Ascend Analytics Unveils 2026 Power Predictions

BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascend Analytics (Ascend), the leading provider of market intelligence and analytics solutions for the power industry, today announced the publication of its second annual Power Predictions. For the 2026 release, Ascend's strategists, economists, and analysts consider the near-term implications of load growth, infrastructure, data centers, and market designs and how they are expected to shape the upcoming year.

Grounded in long-term macro-trends and the ongoing structural change in power markets, the predictions focused on market dynamics and their potential outcomes and implications over the next twelve months. The predictions explore 10 themes, with highlights including:

• Data Center Pipe Dreams: Power supply constraints will stem the unbridled flow of data center development
  
  
• The Hot Potato of Rising Rates: Rising electricity costs will prove to be a formidable affordability foe in the 2026 mid-terms
  
  
• ERCOT Demand Forecasts Sober Up: 2026 load growth will fall short of previous expectations
  
  
• Behind the Meter Comes Front and Center: BTM resources will become a multi-purpose solution for a myriad of power market woes
  
  
• Make American Utilities Vertical Again?: Large loads head to vertically integrated markets

"For 2026's Power Predictions, we've once again anchored on the backdrop of macro structural change underway in power markets to explore supply and demand dynamics that will drive significant changes in the year ahead," said Gary Dorris, Chief Executive Officer of Ascend. "In combining this near-term, tactical lens with the analytical rigor and objective economic insight our clients are accustomed to, we've aimed to shine a light on how trends in load growth, infrastructure, data centers, and market designs could create unexpected dynamics for the power industry in the months ahead."

The complete Power Predictions 2026 are available here, and interested parties are encouraged to connect with Ascend's experts for additional exploration of specific predictions or the macro trends shaping them.

About Ascend Analytics
Ascend Analytics is the leading provider of market intelligence and analytics solutions for the power industry. The company's offerings enable decision makers in power supply, procurement, and investment markets to plan, operate, monetize, and manage risk for renewable energy and storage assets. From real-time to 30-year horizons, their forecasts and insights are at the foundation of over $50 billion in project financing assessments. Ascend provides energy market stakeholders with the clarity and confidence to successfully navigate the rapidly shifting energy landscape.

SOURCE Ascend Analytics