America's electricity system is under pressure. Demand is rising — driven by data centers, manufacturing, and electrification — while rates climb and grid upgrades struggle to keep pace. The conventional assumption is that more load means more cost. A new study from The Brattle Group challenges that assumption.

The Untapped Grid finds that by strategically adding new load where and when spare capacity already exists — and by deploying flexible distributed energy resources to create additional headroom — the power system can absorb significant demand growth without the rate increases that typically follow.

The numbers are consequential. In a status quo scenario, load growth raises rates for all customers by 1.4%. With a deliberate focus on system utilization, that outcome reverses: rates can fall by as much as 3.4% relative to current conditions. Scaled to national load growth projections, the research estimates that U.S. consumers could save $150 to $180 billion over ten years.

This is not a theoretical exercise. The Brattle Group modeled a mid-sized U.S. investor-owned utility against real-world cost structures, analyzing two scenarios side by side. The findings hold across a range of alternative assumptions — and the upside grows when distributed energy resources are deployed more aggressively or at lower cost.

The report also identifies clear benefits beyond rate relief: new loads can connect to the grid faster, utilities can grow earnings while deploying capital more efficiently, and the risk of overbuilding infrastructure is reduced.