no thanks" to the hassle. Not great!
David Kolata retweeted
An interstate power line can take over a decade to permit — because approval rests with individual states, sometimes individual counties.
Dr. Liza Reed testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today on what Congress can do:
⚡Establish a narrow and clear federal authority to build interregional transmission
⚡Remove market barriers to advanced technologies like HVDC
⚡Enable competition so private developers can build without state monopoly protections blocking them
A grid that grows the economy, provides affordable energy, and keeps American industry competitive. That's what's on the table.
Read the full testimony: lnkd.in/evNPD6ki
