Key facts
- Consolidated Edison CEO Tim Cawley said grid equipment needs to be upsized to handle longer and hotter heat waves.
- Cawley believes New York should better utilize rooftop solar, batteries, demand response, and grid data for efficiency and cost containment.
- Data center demand for Con Edison is currently around 60 megawatts.
- Electrification of transport and heating are the main drivers of load growth.
- Cawley backed utility-owned large-scale renewables, especially those linked by transmission to demand centers.
- AI and real-time grid visibility can improve operations, optimize voltage, reduce consumption, cut emissions, and lower bills.
Consolidated Edison CEO Tim Cawley stated that the utility must upgrade parts of its grid equipment to withstand longer and hotter heat waves, while also emphasizing the need to better utilize existing resources to improve efficiency and manage costs. Speaking at the Reuters Global Energy Forum, Cawley noted that while the company is experiencing increased demand from data centers, it is currently around 60 megawatts, significantly less than the scale cited by some other utilities. He identified the electrification of transport and heating as the primary drivers of load growth.