The Electrotech Revolution: Reshaping How the World Generates, Moves, and Uses Energy
by Bob Shively, Enerdynamics President and Lead Facilitator
What is electrotech, and why does it matter?
Electrotech refers to the convergence of three groups of technologies that are transforming the electricity system: renewable supply from solar and wind; new electricity demand from electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps; and connection technologies — batteries, smart grids, and digital platforms — that link supply and demand. Individually, each group offers system
improvement. But together, they offer what analysts at global energy think tank Ember describe as “the most profound transformation of the energy system since the shift from biomass to fossil fuels.”
Solar panel costs have dropped 99% since 1980, in recent years batteries have followed a nearly identical curve, and global EV sales have grown 15-fold since 2017. Solar capacity has doubled roughly every three years for three decades. Global grid battery capacity has grown 12-fold since 2020. This is exponential change, not incremental progress.
Why utilities cannot afford to wait
For electric utilities, electrotech directly affects the three critical pillars of performance: affordability, reliability, and energy security.
On affordability, economics have already shifted. Fossil fuel costs rise as extraction intensifies; electrotech costs fall as manufacturing scales. Solar-plus-storage is now cheaper in many markets than traditional sources. Five years ago, natural gas and coal generation were cost-effective. Today, they are more expensive than renewable supplies. Utilities that delay integrating low-cost renewables and storage risk leaving ratepayers with higher costs.
On reliability, batteries, demand response, and digital grid management tools are rapidly maturing. Grids already operating at 70–80% renewable penetration are demonstrating that reliability can be maintained — provided utilities invest in the connection technologies that allow variable generation to be balanced in real time. And aggregated distributed energy resources monitored and dispatched using smart grids and digital platforms offer a local supply that will displace centralized generation.
On energy security, the case is compelling. French President Emmanuel Macron captured it plainly at the 2026 World Summit on Nuclear Energy: “Everything we do to move towards transition is also about reducing our dependence and therefore our exposure to geopolitical risks.” Roughly 80% of the world’s countries are net fossil fuel importers, exposed to commodity price swings and supply disruptions. In contrast, 92% of countries have domestic renewable resources capable of generating more than ten times their current energy demand. Once built, solar and storage assets produce power for decades at near-zero marginal cost — insulated from the volatility that has long defined fossil fuel markets.
Who is leading the way?
China has emerged as the world’s first “electrostate,” scaling supply and demand electrification simultaneously as a unified industrial strategy. It accounts for roughly half of global solar installations, 60% of EV sales, and two-thirds of global electricity demand growth since 2019. Fossil fuel consumption in Chinese electricity generation declined 2% in the first half of 2025 — a meaningful signal that peak fossil demand in the world’s largest energy market may be approaching. And China is flooding much of the world with low-cost renewables, batteries, and EVs.
Emerging markets are moving quickly as well, with many leapfrogging fossil infrastructure entirely. The ASEAN region has already surpassed the United States in electrification as a share of final energy demand. Within the U.S., California, Hawaii, and Texas lead in renewable deployment and storage integration. Europe, particularly Germany, Spain, and Scandinavia, along with parts of Australia have demonstrated that high-renewable grids can operate reliably at scale.
The strategic imperative
According to Ember, physics, economics, and geopolitics all favor electrotech. Electrotech systems are roughly three times more efficient than fossil fuel systems. Costs continue to fall as deployment scales. And in an era of rising geopolitical risk, domestic renewable resources offer energy independence that fossil imports cannot.
For utilities and energy technology companies, the question is no longer whether to engage with electrotech, but how quickly and comprehensively to do so. Organizations that integrate supply, demand, and connection technologies as a unified system will be best positioned to deliver the affordable, reliable, and secure energy their customers and regulators expect. Despite temporary political pressures, the revolution has momentum driven by key realities. The strategic question is whether you are building your career to be prepared.
Footnotes:
Much of the data and concepts in this blog are based on thoughts from the following sources unless otherwise noted by links:
- Ember's The Electrotech Revolution report and related Substack (authored by Kingsmill Bond, Daan Walter, and Sam Butler-Sloss)
- "The Electric Slide" by Packy McCormick and Sam D'Amico (Not Boring, August 2025)
Read more on Energy Currents
