The Vertical Stack Technology Coalition For Near-Zero Emissions PBC ('VTCNZE') today unveiled a proposed national 'Speed-to-Power' framework designed to deploy approximately 600 GWh of distributed grid storage within about 48 months, adapting the public equity model pioneered under the CHIPS and Science Act to critical energy infrastructure. The proposal comes amid growing concerns that data center expansion and frontier artificial intelligence development are being hindered by grid bottlenecks, interconnection backlogs, and land-use conflicts.
The framework calls for a coordinated public-private deployment model centered on high-density, load-adjacent, non-lithium energy storage assets positioned near major computing and industrial load centers. Instead of sprawling horizontal battery farms, VTCNZE prioritizes compact, modular, vertically integrated storage structures that can be sited on urban industrial parcels, brownfields, underutilized public land, and infrastructure-adjacent sites. 'The limiting factor is speed,' said Max Davis, Founding Architect of VTCNZE. 'America cannot wait four years for a conventional substation review while AI infrastructure, semiconductor strategy, quantum computing, and national security systems are all racing ahead.'
The proposal follows the federal government's recent use of minority, non-controlling equity stakes in strategic technology companies receiving public incentives under the CHIPS Act. VTCNZE argues the same taxpayer-aligned model should apply to the physical power infrastructure needed to support AI, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, defense readiness, and robotics. 'The CHIPS model changed the conversation from one-way subsidy to taxpayer upside,' Davis said. 'If public authority can accelerate quantum and semiconductor infrastructure while preserving value for the taxpayer, the same principle should apply to the energy infrastructure needed to power frontier AI. Chips do not matter if America cannot turn them on.'
Under VTCNZE's conceptual model, the federal government would contribute national priority designation, financing access, and permitting coordination. State governments could offer statutory clean-grid authority and infrastructure bank liquidity. Municipal governments would provide brownfield access, land easements, and local permitting acceleration. Private investors would contribute capital and operational expertise. In return, public entities would receive minority, non-controlling equity positions or comparable economic participation rights. 'No taxpayer acceleration without taxpayer upside,' the framework states.
The national AI power challenge is no longer merely a utility planning issue, VTCNZE argues; it is an industrial strategy, national security, ratepayer protection, and community wealth issue. A central component is the 'WIMBY Factor' — Welcome In My Backyard — designed to ensure communities are protected from unfair costs and included in the upside. 'Behind-the-meter cannot mean behind-the-community,' Davis said. 'If a neighborhood is being asked to host the infrastructure of the AI age, that neighborhood should not be treated as an afterthought. It should be treated as a stakeholder.'
VTCNZE is calling for immediate cooperation among public-sector authorities, utilities, data center operators, and financiers to evaluate pilot deployment pathways. Priority sites include urban industrial brownfields, underutilized public land, grid-constrained industrial zones, and former fossil infrastructure sites. The company believes Illinois and the Chicago region are strong candidates for early pilot evaluation due to existing data center demand, industrial land availability, and grid pressure. 'Scaling 600 GWh is not about building one mega-project,' Davis said. 'It is about validating a repeatable infrastructure unit, aligning public authority with private capital, and then deploying that unit across the corridors where power constraints are already threatening American technological leadership.'
For more information on the proposed framework, visit https://verticalstack.energy.
