Energy Unplugged by Aurora

This week on Energy Unplugged, Julia Hoos, Aurora’s Head of USA East, is joined by Lizzie Bonham, Senior Associate - North America Tech & Policy, and Jack Graham, Senior Associate - PJM Research at Aurora. Together, they explore the challenges of supplying data centers with power in the U.S., and how surging AI demand, interconnection constraints, and market dynamics are reshaping the electricity system. 

Lizzie leads Aurora’s analysis of where new data centers are locating and how they interact with generation technologies, while Jack provides insight into PJM’s grid and capacity market, including lessons from Northern Virginia - the historic epicenter of U.S. cloud infrastructure. Together they discuss the complexities of forecasting large, concentrated loads, the growing role of behind-the-meter solutions, and the implications of regulatory interventions from FERC and federal authorities. 

The conversation examines key trends affecting the U.S. power market today: rapid electricity demand growth from data centers, grid congestion and localized price impacts, the increasing importance of flexible interconnection strategies, and the political and regulatory pressure to accelerate large load access. Lizzie and Jack highlight how uncertainty in load forecasting, market design, and capacity procurement creates both challenges and opportunities for grid operators, policymakers, and industry stakeholders. 

You will learn: 

Why data center clusters and AI-driven load growth are transforming regional electricity demand. 

How PJM and other ISOs are navigating transmission constraints, capacity market volatility, and political scrutiny. 

Why behind-the-meter and gas-bridging solutions are emerging as short-term strategies for large loads. 

How federal and state interventions could influence interconnection, market design, and grid reliability over the next decade.

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re joined by Randolph Brazier, Global Head of Clean Power Systems at HSBC. He speaks with Hugo Batten, Aurora’s Managing Director APAC, and Lara Panjkov, Head of Research APAC, to examine the practical realities of delivering the energy transition across Asia-Pacific - from grid stability and storage build-out to coal repowering and transition finance. 

Randolph leads on HSBC’s Net Zero investment strategy and sector pathways, working closely with clients to finance clean power and support real-economy decarbonisation. A former Director of Innovation & Electricity Systems at the UK Energy Networks Association, with earlier experience designing renewable and grid projects, he brings both engineering depth and financial insight. Drawing on examples such as South Australia’s high-renewables penetration, the rapid growth of data centres, and Asia’s continued reliance on coal, the discussion explores curtailment, system strength, long-duration storage, transition taxonomies, and the structural challenges of mobilising capital at scale in emerging markets. 

You will learn: 

Why grids, system strength and storage duration - not just generation - are now the binding constraints on decarbonisation. 

What high-renewables systems like South Australia reveal about curtailment, stability and the need for smarter market design. 

How data centres, electrification and industrial growth are reshaping demand - and why the impact is more nuanced than headlines suggest. 

Why coal repowering, transition taxonomies and innovative financing structures will be critical to unlocking capital across APAC. 

The Repower Community Interest Company (CIC) [www.repower.world] is a global non-profit initiative dedicated to the repowering of coal power plants, initiated by Quantified Carbon. HSBC’s philanthropic partnership with Repower supports technical analysis to develop feasible low-carbon repowering options for viable sites in emerging markets. 

 

Registration for the leading annual gathering of the European energy industry – the Aurora Spring Forum, taking place on 29th April 2026, in London is open - a one-day deep dive into the biggest strategic questions shaping Europe’s energy transition, plus top-tier networking and a live recording of Energy Unplugged.  

Book now at https://auroraer.com/events/aurora-spring-forum-2026 and use code PODCAST20 for 20% off.

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re joined by Steven Mandel, Partner at TPG Rise Climate, in conversation with Oliver Kerr, Aurora’s Managing Director for North America. Together, they explore how institutional capital is responding to policy volatility, surging load growth, and the growing influence of AI on US power markets. 

Steven helps lead investments across power, electrification, and the broader energy transition for TPG Rise Climate, one of the world’s largest dedicated climate investment platforms. He serves on the boards of Altus Power, Matrix Renewables, Nextracker, Intersect Power and Palmetto, and brings prior experience from Denham Capital and Citi’s Power & Utilities investment banking team. 

