Methodology

A transparent, versioned methodology describing how The Electrification Index measures electrification capacity, constraints, and readiness.

Overview

The Electrification Index is a recurring benchmark designed to measure real-world electrification capacity and system-level constraints across energy, industry, and compute.

It is constructed to capture how electrification efforts are progressing in practice rather than how they are described in plans, forecasts, or policy targets. The Index prioritizes execution conditions, delivery friction, and bottlenecks that shape outcomes on the ground.

The Electrification Index has been informally published on a monthly cadence since 2023, with quarterly and annual synthesis reports providing longitudinal context.

Origins and Development

The foundation of the Electrification Index began more than two years ago as a collaborative research effort among academics and industry practitioners studying large-scale electrification and infrastructure deployment.

This early consortium focused on collecting structured, ground-level data from across the energy ecosystem, including manufacturing, EPC execution, grid operations, and infrastructure development. The initial objective was analytical rather than public: to better understand where electrification efforts were accelerating, stalling, or diverging from prevailing expectations.

As the dataset expanded and patterns became clearer, demand for access grew beyond the original research group. EPCs, OEMs, utilities, hyperscalers, and infrastructure stakeholders began requesting structured views into the data to support planning, risk assessment, and strategic decision-making.

The Electrification Index was established in response to that demand.

Data Sources and Contributors

The Index aggregates input from a global network of 1,000+ contributors spanning:

utilities and grid operators
engineering, procurement, and construction firms
original equipment manufacturers
industrial operators and infrastructure owners
hyperscalers and large-scale data center developers
academic and policy research institutions

Contributors provide structured inputs based on direct operational experience rather than secondary reporting or modeled assumptions.

To preserve integrity and confidentiality:

individual responses are anonymized
company-level data is never disclosed
inputs are aggregated at the system level

Contributor participation does not imply endorsement of conclusions.

Domains of Measurement

The Electrification Index evaluates conditions across three interconnected domains:

Energy

Power generation capacity, transmission and distribution infrastructure, interconnection conditions, and grid resilience.

Industry

Equipment manufacturing capacity, EPC execution constraints, labor availability, supply chains, and deployment timelines.

Compute

Data center expansion, AI and cloud load growth, power availability for compute-intensive infrastructure, and interconnection limits, including both terrestrial and non-terrestrial compute-dependent systems.

Metrics across these domains are designed to reflect deliverability, not stated ambition.

Index Construction

Inputs are collected through structured, recurring submissions and normalized to allow comparison across regions, roles, and sectors.

Key principles of index construction include:

normalization of disparate inputs onto consistent scales
aggregation across multiple perspectives to reduce single-source bias
weighting designed to reflect system-level pressure rather than individual sentiment
preservation of historical continuity across releases

The Index is directional by design. It is intended to capture movement, pressure, and change over time rather than absolute conditions.

Interpretation Framework

Each Index release follows a consistent interpretive structure to ensure comparability and clarity:

primary system-level signals observed during the period
underlying drivers contributing to those signals
cross-sector alignment or divergence
regional dynamics shaping outcomes
forward indicators to monitor in subsequent periods

Emerging infrastructure signals that are not yet reflected in pricing, lead times, or execution metrics may be discussed qualitatively within this framework to provide contextual awareness without altering core index calculations.

This framework allows decision-makers to contextualize data within broader system behavior.

Governance and Independence

The Electrification Index operates independently of any single commercial, financial, or policymaking interest.

Methodology oversight and review are conducted with input from an external advisory group drawn from industry and academic research. Advisory input informs rigor and realism, but does not influence conclusions.

Methodological updates are applied conservatively, documented, and versioned to preserve transparency and long-term reliability.

Updates and Revisions

The Index is released monthly, with quarterly and annual synthesis reports
Each release is versioned and archived
Material methodological changes are disclosed explicitly to preserve interpretive continuity
Historical releases remain accessible for reference

The structure is designed to evolve as the electrification system evolves, without breaking continuity.

Limitations

The Electrification Index reflects aggregated system-level conditions rather than project-specific outcomes. It is designed to identify directional pressure and constraint, not to replace detailed engineering, permitting, or financial analysis at the asset level.

Transparency and Use

Methodology summaries are published to support transparency and responsible interpretation.

The Electrification Index may be cited with attribution. When referenced, users are encouraged to cite the specific release and publication date.

What This Methodology Is Not

This methodology is not intended to:

predict market prices
serve as a trading signal
rank individual companies
advocate for specific policies or outcomes

Its purpose is measurement, context, and clarity.

Transparency, Citation, and Use

Methodology summaries are published to support transparency, reproducibility, and responsible interpretation.