Contributed Commentary by Joe Amara, Joe Amara Executive Search
May 6, 2025 | The power generation industry has come a long way since Thomas Edison started General Electric in New York in 1892. Edison and his peers created a multi-national and multi-generational brand, which has supplied power generation equipment and employed generations of workers of all skillsets for over 130 years.
Through most of the 20th century, General Electrical and other US equipment manufacturers benefited from almost non-existent global competition; monopolistic utility customers; and an expanding middle class, leading to increased demand.
Fast forward to today, and the market is very different. The 1980s brought deregulation, which created the Independent Power Producer (IPP) and, in turn, gave birth to a renewable energy boom, which saw solar energy and battery storage growth take off beyond the wildest dreams (or nightmares) of anyone in the Reagan administration. The advancement of free-fuel power generation has ushered in enormous growth over the past decade, providing off-takers (wholesale energy buyers) with competitive prices, and tremendous job growth for a variety of skills.
Although all skillsets can participate in today’s power and digital infrastructure boom, STEM skillsets remain in high demand and low supply, making it extremely hard to recruit and retain top talent. IPPs and data center developers are all in need of executives and senior leaders with a deep understanding of transmission, origination, analytics, development strategy, and structured finance.
Demand
“The energy demand is palpable.” That was the assertion from a prospective candidate during a multi-national IPP’s recent search for a Chief Commercial Officer. Another candidate described a situation where a data center customer asked for 10GW of power, to which the Head of Power Origination replied: “We can give you 1GW of solar today, and the rest not for a few years.”
If anyone was thinking the US is not in the midst an energy crisis, then they’d be wrong. Commonly referred to as ‘load growth’, the current increase in electricity demand is on scale we have not experienced for a long time—driven by the increase in computing power needed for devices like our phones, and newly electrified commodities like our cars.
Supply
The chants of ‘drill baby drill’ echo around the world from those who believe fossil fuels, not renewable energy, are the future; they believe renewables are not profitable, and solar doesn’t work. Yet they are often surprised when they realize most renewable energy developers are proponents of an all-encompassing energy policy, and many renewable IPPs have been adding non-intermittent power to their portfolios for years.
The confusion is understandable, considering the rhetoric from some policy makers around renewables being used for everything, everywhere, always.
Perhaps most impressive is renewables’ endurance, which is partly due (ironically) to tariffs. Today, natural gas prices are about $4.50/BTU, up more than 100% from a year ago. An increase in fuel prices means an increase in electricity prices, making electricity from free-fuel tech more attractive.
Another bright spot in the energy industry is battery storage. Utility-scale batteries provide reliability to the grid and an opportunity to dispatch power at opportune times. This recent technological advancement has been a game changer for the entire industry, and needs to be incentivized by local, state, and federal governments.
Yes, the true believers in all things fossil fuels could do something drastic, like make sunlight illegal. However, the one fact that might hold their hand steady at the wheel is the economy. If continued economic growth is a focal point, we need energy from all sources, including fossil fuels. As this administration has correctly stated, we are in an energy crisis, which could spiral out of control if an all-inclusive energy policy isn’t upheld.
Developing gas fired generation and small module reactors is essential, however it takes up to ten years to complete one natural-gas power plant, given their complexity. Ready-to-go renewables and battery storage are here today, and vital to our economic wellbeing. So, let’s move away from an ‘us v. them’ divide and focus on the true picture: that demand is growing, and we can only meet that demand by utilizing all options moving forward.
Joe Amara is the owner of Joe Amara Executive Search, an executive search firm focused on power and digital infrastructure, located in Chicago. He can be reached at jamara@joeamara.com.
