Hodge

Colorado Climate Week – RASEI Fellows Discuss AI, Data Centers, and the Future of Clean Energy

Daniel Morton — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 23:56:10 +0000

Colorado Climate Week – RASEI Fellows Discuss AI, Data Centers, and the Future of Clean Energy Daniel Morton Thu, 04/02/2026 - 17:56

Daniel Morton

During Colorado Climate Week 2026, leaders from across academia, industry, and policy came together to explore some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in the energy transition. The week’s events highlighted the value of collaboration across sectors, bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs, utilities, and students to exchange ideas and share emerging solutions.

Among the many themes discussed, one area that drew particular attention was the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and clean energy. As AI technologies continue to scale rapidly, so too does the energy demand required to support them. This growing demand raises important questions about how to power digital infrastructure sustainably, and how these same technologies might also accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy grid system.

��ñ�� researchers and faculty played an active role in these conversations throughout the week. Panel discussions featuring RASEI Fellows Kyri Baker and Bri-Mathias Hodge offered different perspectives around the impact of integrating datacenters into the grid.

The discussion centered on a key tension: while AI and data centers are driving significant increases in electricity demand, they also present new opportunities to improve how energy systems are planned, operated, and optimized. Rather than viewing data centers solely as a challenge for the grid, the panel explored how they could become more flexible and responsive participants in the energy system.

One area of focus was the potential for better alignment between data center operations and the availability of renewable energy. As more wind and solar resources come online, managing variability becomes an ongoing challenge. Panelists discussed different ways in which the combination of renewable energy and the rise of demand with datacenters can be considered as complimentary in approaches for balancing the grid.

Throughout the discussions, Baker and Hodge emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary approaches. Addressing the energy impacts of AI is not only a technical problem, it also involves community engagement, policy frameworks, and collaboration between traditionally separate sectors. Their insights reflected a broader theme of Colorado Climate Week: that complex climate and energy challenges require integrated solutions.

For attendees, the session provided a great opportunity to learn more, dispel some myths, and gain insights into the concerns and areas of growth that those in the industry are considering.

More broadly, Colorado Climate Week provided a valuable forum for connecting these kinds of conversations across disciplines and organizations. Events throughout the week underscored the importance of continued dialogue and partnership in advancing climate solutions, particularly as new technologies reshape the energy landscape.

As AI continues to evolve and energy systems become more complex, discussions like these will play an important role in shaping how the two intersect.

April 2026

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Push for Nuclear Energy in Colorado

Daniel Morton — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:48:05 +0000

Push for Nuclear Energy in Colorado Daniel Morton Wed, 01/21/2026 - 16:48

January 2026

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From Cyborb Jellyfish to Weed Labels: 10 ��ñ�� research stories you may have missed in 2025

Daniel Morton — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:59:04 +0000

From Cyborb Jellyfish to Weed Labels: 10 ��ñ�� research stories you may have missed in 2025 Daniel Morton Wed, 12/10/2025 - 10:59

December 2025

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The Grid’s New Shock Absorber: ‘Droop-e’ Control tames frequency swings and keeps renewable energy flowing smoothly

Daniel Morton — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:00:00 +0000

The Grid’s New Shock Absorber: ‘Droop-e’ Control tames frequency swings and keeps renewable energy flowing smoothly Daniel Morton Tue, 12/09/2025 - 09:00

Daniel Morton

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Electricity is crucial to modern life. We rely on being able to plug devices in to the outlet in the wall, flipping a switch, and things working without a problem. But it is not that simple, the power grid, all of the infrastructure that delivers energy from the power plant to your home, is something of a balancing act.

In order for a grid to operate safely, supply must equal demand. The flow of electricity through the grid in the United States flows at a frequency of 60 Hz, if the supply increases more than the demand, the frequency will increase, while if the demand increases, or the supply dips, the frequency decreases. The vast array of hardware that makes up the grid and in electrical devices, such as transformers, motors, or electronics, have been designed to operate at a specific frequency. If the grid is unbalanced, and the frequency changes too much, equipment can be damaged, efficiency is reduced, and it can lead to overheating, system failures, and blackouts. Keeping the grid online, and safe, is a balancing act that requires sophisticated controls systems to make sure that supply always equals demand.

Think of the electric grid like a high-speed train system. In order for the train system to operate effectively all the trains need to maintain consistent speeds and keep to schedule, so passengers are not left waiting on the platform, or miss their trains because they left too early. Traditional power plants are like massive freight trains, that are super heavy and take a long time to speed up or slow down. These massive freight trains provide a kind of inertia to the whole system. They are hard to disrupt, which results in a consistent speed. Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, are more like fast, light commuter trains, that can change speed essentially instantly. They lack the inertia of the massive freight trains, but they can change fast. If it were up to just human conductors and train line controllers to regulate how the trains are running, having the freight trains and the commuter trains on the same lines would be near impossible, the difference in speed and inertia would make it really hard to reconcile. This is where advanced computer-driven control systems come into play. In the train analogy the smart predictive system would predictively control the brake and throttle of the commuter trains to ensure a simple constant speed. How would the grid be impacted if we developed a smart control system?

