Calvin Butler

Calvin Butler
Nationality	American
Occupation	Corporate executive
Title	President and Chief Executive Officer, Exelon Corporation; Chair, Edison Electric Institute Board of Directors
Employer	Exelon Corporation
Known for	President and CEO of Exelon Corporation

Calvin Butler is an American corporate executive who serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Exelon Corporation, the largest utility company in the United States by customer count, serving approximately 10.7 million electric and gas customers across six states and the District of Columbia. In June 2025, Butler was elected chair of the board of directors of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the leading trade association representing investor-owned electric companies in the United States. Butler has emerged as one of the most prominent voices in the American energy sector during a period of surging electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence, data centers, and electrification, frequently engaging with policymakers and media on the challenges of grid modernization and infrastructure investment. Based in Chicago, Butler leads one of the nation's critical infrastructure companies and has used his platform to advocate for accelerated investment in grid reliability, clean energy transition, and customer affordability.

Career

Leadership at Exelon Corporation

Calvin Butler serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Exelon Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Exelon is the largest utility company in the United States by customer count, providing electric and natural gas service to approximately 10.7 million customers. The company operates through six regulated utility subsidiaries serving customers across six states and the District of Columbia. Under Butler's leadership, Exelon has focused on grid modernization, infrastructure investment, and maintaining reliability as the nation's electricity demands have shifted substantially.

Butler has positioned Exelon at the center of national conversations about the future of the American electric grid, particularly as unprecedented demand growth has strained existing infrastructure. In interviews and public appearances, he has consistently emphasized the need for proactive investment and policy engagement to ensure the grid can meet rising demand while maintaining affordability for customers.

Grid Modernization and AI-Driven Demand

A central theme of Butler's tenure as Exelon CEO has been the challenge posed by rapidly growing electricity demand, driven in large part by the proliferation of artificial intelligence technologies and the data centers required to support them. In a November 2025 profile by The New York Times, Butler was described as "trying to keep the lights on" as one of the nation's largest utility companies grappled with the implications of surging power consumption from AI-related infrastructure.

Butler has been outspoken in warning policymakers about the urgency of the situation. In December 2025, speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco, Butler used a vivid metaphor to describe the state of the American electric grid, stating that the nation's "check engine light" is on and warning that "no one's going to pay attention until it breaks down." He told attendees, "We are telling policy makers the warning lights are on," underscoring the need for immediate action to address grid resilience and capacity.

In the same month, Butler participated in a discussion published by The Wall Street Journal in partnership with Deloitte, in which he discussed how utilities are adapting to unprecedented demands. The conversation focused on how companies like Exelon are accelerating grid modernization efforts and investing in reliability to keep pace with surging electricity demand from AI and data center operations.

Butler has framed the challenge not solely in terms of meeting new demand but also in terms of the economic implications for existing utility customers. Fortune reported that Butler warned about the effects on U.S. electric grid resilience and utility prices amid the AI demand surge, arguing that the nation needs more generation capacity, including renewables, and greater efficiencies to prevent systemic failures.

Clean Energy and Customer Affordability

In addition to addressing demand growth, Butler has spoken publicly about the intersection of clean energy transition and customer affordability. In an August 2025 appearance on the T&D World Live podcast, Butler discussed the challenges and opportunities facing the utility industry as it navigates the transition to cleaner energy sources while ensuring that costs remain manageable for ratepayers. He addressed the tension between the significant capital investments required for grid upgrades and the imperative to keep electricity affordable for the millions of households and businesses served by Exelon's subsidiaries.

In his interview with LEADERS Magazine published in May 2025, Butler elaborated on Exelon's strategy and his vision for the company's role in the broader energy landscape. As the head of the nation's largest utility by customer count, Butler discussed the company's approach to balancing infrastructure investment, environmental responsibility, and service reliability.

Edison Electric Institute Chairmanship

On June 3, 2025, Calvin Butler was elected chair of the board of directors of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the principal trade association for U.S. investor-owned electric companies. His election was announced alongside the election of David Campbell and Chris Womack as vice chairs of the EEI board. The EEI represents companies that collectively provide electricity to the vast majority of American households and businesses, making the chairmanship one of the most influential positions in the U.S. energy industry.

In his capacity as EEI chair, Butler has served as a spokesperson for the broader utility industry in discussions with policymakers and the public. In a July 2025 interview with POLITICO Pro, Butler was identified as both CEO of Exelon and chair of the Edison Electric Institute, and he discussed his confidence in the industry's ability to address the challenges it faces, including demand growth, infrastructure aging, and the clean energy transition. The dual role has placed Butler at the nexus of corporate utility management and industry-wide policy advocacy during a period of significant transformation in the American energy sector.

Public Advocacy and Policy Engagement

Butler has been a frequent participant in major business and technology forums, using these platforms to articulate the utility industry's perspective on energy policy. His appearances at events such as the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference reflect the increasing intersection of the technology and energy sectors, as the explosive growth of AI workloads has created new and substantial demands on the electric grid.

Throughout 2025, Butler's public statements consistently returned to several key themes: the need for increased investment in generation capacity and grid infrastructure, the importance of regulatory frameworks that enable utilities to invest proactively rather than reactively, the role of renewable energy in meeting future demand, and the necessity of protecting customer affordability even as system costs rise.

His engagement with media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, POLITICO, and industry-specific publications has positioned him as a central figure in national debates about energy policy, particularly as those debates have intensified in response to the AI-driven demand surge.

Recognition

In June 2025, Butler was elected to serve as chair of the board of directors of the Edison Electric Institute, one of the most prominent leadership positions in the American electric utility industry. The role reflects Butler's standing among peers in the utility sector and places him at the forefront of industry-wide efforts to address the challenges of modernizing the nation's electric grid.

Butler has been profiled and interviewed by numerous major media outlets, reflecting his prominence in the energy sector. These include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, POLITICO Pro, and LEADERS Magazine. His selection as a featured speaker at the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference in December 2025 underscored the growing recognition of utility executives as key participants in discussions about the future of artificial intelligence and its infrastructure requirements.

Legacy

Calvin Butler's tenure as President and CEO of Exelon Corporation has coincided with one of the most consequential periods in the history of the American electric utility industry. The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure has created what multiple industry observers and media outlets have described as an unprecedented surge in electricity demand, challenging utilities to invest in new capacity and grid modernization at a pace not seen in decades.

As the leader of the nation's largest utility by customer count, Butler has been at the center of efforts to articulate the industry's needs to policymakers, regulators, and the public. His repeated warnings about the state of the electric grid — including his characterization of the situation as a "check engine light" that policymakers risk ignoring — have contributed to a broader public conversation about the infrastructure investments required to support the continued growth of AI and other electricity-intensive technologies.

Butler's election as chair of the Edison Electric Institute in 2025 further consolidated his role as a leading industry voice at a time when the utility sector faces simultaneous pressures from demand growth, aging infrastructure, the transition to cleaner energy sources, and the imperative to maintain affordable service for millions of customers. His leadership at both Exelon and the EEI has placed him in a position to influence not only corporate strategy but also the broader policy environment shaping the future of American energy infrastructure.