Webinar: AI Data Center Boom, Carbon Pricing, and the Electricity Market – September 15, 2026

Join the National Tax Association for a virtual panel discussion exploring the intersection of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), surging energy demand, and grid reliability. This webinar brings together energy economists and industry experts to analyze how these converging forces impact the future of U.S. electricity markets. We will address key questions, including:

  • What are the operational and economic challenges of implementing RGGI during an unprecedented AI-driven demand boom?
  • How can federal and state policymakers effectively balance rapid load growth with energy affordability and decarbonization goals?
  • What is the long-term outlook for power generation, regional reliability, and grid infrastructure across the United States?

Speakers:
Rob Gramlich, Founder and President, Grid Strategies LLC
Devin Hartman, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, R Street Institute
Dallas Burtraw, Chair of California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee

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Rob Gramlich is President of Grid Strategies LLC, a Washington DC-based consultancy focused on transmission and power markets for a reliable, affordable, and sustainable power system.  He co-founded  Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies (WATT Coalition), Advancing Modern Powerlines, the Macro Grid Initiative, and the Future Power Markets Forum. Rob has been invited to testify by both parties before Congress, FERC, and state agencies. He has earned awards from FERC as Exemplar of Public Service, the Energy Systems Integration Group for contributions to market design and transmission planning, The Hill Magazine for lobbying, and the American Wind Energy Association for Technical Achievement. Rob previously oversaw transmission and power market policy for the American Wind Energy Association as SVP and Interim CEO, served as Economic Advisor to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III, and was Senior Economist at PJM Interconnection.  Rob has a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree from UC Berkeley and a BA with Honors in Economics from Colby College. 

Devin Hartman is a non-resident Senior Fellow Policy at the R Street Institute. He previously led the energy program, bringing a pragmatic and analytically sound pro-market perspective to energy and environmental policy. He rejoined R Street in 2020 after serving as the president and CEO of the Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON), the national association of large industrial users of electricity. He represented large consumers on the Members Representatives Committee of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation from 2019 to 2020. Before ELCON, Devin established R Street’s electricity policy program in 2016 based on principles of market competition, consumer choice and good governance. He has previously worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and various energy and environmental policy nonprofit organizations. 

Devin received a BS in economics and BA in political science and environmental studies from Iowa State University, and holds an MPA and an MS in environmental science from Indiana University. He is an active member and past council member of his local chapter of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and retriever puppy. 

 

Dallas Burtraw has worked to promote efficient control of air pollution and written extensively on electricity industry regulation and environmental outcomes. Burtraw’s current research includes analysis of the distributional and regional consequences of climate policy, the evolution of electricity markets including renewable integration, and the interaction of climate policy with electricity markets. He has provided technical support in the design of carbon dioxide emissions trading programs in the Northeast states, California, and the European Union. He also has studied regulation of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide under the Clean Air Act and conducted integrated assessment of costs, and modeled health and ecosystem effects and valuation, including ecosystem improvement in the Adirondack Park and the southern Appalachian region. Burtraw currently serves as Chair of California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee. Burtraw holds a Ph.D. in economics and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis. 

Moderator:
Adam Aton, Reporter, E&E News

Adam Aton covers the politics of climate change, from elections and activism to policymaking and economic trends. He joined E&E News in 2017 after covering national politics for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Missouri Legislature for the Associated Press, and policing and racial justice for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He began his career at the Columbia Missourian as a reporter covering local politics and economic development before becoming an assistant city editor. He earned a master’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism, where he also received his bachelor’s degree. 

 

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