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In Virginia òòò½ÊÓƵ” the epicenter for data center growth òòò½ÊÓƵ” Dominion Power, the largest utility in the state, projects electricity demand will jump 85% in the next 15 years. PG&E in California expects electricity demand to rise 70% in the same period. And New Yorkòòò½ÊÓƵ™s grid operator sees power demand jumping as much as 90% over the next 20 years. To meet that, the state will need to triple its installed generating capacity.

Whatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s happening in Virginia, California, and New York is also occurring across the country. The U.S. Department of Energy now conservatively estimates that national power demand will double by 2050.

Meeting that kind of growth would be an enormous challenge by itself. But meeting that new demand while also tearing down the very foundation of our power system is all but impossible. And yet, thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s exactly whatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s happening.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has brushed aside countless warnings while pushing a suite of rules that will all but wipe out the nationòòò½ÊÓƵ™s coal power plants by 2032 òòò½ÊÓƵ” and make it practically impossible to build new baseload coal and natural gas power plants to help meet soaring demand. A new rule targeting existing natural gas power plants is also in the works.

EPAòòò½ÊÓƵ™s power plant strategy will eliminate the backstop of the nationòòò½ÊÓƵ™s grid reliability at the precise moment utilities and grid operators are telling us we need these plants more than ever.

According to grid experts, the high risk of blackouts during grid emergencies will be a serious threat by the close of the decade. But Americans are already feeling the threat of surging power prices.

While economy-wide inflation may be retreating, electricity inflation is doing the opposite. According to Bank of America, the year-over-year inflation rate for U.S. electricity prices reached 5.9% in May, up from 3.8% in January.

In the PJM power market òòò½ÊÓƵ” the nationòòò½ÊÓƵ™s largest serving 65 million Americans from Virginia to New Jersey to Ohio òòò½ÊÓƵ” capacity payments to power plants just jumped 800%. Thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s a clear sign of a market short on power. For many consumers, that will mean an almost immediate double-digit jump in their power bills.

In California, which has touted its leadership in moving to renewable energy, power prices for many consumers have jumped 82% in the past decade. òòò½ÊÓƵ The Wall Street Journal recently reported, power bills are now often higher than rentòòò½ÊÓƵ”and all but untenable for folks on fixed incomes. Retirees living in mobile homes are now sending half of their Social Security checks straight to utilities each month.

Is Californiaòòò½ÊÓƵ™s electricity cost nightmare where the U.S. is headed? If this is Americaòòò½ÊÓƵ™s energy transition leadership, sign the rest of us up for a very different route.

Americans want òòò½ÊÓƵ” and deserve òòò½ÊÓƵ” affordable, reliable power. But what theyòòò½ÊÓƵ™re getting is just the opposite. Our next president will face an electricity crisis òòò½ÊÓƵ” either double down on what clearly isnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t working, or chart a new energy future shaped by the concerns and expertise of the nationòòò½ÊÓƵ™s utilities and grid operators. This shouldnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t be a tough call to make.