Vikrum Aiyer has built a career at the intersection of energy, technology, and public policy, serving since 2022 as head of global public policy at the San Francisco climate-technology company Heirloom, where he leads national policy campaigns and public engagement for carbon-removal technology. Earlier, Aiyer served as vice president of global public policy and strategic communications at Uber/Postmates, guiding the company’s government relations strategy through a period of rapid growth, and he held policy roles in the Obama administration. A University of California, Berkeley graduate in political science, he has helped secure $600 million in federal funding for climate technology and now advises energy and technology companies on policy strategy. He also serves as commissioner of San Francisco’s Workforce Investment Board and sits on the boards of the Chamber of Progress and YIMBY Action. As U.S. electricity demand climbs toward record levels, Aiyer’s policy work offers insight into how the nation is responding to its expanding energy needs.
Vikrum Aiyer joined San Francisco’s Heirloom as the head of global public policy in 2022. He has also participated in the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers program. His work sits at the intersection of energy, carbon management, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and public policy, including the challenge of ensuring that the United States can produce abundant, reliable, and affordable energy as electricity demand grows.
America’s energy needs are changing rapidly. After roughly two decades of relatively flat electricity consumption, U.S. power demand is growing again, driven in significant part by data centers and increased manufacturing activity. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects electricity consumption to reach record levels in 2026 and continue growing in 2027.
Prior to the last few years, America’s electricity needs remained relatively flat despite population and economic growth. Efficiency improvements and structural changes in the economy—including a shift toward less energy-intensive service industries—helped offset increases in electricity use. That dynamic is now changing as new sources of large-scale demand emerge.
Data centers are one of the most significant drivers. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other digital services require substantial computing infrastructure and electricity.
At the same time, increased domestic manufacturing is contributing to industrial demand. EIA expects U.S. electricity sales to reach approximately 4,135 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 and 4,211 billion kilowatt-hours in 2027, with commercial and industrial customers accounting for much of the growth. Meeting this demand will require the United States to expand and modernize its energy infrastructure.
That includes adding electricity generation, strengthening transmission and distribution systems, developing storage where appropriate, and improving the speed at which new energy projects can be permitted, financed, built, and connected to the grid. Just as importantly, additional supply must translate into reliable and affordable energy for households, communities, and businesses—not simply more generation on paper. No single energy technology is likely to meet all of this additional demand.
The United States already relies on a diverse portfolio that includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, hydropower, wind, solar, and other resources. Different technologies provide different attributes—including around-the-clock generation, dispatchability, speed of deployment, cost, storage capability, and environmental performance. An “all-of-the-above” approach therefore means building a portfolio that can withstand changes in politics, markets, technology, and demand while prioritizing affordability, reliability, and the needs of the communities that host energy infrastructure.
At the same time, American energy policy does not operate in isolation from the global economy. Major trading partners continue to pursue climate and carbon policies that can affect the competitiveness of American products and energy exports. The European Union, for example, is implementing its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and methane requirements affecting imported energy, while Canada continues to advance industrial carbon pricing and other climate policies.
For American companies competing in these markets, managing carbon and methane intensity can therefore be an economic and market-access consideration as well as an environmental one. A durable American energy strategy must be capable of producing abundant and affordable energy at home while ensuring that U.S. industries can compete in markets with different carbon and environmental requirements Natural gas is expected to remain a major source of U.S. electricity generation in the near term.
EIA currently projects it will provide approximately 40 percent of U.S. electricity generation in both 2026 and 2027. Natural gas generation can provide dispatchable electricity that complements other resources and responds to changing demand. Renewable generation is expanding as well.
EIA forecasts solar generation to continue growing through 2027, while wind, hydropower, and other renewable resources remain important components of the national energy mix. Nuclear energy, meanwhile, is expected to continue providing approximately 18 percent of U.S. electricity generation in the near term. The challenge is therefore broader than simply adding generating capacity.
A rapidly expanding power system must also remain reliable and affordable for households and businesses. New large electricity users can require substantial generation and grid infrastructure, making questions about transmission, interconnection, permitting, and who bears the cost of new infrastructure increasingly important. Energy supply is also becoming closely connected to American competitiveness.
Data centers supporting artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing facilities, and other large industrial projects can locate where electricity is available reliably and at competitive prices. The ability to build energy infrastructure efficiently can therefore influence where companies invest, where jobs are created, and whether emerging industries expand domestically or elsewhere. New technologies may provide additional options.
Advanced nuclear energy, enhanced geothermal systems, energy storage, carbon capture and removal, and other emerging technologies could complement existing resources as they become commercially viable. Continued innovation in conventional energy production can also improve the efficiency, reliability, and environmental performance of the broader system. Carbon management technologies are particularly relevant for industries seeking to expand energy and manufacturing capacity while managing emissions.
Carbon capture can address emissions from certain industrial and power facilities, while direct air capture removes carbon dioxide already present in ambient air. Scaling these technologies will itself require reliable energy, infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and skilled workers. America’s renewed electricity-demand growth therefore represents both a challenge and an opportunity.
Meeting it will require investment across generation, grids, infrastructure, technology, and workforce development. A system that can provide abundant, reliable, affordable energy while supporting innovation and responsible environmental performance will be increasingly important to American manufacturing, artificial intelligence, economic growth, and long-term competitiveness.
About Vikrum Aiyer
Vikrum Aiyer is a San Francisco-based policy strategist and communications executive whose career spans government, technology, and climate innovation. Since 2022, he has served as head of global public policy at Heirloom, supporting the carbon-removal company’s policy development and industry partnerships. He previously led global public policy and communications at Uber/Postmates and served in the Obama administration. A UC Berkeley political science graduate, Aiyer belongs to the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers program and sits on the boards of the Chamber of Progress and YIMBY Action.
