About
About Grid Flexibility
Grid Flexibility is independent research on where demand flexibility has measurable value on the US grid: which hours, which locations, and how costs are allocated. Every analysis is reconstructed from primary sources (utility filings, regulatory dockets, and grid-operator data), and every figure is traced back to where it came from.
Why this exists
The grid is changing faster than it has in decades. The dispatchable power plants that balanced supply and demand for a century are retiring, intermittent wind and solar are taking their place, and electricity demand is growing at a pace not seen in a generation, led by data centers. Staying reliable now takes both new buildout and new ways of balancing the system.
Historically, that balancing came from the supply side, and the grid was sized for a handful of peak hours it rarely reaches. Increasingly it will also come from the demand side: flexible load that shifts in time to use what already exists more fully. That is where much of flexibility's value is moving, though real supply-side opportunities remain alongside it.
Most of that value is still invisible. It sits in wholesale market data, rate filings, and grid-operator reports that are public but sparsely assembled into a form that can be acted on. Markets cannot price what they cannot see, regulators cannot reform what they cannot measure, and capital will not fund what cannot be proven. Grid Flexibility exists to make that value legible: to take the public record apart, quantify what is actually happening, and present it plainly enough to be checked.
What is live now
- Data Centers: how AI and hyperscale load growth is reshaping electricity demand, and where it lands on the grid.
- Dominion Virginia case study: a primary-source reconstruction of how data-center growth is showing up on residential bills.
What is coming
Work in progress, not yet published:
- A public methodology page: sources, definitions, and how each number is built.
- Additional case studies across other regions and utilities.
- Utility scorecards and a Flexibility Index: comparable measures of where flexibility is enabled or blocked.
- Cross-ISO views of wholesale markets, flexibility value, and grid stress.
How the research is done
- Primary sources first. Analyses are reconstructed from utility filings, regulatory dockets, and grid-operator data.
- Every figure traces to a source. The Dominion case study carries a per-claim source register, so each number can be checked against its origin.
- A clear source hierarchy. Where sources disagree, primary filings and operator data take precedence over secondary summaries.
- Public-safe by design. Some inputs are licensed or carry redistribution limits; in those cases we publish derived figures with their provenance rather than the raw third-party data.
- Dated and caveated. Every figure is dated, we state what a number does and does not represent, and corrections are made in the open.
A fuller methodology with definitions and worked examples is in progress.
Examples of primary sources used: EIA, FERC, PJM, CAISO, the Virginia State Corporation Commission, JLARC, and utility rate filings.
Who is behind it
Grid Flexibility is researched and written by Corey Balgeman.
Corey began his career in retail electricity at AEP Energy. Working in pricing and risk, he scaled mass-market pricing and shaped commercial and industrial pricing strategy while managing portfolio analytics for a book that grew from under 100,000 to more than 400,000 customers.
He later worked in growth and analytics at YouTube, where he built the analytics foundation for the subscriptions partnerships channel (which added over 2 million members a year in its early years) and the business reviews that informed a nine-figure global marketing budget.
He holds an MSx from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he was among the first recipients of the Ecopreneurship graduate certificate from the Doerr School of Sustainability; his work and studies there focused on cleantech, energy demand flexibility, and entrepreneurship. He also holds a BS from the University of Illinois, where he studied finance and economics with a focus on commodity markets and a minor in international studies.
Stay in touch
Updates and new analyses are announced by email.
Corey is available as a source on data-center load growth, electricity rate design, capacity markets, and demand flexibility. For questions, requests, corrections, or press: corey@gridflexibility.fyi.
Citing this work
When citing this research, credit Corey Balgeman, Grid Flexibility (gridflexibility.fyi). For a specific analysis, include its title, page URL, and the date accessed.
Last updated: June 3, 2026.