Manufacturers are increasingly prioritizing energy procurement — including efficiency, fuel diversity, or other investments — amid an ongoing rise in prices.
Few industries have been untouched by this year’s convergence of geopolitical turmoil, an artificial intelligence infrastructure boom and federal policies that have contributed to energy cost increases. While natural gas prices in the United States have been low for at least the last decade, as characterized by consultancy Wood Mackenzie, the conditions that kept those prices steady are “no longer all operating at full force.” Prices, it said, will inevitably “need to rise to grow supply.”
Yet long-term energy resilience is not a new agenda point. In many ways, such events have confirmed the need for investments that manufacturers have been pushing for years.
“These businesses have long horizons and they're usually not very reactionary to acute events,” said Brandon Isakson, managing director for industry at environmental nonprofit Fresh Energy. “But we are seeing more of the conversations happening around hedging against fossil fuels.”
The forces driving energy initiatives
