One of the nicest comments people have made about the electrical grid was … nothing. The grid works best when it fades into the background.
That low-profile status has changed in recent years as fires in California and freezes in Texas raised awareness of the electrical grid. But it was in 2025, when the electrical grid — and concerns about demand, supply, pricing, and the strain on natural resources — moved into the spotlight. And a new batch of startups have emerged with a software-as-a-solution pitch.
This confluence of demand and fear could give software startups a boost in the coming year.
Gridcare has gathered data on transmission and distribution lines, fiber-optic connections, extreme weather, and even community sentiment to optimize the search for new locations and convince utilities the grid can handle it. Already, the company says it has found several such sites that have been overlooked. Yottar finds places where known capacity exists and overlaps with the needs of medium-size users, helping them quickly connect amid the data center boom.
Several other startups are using software to stitch together massive fleets of batteries scattered across the grid. Those startups can turns these fleets into virtual power plants to deliver power to the grid when it’s needed most.
There’s also some hope that software can help modernize some of the more outdated parts of the grid.
These changes won’t happen overnight, but 2026 could be the year when they begin to take hold.
Utilities tend to be slow to adopt new technologies because of concerns about reliability. But they’re also slow to invest in new infrastructure because it’s costly and long-lived. Ratepayers and regulators have been known to balk when such projects begin to affect affordability.
Software, though, is cheaper, and if it can clear the reliability hurdle, the companies offering it will have a good chance of gaining traction.
And that could benefit more than the startups hawking software. Ultimately, the grid is going to need some refurbishment and expansion. Given the number of planned data centers and the electrification of broad swathes of the economy, including transportation, heating, and more, we will need more power. It would be foolish to ignore the power of software in these instances. It’s cheap, flexible, and speedy to deploy.
International