This new report details work led by RASEI Fellow Bri-Mathias Hodge, and discloses a new approach for smart control in the grid. The grid is already full of control systems, with the standard way power generators respond to frequency events being via linear droop control. This would be like a simplistic cruise control for one of the Commuter Trains in the above analogy. If the frequency drops a little, the system increases the power proportionately. The problem with this approach is that it often doesn’t use the inverters full capacity fast enough. The innovation described in this work is an update called Droop-e, a non-linear control based on an exponential function. Think of it like replacing the trains cruise control, which previously had a simple on/off switch, with a smart responsive gas pedal, that can speed up, or slow down, on a curve.

This change, from an on/off control to a responsive curve, has the potential to have significant impacts on the grid. By using the available power reserves more effectively, Droop-e reduces the number of severe power swings in the system, and results in a slower rate of change of frequency (ROCOF), which can buy grid operators valuable time to react to changes in frequency.

The benefits from the ‘shock-absorber’ properties that Droop-e offers could help prevent blackouts before they start, help stabilize the grid and improve integration of renewable energy sources, and create a smarter, more responsive grid, future-proofing systems by replacing the software, and not the hardware, a significant cost saving.

The simulations from this study confirm that this new control approach could improve the stability of grids that include a combination of traditional power plants and renewable energy generators. If a major power plant trips offline, this sophisticated control system activates un-tapped power reserves in batteries and renewables, acting as a hyper responsive shock absorber to protect the entire grid system. For grid operators, it means more time to react. For everyone with devices plugged into a power outlet, it means improved stability, and less equipment damage. It also provides a more effective mechanism to integrate different power sources, improving reliability, security, and affordability.

December 2025

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Acceleration of Power System Dynamic Simulations Using a Deep Equilibrium Layer and Neural ODE Surrogate

Daniel Morton — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:42:42 +0000

Acceleration of Power System Dynamic Simulations Using a Deep Equilibrium Layer and Neural ODE Surrogate Daniel Morton Mon, 12/01/2025 - 10:42

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, 2025, 40, 4, 2710-2722

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Exploring Colorado's untapped geothermal energy potential

Daniel Morton — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 14:23:05 +0000

Exploring Colorado's untapped geothermal energy potential Daniel Morton Tue, 10/21/2025 - 08:23

October 2025

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Autonomous grid-forming inverter exponential droop control for improved frequency stability

Daniel Morton — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:00:06 +0000

Autonomous grid-forming inverter exponential droop control for improved frequency stability Daniel Morton Thu, 09/25/2025 - 18:00

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY SYSTEMS, 2025, 172, 111160

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RASEI Fellow Bri-Mathias Hodge selected as member of the 25th Excellence in Leadership Cohort

Daniel Morton — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 17:49:27 +0000

RASEI Fellow Bri-Mathias Hodge selected as member of the 25th Excellence in Leadership Cohort Daniel Morton Wed, 08/27/2025 - 11:49

August 2025

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Semi-supervised multi-task learning based framework for power system security assessment

Daniel Morton — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 19:58:02 +0000

Semi-supervised multi-task learning based framework for power system security assessment Daniel Morton Tue, 07/29/2025 - 13:58

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY SYSTEMS, 2025, 170, 110910

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Exploring new frontiers in the renewable energy transition

Daniel Morton — Tue, 27 May 2025 21:35:49 +0000

Exploring new frontiers in the renewable energy transition Daniel Morton Tue, 05/27/2025 - 15:35

Daniel Morton

RASEI Fellow Bri-Mathias Hodge, in collaboration with Shae Frydenlund, are exploring the barriers in the deployment of geothermal energy.

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2025 New Frontiers Grants

Each year the ��ñ�� Research and Innovation Office (RIO), awards grants in their New Frontiers Grant Program, an initiative that is designed to foster new, interdisciplinary research at ��ñ��.

In 2025 three projects were selected that seek to improve understanding and address challenges in some of society’s most pressing issues. The teams were chosen through a competitive process that included eight in-person pitches. In all cases the new research strengths, based around interdisciplinary collaboration, expanded ��ñ�� opportunities.

RASEI Fellow Bri-Mathias Hodge, in collaboration with Shae Frydenlund from the Center for Asian Studies, was successful in proposing a project exploring the technological and social dimensions of geothermal development in Colorado. It has been identified that geothermal energy is an underutilized resource that could play a significant role in Colorado’s energy future. However, despite abundant resource potential in the state there are many significant yet poorly understood technological and social barriers to the expansion of deployment. This project will support an interdisciplinary team to explore these different perspectives and positions ��ñ�� to be a leader in the state in geothermal energy.

May 2025

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Hodge

Colorado Climate Week – RASEI Fellows Discuss AI, Data Centers, and the Future of Clean Energy

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Push for Nuclear Energy in Colorado

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From Cyborb Jellyfish to Weed Labels: 10 ��ñ���� research stories you may have missed in 2025

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The Grid’s New Shock Absorber: ‘Droop-e’ Control tames frequency swings and keeps renewable energy flowing smoothly

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Acceleration of Power System Dynamic Simulations Using a Deep Equilibrium Layer and Neural ODE Surrogate

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Exploring Colorado's untapped geothermal energy potential

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Autonomous grid-forming inverter exponential droop control for improved frequency stability

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RASEI Fellow Bri-Mathias Hodge selected as member of the 25th Excellence in Leadership Cohort

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Semi-supervised multi-task learning based framework for power system security assessment

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Exploring new frontiers in the renewable energy transition

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From Cyborb Jellyfish to Weed Labels: 10 ��ñ�� research stories you may have missed in 2025