The US energy grid is aging (built mostly in the 60s and 70s), runs at only the median of power needed, and frequently dips below what is required — which constrains innovation, prosperity, and national security.
The current US grid was built in the mid-20th century, already failing 45% of Americans with annual outages, and barely meets median demand — leaving no surplus for growth or innovation. ✦ AI generated
Speaker 2 · a16z Podcast · 2026-08-05 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 2:16
The current state of the energy grid is not great and it doesn't say hey America's ready to build. We need energy for everything. And the grid we're building on right now is mostly created in the 60s and 70s. Technology has changed a lot. Society has changed a lot. And it's starting to show that what we're building on is aging. About 45% of Americans have experienced one outage in the last year. For a business, that can be catastrophic. It's a really important thing for folks to grasp that when you turn the lights on, it's from the 60s. We kind of run just at the median of the power we need. And on some days in many states, we actually dip below what we need from an energy perspective to really innovate. To unlock prosperity, we have to get above the line of what we need. We have to give ourselves room to do all of those. And that from a national security perspective is what will allow the US to be the US we all grew up dreaming about.
verbatim transcript · starts at 2:16
2:16in the 60s and 70s. Technology has changed a lot. Society [music] has changed a lot. And it's starting to show that what we're building on is aging. About 45% of Americans have experienced one outage in the last year. For a business, that can be catastrophic. It's a really important thing for folks to grasp that when you [music] turn the lights on, it's from the 60s. We kind of
2:44run just at the median of the power we need. And on some days in many states, we actually dip below what we need from an energy [music] perspective to really innovate. To unlock prosperity, we have to get above the line of what we need. We have to give ourselves room to do all of those. And that from a national security perspective is what will allow the US to be the US we all grew up
3:08dreaming about. [music] >> Countries that rely on other nations for their energy have strings attached. When [music] there is conflict and energy sources are relied upon from other nations that have become adversaries, it can cause an entire country to shut down. To be able to have your own energy independence provides energy security as [music] well. And that is exactly what nuclear power can provide. I founded Radiant after working at