Our Thinking
Grid Operations and the Next Energy Era
John Morris
John Morris
The electric utility industry is entering one of the most significant operational transitions in its history. AI-driven load growth, data center expansion, electrification, distributed energy resources, and renewed interest in advanced nuclear technologies are converging at a pace few organizations have experienced before.
For grid operators, these trends are no longer distant planning considerations. They are immediate operational realities that will shape how utilities plan, operate, and maintain the grid for decades to come.
The rapid growth of AI and advanced computing is fundamentally changing electricity demand patterns. Large-scale data centers require massive amounts of around-the-clock power, creating new challenges for generation planning, transmission capacity, interconnection processes, and distribution operations. At the same time, utilities continue integrating renewable resources, bolstering resilience against increasingly severe weather events, and supporting electrification initiatives. Each of these priorities adds complexity to an operating environment that is already intricate and rapidly evolving.
This landscape is also contributing to renewed interest in advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs). As utilities explore ways to meet growing demand while advancing decarbonization goals, many view advanced nuclear energy as a potential source of reliable, carbon-free generation. However, adding new resources is only part of the challenge. Success depends on how effectively new resources, technologies, and infrastructure are integrated into operations. Equally important, all of this must be accomplished while keeping energy affordable for customers.
While reliability and resilience remain foundational priorities, affordability may be the defining challenge facing utilities today. Demand is growing rapidly, infrastructure investments are increasing, and utilities are being asked to modernize the grid while keeping costs manageable for the customers and communities they serve. Yet every major decision, from transmission expansion and grid modernization to workforce development and new generation resources, has affordability implications.
Affordability is no longer simply a financial or regulatory concern. It is becoming a core operational challenge. The utilities that navigate the next era of energy most successfully will be those that can meet growing demand, maximize the value of their investments, and deliver reliable, resilient service without placing an unsustainable burden on customers. Maintaining that balance will require more than long-term planning. It will depend on the quality of day-to-day operational decisions made across the grid.
That reality places the control room at the center of the conversation. New technologies, expanded data availability, and increasingly sophisticated decision-support tools may change how operators work, but they will never eliminate the need for sound judgment, clear processes, effective training, and strong leadership. If anything, growing system complexity makes those capabilities even more important.
The challenge is not simply how to deploy new technologies, but how to integrate them into operating environments where decisions must be made safely, consistently, and under pressure.
As utilities prepare for the grid of the future, several priorities prove to be increasingly important:
The control room remains a focal point where technology, operational complexity, and critical decision-making converge.
Operational excellence remains a constant requirement as utilities navigate changing market conditions, evolving technologies, and new generation portfolios. Some of the most valuable lessons come from high-reliability environments where disciplined decision-making, workforce readiness, risk management, and operational rigor are critical to success.
These principles extend well beyond nuclear generation. Many of the challenges utilities face today—balancing reliability, performance, market participation, affordability, and operational risk—require the same structured approach that has long defined the nuclear industry. High-performing organizations foster a culture of continuous learning, maintain a healthy awareness of risk, and look for opportunities to learn from even minor deviations before they become larger operational challenges.
Those lessons are particularly relevant as utilities adopt more automation, advanced analytics, and digital technologies. While new tools can improve visibility and decision-making, operational excellence still depends on people. Situational awareness, contingency thinking, margin management, and sound judgment remain essential for operators working in increasingly complex environments. In many ways, technology makes these capabilities more important, not less.
As the energy landscape continues to evolve, utilities can benefit from applying these proven operational disciplines across the full spectrum of generation resources. To support these conversations, Mosaic recently welcomed Tim Borgen to its Grid Operations team. Tim brings firsthand experience helping transition nuclear generation from traditional baseload operations to participation in day-ahead energy markets, requiring operators and organizations to adapt to new commercial, operational, and reliability considerations. His experience provides valuable perspective as Mosaic works with utilities to strengthen operational readiness, improve performance, and navigate the changing demands of our energy ecosystem.
Tim’s experience highlights a broader lesson for the utility industry: operational excellence is not defined by a specific technology or generation resource. Rather, it is continuously built through disciplined processes, prepared teams, continuous learning, and a culture that remains attentive to risk even as systems become more advanced.
The future of grid operations will be shaped by far more than any single technology or resource. Success will depend on how effectively utilities integrate new tools, new generation sources, evolving workforce expectations, and increasingly complex operating requirements into day-to-day operations.
The control room will be a critical focal point where many of these complexities converge as the industry works to meet rising demand while maintaining reliability, resilience, and affordability. The organizations best positioned for success will be those that combine technological advancement with operational discipline, workforce preparedness, and a practical understanding of how work gets done in real-world operating environments.
As the grid evolves, success will depend not only on new technologies and resources, but on the people, processes, and decisions that keep them running safely and reliably.