People Places Planet

As artificial intelligence drives unprecedented growth in electricity demand, data centers are rapidly becoming some of the largest—and most consequential—loads on the U.S. power grid. Utilities that haven’t seen meaningful load growth in decades now face mounting interconnection backlogs, rising costs, and growing concerns about reliability, emissions, and equity.

In this episode of People, Places, Planet, host Sebastian Duque Rios is joined by Dalia Patino-Echeverri of Duke University and Aroon Vijaykar of Emerald AI to explore whether load flexibility offers a way forward. They examine how data centers and AI stress today’s grid, how modest and carefully designed curtailment could unlock significant new capacity without overbuilding infrastructure, and what emerging technologies and policies—from flexible interconnection to software-driven demand response—could mean for electricity affordability, grid reliability, and the future of AI development in the United States.
  • The Driving Forces Behind a New Wave of Electricity Demand (2:12)
  • What's Constraining the Grid? (6:18)
  • Rethinking Grid Limits through Load Flexibility (17:20)
  • Inside a Flexible Data Center (40:13)
  • What This Means for Policy, Costs, and Emissions (54:13)
Learn more by reading about Emerald AI's pilot in Phoenix and Duke's report on load growth and flexibility, Rethinking Load Growth: Assessing the Potential for Integration of Large Flexible Loads in US Power Systems.
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Creators and Guests

Host
Sebastian Duque Rios
Sebastian Duque Rios joined the Environmental Law Institute as a Research Associate in August 2024. He is the host of the People Places Planet Podcast.
Editor
Natalie Triana
Natalie Triana joined the Environmental Law Institute as a Research Associate in July 2025. She provides editorial support for the People Places Planet Podcast.
NC
Producer
Nick Collins

What is People Places Planet?

Welcome to People Places Planet, ELI's leading environmental podcast. We talk to leading experts across sectors who share their solutions to the world's most pressing environmental problems. Tune in for the latest environmental law, policy, and governance developments.