The discussion focuses on the fundamentals shaping US power today: accelerating data centre demand, rising gas marginal costs, and the competitiveness of solar-plus-storage - even amid policy uncertainty. Steven explains why capital is concentrating on quality over pipeline scale, how investors assess durability in volatile markets, and why affordability and regulatory stability will define the next phase of deployment. 

You will learn: 

Why AI-driven load growth is strengthening the long-term power investment case. 

How climate investors evaluate risk and downside protection in uncertain markets. 

Why solar and storage remain structurally competitive. 

How policy and affordability debates could shape future capital flows.

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re joined by Nat Bullard, co-founder of Halcyon, an AI-enabled energy information platform, and one of the sector’s most influential data storytellers. He joins Hugo Batten, Aurora’s Managing Director APAC, and Oliver Kerr, Aurora’s Managing Director USA, to unpack the 2026 edition of his annual “Decarbonisation” presentation - a sweeping, data-led assessment of where the global energy transition is accelerating, stalling, and surprising us. 

Nat brings two decades’ experience analysing energy, technology, markets and finance. Formerly Chief Content Officer at BloombergNEF and now also an advisor to Ember and Arcadia, he draws on deep market insight to separate structural trends from short-term noise. From record solar and battery deployment in the US, to flat real-terms clean investment globally, to China’s extraordinary scale in electrification and manufacturing, the conversation explores a world adding more of everything - fossil fuels and renewables alike - while grappling with grid constraints and rising electricity demand. 

The discussion also examines cooling demand in developing economies, China’s emergence as a global electrostate, and the profound uncertainty surrounding AI-driven load growth and data centre interconnections in the US - where the bottleneck may be demand connection as much as generation capacity. 

You will learn: 

Why the energy transition appears contradictory - with record clean deployment alongside continued fossil growth. 

How cooling demand in emerging economies could rival or exceed AI as a driver of electricity growth. 

What China’s scale in electrification, batteries and EVs means for global supply chains and competitiveness. 

Why grids and interconnection queues may prove the decisive constraint in the next phase of the transition. 

Registration for the leading annual gathering of the European energy industry – the Aurora Spring Forum, taking place on 29th April 2026, in London is open - a one-day deep dive into the biggest strategic questions shaping Europe’s energy transition, plus top-tier networking and a live recording of Energy Unplugged.

Book now at https://auroraer.com/events/aurora-sp... and use code PODCAST20 for 20% off.

As part of a special live edition of Energy Unplugged, recorded from the podcast booth at E-World in Essen, Hanns Koenig, Managing Directore EMEA for Aurora Energy Research, sits down with Michael Lewis, CEO of Uniper, to discuss the realities of leading a major European energy company at the heart of the transition. 

Drawing on three decades in the sector - from building E.ON’s offshore wind business to steering Uniper through recovery after the gas crisis - Michael reflects on what it really takes to deliver the energy transition: cost discipline, system thinking, and a relentless focus on security of supply. 

The conversation spans Germany’s progress on renewables, the case for new hydrogen-ready gas capacity, the role of batteries and demand-side flexibility, gas market resilience post-Russia, and the growing impact of data centres and electrification on future power demand. Throughout, one theme stands out: the transition cannot be delivered in silos - it must be approached as a fully integrated system. 

What you’ll learn: 

Why flexibility is shifting from generators to customers in a renewables-led system 

How Germany is balancing coal phase-out with new hydrogen-ready gas plants 

What true gas security looks like after the Russia shock - and why diversification matters 

How AI, data centres and electrification could reshape Europe’s electricity demand curve 

Registration for the leading annual gathering of the European energy industry – the Aurora Spring Forum, taking place on 29th April 2026, in London is open - a one-day deep dive into the biggest strategic questions shaping Europe’s energy transition, plus top-tier networking and a live recording of Energy Unplugged.

Book now at https://auroraer.com/events/aurora-spring-forum-2026 and use code PODCAST20 for 20% off.