progress stops
without power.
We focus on why America stopped building enough power — and what that means for bills, stability, technological progress, and the future of human flourishing.
Energy capacity sets the limits of what societies can afford, build, and become.
We focus on why America stopped building enough power.
Modern life depends on electricity that is affordable, reliable, and abundant. When energy systems fall behind reality, the consequences show up everywhere — higher bills, fragile grids, stalled innovation, and political backlash aimed at the wrong targets.
The problem isn’t that Americans suddenly use too much power. It’s that for decades we made it harder to build and maintain enough of it. Policy, permitting, market design, and public narratives all shifted away from expanding supply — and the costs of that shift are now unavoidable.
The Capacity Project exists to close the gap between how energy systems actually work and how they are publicly understood. We research, explain, and popularize the case for building more electricity capacity — because capacity determines what households can afford, what regions can grow, and what kind of future is possible.
Everything downstream depends on how much power we can produce.
What actually matters.
Energy outcomes are determined upstream. How power is built, constrained, delayed, or blocked sets the limits on cost, stability, and progress everywhere else.
When capacity falls behind reality, the effects ripple outward — into household bills, regional growth, political conflict, and the technologies societies can support.
Capacity First
We center energy debates on supply. When power is scarce, everything downstream gets more expensive, fragile, and political.
Human Stakes
Energy policy shows up in monthly bills, household stress, regional opportunity, and the technologies that shape daily life. We keep those consequences visible.
The Next Era
Artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and medical discovery will demand more power than the last century. Societies that build it will lead.
Why capacity matters.
When your energy bill goes up, it doesn’t feel abstract. It feels like stress — like one more thing that’s suddenly harder to manage.
What most people are never told is that high bills, fragile grids, and stalled progress often come from the same place: we stopped building enough power.
Everyday Life
National Capacity
Flourishing
American Security
Creating clarity in the energy debate.
Research & Insight
Reporting & Editorial
Visualizations & Explainers
Policy Insights
Narrative & Campaigns
Translation & Deployment
News & Publications
- Consumer Costs, Data Centers
Our Leadership
Marc Oestreich
Co-Founder
Marc Oestreich is an energy writer, researcher, and publisher focused on electricity markets, energy capacity, and the systems that make modern life possible. His work examines how policy, infrastructure, and public narratives shape affordability, reliability, and long-term technological progress.
Marc has been featured in RealClearEnergy, Reason, National Review, The Spectator, C3 NewsMag, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. He is also the founder of a grid-focused news organization covering power markets, capacity constraints, and energy infrastructure, with an emphasis on explaining complex systems in clear, human terms. His work sits at the intersection of analysis, explanation, and narrative — aimed at closing the gap between how energy systems actually work and how they are publicly understood.
Sam Maule
Co-Founder
Sam Maule brings decades of experience in operations, project management, and research across energy, technology, and large-scale organizations. His career spans leadership roles in major agencies, technology startups, and complex project environments where execution, coordination, and clarity matter as much as ideas.
With a background that includes senior roles at global agencies such as Wunderman and operational leadership in startup settings, Sam specializes in translating complex work into systems that actually function. At The Capacity Project, he focuses on operational rigor, research development, and ensuring that ideas move from analysis to execution without losing coherence or discipline.
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We publish research, explainers, visuals, and commentary focused on one core problem: America isn’t building enough power — and the costs are showing up everywhere.