America is on the edge of its next great economic boom. AI is transforming every sector, new semiconductor plants are reshaping supply chains, and advanced manufacturing is reviving industry and creating jobs. The defining industries of the 21st century all have something in common: they run on massive and growing amounts of energy. Their continued success depends on our ability to provide abundant power reliably and affordably. Yet while innovation accelerates elsewhere, our energy system is falling behind.

Instead of an era of cheaper, cleaner, faster power fueling growth, we’re seeing the reverse. Electricity prices have surged more than 250% in some regions. New transmission lines take a decade or more to plan and build. One in three adults stress over their power bills. And globally, America’s clean energy investment lags behind China’s by nearly two to one, as competitors move faster to capture the industries of tomorrow. 

This isn’t inevitable –  it’s a choice. Energy is the foundation of shared prosperity. Clean, reliable power can lower costs for families and businesses, create good jobs in rural and industrial communities, anchor new industries, strengthen energy independence, and stabilize prices across the economy. Not just for a handful of companies or regions but for everyone, everywhere.

But to unlock that potential, we must fix the systems holding it back — the policy barriers, market design inefficiencies, and financing bottlenecks that trap innovation in red tape and risk. Until we do, fossil fuels will remain the default option, and America will stay vulnerable to volatile prices, fragile supply chains, and competitors racing to dominate tomorrow’s industries.

Over the next few weeks, CleanEcon will explore how to change these systems through a three-part series on rebuilding America’s energy foundations:

Part 1: Modernizing the Grid for Growth. Our electric grid isn’t built or managed for always-on AI or electrified manufacturing. We’ll show how smarter market design and regulatory reform can lower costs and accelerate the buildout of the energy backbone of a modern economy.

Part 2: Scaling Clean Firm Power. Zero-carbon baseload power can be the foundation of a reliable clean energy future, but it’s stalled by outdated rules, slow approvals, financial risk, and fragmented support. We’ll chart a unified path to unlock these technologies’ potential.

Part 3: Supercharging Innovation. America’s innovation ecosystem is second to none, but burdensome bureaucracy and disjointed commercialization support are holding back the next wave of breakthroughs. We’ll show how to unleash innovation to move at the speed of the market.

CleanEcon was built for this moment: to clear the bottlenecks, modernize policy, and position clean energy as the economic backbone of America’s future.

The next American century will be powered by clean, abundant energy, if we choose to build it.

Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime, let’s get to work.