ACORE Blog Series

Since Senate negotiators published the negotiated BAAJA text and the recent substitute amendments, the energy industry has been buzzing over its provisions. This bill offers a path forward to speed up the process of bringing clean energy online, helping us meet the moment by affordably and reliably meeting growing electricity demand.

Every year at the ACORE Grid Forum, we bring together industry leaders who are clear-eyed about the challenge: We need to build out our grid and electricity supply now to meet rising electricity demand. And every year we don’t act, the problem becomes more pressing.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen — colleagues, friends, my family, my very confused dog— that the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) is the most important thing to happen to the American grid in a generation.

PJM is short on power, and its customers are paying record prices for it. The conversation about why has largely focused on data center demand, but that argument is incomplete: the slow pace of adding energy supply is also to blame, and that’s a problem states are uniquely positioned to solve.

Building on ACORE’s longstanding partnership with WRISE, the session featured Tetyana Rabczak of NextGen Energy Partners, alongside Angela Adduci of BMO Climate Institute, Heidi Gorrill of Slipstream, and Lauren Haller of Pattern Energy. Together, they explored how entrepreneurs and industry partners can advance clean energy innovation in local and state markets.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (or BAAJA for short) is a transformative bill and an essential step to speed up the deployment of clean energy and transmission in the United States. 

At a recent United States Energy Administration (USEA) and ACORE briefing for congressional staff, panelists agreed that smart grid expansion will benefit economic development, affordability, national security, and resilience – and that thoughtful policy change is necessary to facilitate that rapid expansion.

A recap of U.S. clean energy trade policy in 2026, including key statutory authorities, major developments, and a timeline of federal trade actions.

Electricity demand is booming, and the businesses investing in the grid and building actual power plants are responding by planning more clean power additions.