Energy giant CEO warns of US 'power crisis' if Trump delays renewables

The US would face a power crisis if wind and other renewable energy projects are delayed, warned the CEO of one of the nation’s biggest energy groups when quizzed over the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s policies.

John Ketchum, chief executive of NextEra Energy, said renewables are in a position to contribute “right now” to meeting surging power demand, while alternatives such as gas and nuclear can’t deliver at scale for five years or more.

“Renewables play a very important role. Right now, we need solutions that are going to deliver electrons to the grid so we don’t have a power crisis,” Ketchum said on a call to discuss NextEra’s full-year results.

Asked about potential policy impacts on its projects and their ability to get built, Ketchum said: “We can’t afford to take any option off the table. We can’t wait because that demand is here today.”

Ketchum added that discussions this week with power users such as utilities and industrial players had been about "making sure these projects get built because they need them.

"If these projects were for any reason to be delayed – which we don’t believe they will be – that would have a significant impact to their ability to provide power to their own customer base," he said.

The NextEra CEO expects US load demand to increase by more than 80% over next five years, sixfold over the next 20 years.

“If you think about generation types… they’re not all created equally in terms of timing. Renewables are here today,” said Ketchum, who quoted the time needed to build wind, storage and solar projects at 12, 15 and 18 months respectively.

“When is gas really going to be able to contribute at scale? We’re looking at 2030, nuclear later than that. We need shovels in the ground today. Our customers need it right now,” he added, pointing out that utilities had retired other forms of generation and industrial users had committed major investments to factories.

“They’re counting on these renewable projects, some of which include wind, to show up. Right now we are short of power in this country.”

Ketchum’s robust defence of renewables was accompanied by plans by NextEra to ramp up its own “all the above” energy strategy in an effort to help meet surging demand from AI data centres and broader electrification of the economy.

The company announced a tie-up with energy technology giant GE Vernova in gas generation and is exploring the potential to bring its Duane Arnold nuclear plant back into service.