Power Plays delivers a sharp and urgent analysis of the looming electricity crisis threatening America's economic future. Jacques Beaudry-Losique, a veteran energy executive, argues that the United States is dangerously unprepared for a surge in electricity demand fueled by AI data centers, cryptocurrency mining, reindustrialization, and the electrification of transportation and heating.
Despite these pressures, America's power grid remains outdated, fragmented, and shackled by political and regulatory inertia. Beaudry-Losique depicts the energy landscape as a high-stakes "power game," where utilities, regulators, Big Tech, and policymakers compete for limited access to electrons while neglecting the structural reforms needed to secure the nation's future.
Through real-world case studies-most notably the energy crisis in Loudoun County, Virginia-he illustrates how local grid bottlenecks foreshadow national decline. The book blends systems thinking, policy critique, and game theory to map out a pragmatic roadmap: reform permitting, expand transmission and nuclear capacity, and embrace decentralized, resilient microgrids.
Blunt, informed, and timely, Power Plays warns that the fight for electricity will determine who leads in technology, security, and prosperity in the 21st century-and whether America will keep its competitive edge or fall behind.
Beaudry-Losique, Jacques: - Jacques Beaudry-Losique is an energy strategist, author, and former government leader with more than two decades of experience shaping the technologies, policies, and business models behind North America's evolving power system. His work spans the full spectrum of the energy world-advanced technology startups, global corporations, public policy, and national clean-energy programs. Jacques is the author of Power Plays: How the Battle for Electrons Will Define the 21st Century, a groundbreaking exploration of the coming electricity demand surge from AI, electrification, and digital infrastructure. Drawing on insider experience across government and industry, he explains why the U.S. grid is struggling to keep pace and outlines the reforms required to secure America's technological and economic leadership.He most recently served as CEO of Enginuity Power Systems, an award-winning advanced energy technology company commercializing ultra-efficient hybrid generation and small-scale combined heat and power systems. Under his leadership from 2019 to 2025, Enginuity evolved from a startup concept into a professionally managed business with three business lines, supported by global investors and contracts with global OEMs and the U.S. Department of Defense.Prior to Enginuity, Jacques held senior roles with Algenol Biotech and Codexis, two energy oriented synthetic biology forms, where he led sustainable biofuels and bioproducts deployment efforts. Jacques also held several senior leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Energy, where he managed multiple clean energy programs and oversaw major energy investments during the 2009 Recovery Act. His career also includes influential roles at GE, Shell Canada, Aspen Technology, and McKinsey & Company.Jacques serves on multiple boards and advisory panels and holds advanced degrees from Stanford University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is driven by a lifelong fascination with how electrons, markets, and policy decisions shape society-and with helping leaders navigate the power challenges redefining the 21st century.
