Lake Tahoe energy crisis comes down to Econ 101, says former DOE leader

Lake Tahoe – May 21, 2026
Why is there an energy crisis in Lake Tahoe? A former Department of Energy leader said the answer is simple.
“To put it very simply and very bluntly,” said Dr. Sanjiv Malhotra. “It’s a supply and demand issue.”
Malhotra served as the inaugural director for the Energy Investor Center at the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), serving under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Fifty-thousand Tahoe residents on the California side of the lake are faced with losing their current source of power in May of 2027. Power generator, NV Energy said it’s moving its power supply from Liberty Utilities, which provides electricity to those customers, to data centers in Nevada.
Malhotra said increasing demand for power with the AI infrastructure and data centers is causing the supply issue, affecting homeowners and businesses.
But he points out Lake Tahoe won’t go dark in May of 2027.
“They both are looking for solutions and Liberty is working overtime to put an agreement together with another generator who can supply them the required energy for the homeowners, as well as the business owners,” he said.
Liberty said in a statement customers will not be left without service as a result of the transition.
“NV Energy will continue to provide energy until Liberty has its own transmission access in place,” said Liberty in a statement on its website.
There are solutions with a distributed energy source or DER. Malhotra suggests the homeowner could be in control of their own energy.
“This could be solar plus a battery or solar plus energy storage, or it could just be a battery alone where the batteries function as a peak shaver,” Malhotra said.
Electricity prices go up during peak times and are less expensive during off-peak hours.
“The homeowner does not have to pay the peak rate, and they can use the energy stored in the batteries for those hours during the peak time,” he said.  “The battery or the energy solution or the energy storage solution could be charged during the off-peak time and it could be discharging energy during the peak time.”
Malhotra describes the battery solution as giving you peace of mind in your own home, while saving money.
“It’s a battery pack that’s installed in your garage or somewhere outside your house. You do not need that infrastructure that you would need for the grid,” he said.
The cost savings come from “peak shaving.” Homeowners won’t pay the higher costs while using energy during peak times. They receive power from the battery supply, not part of the grid.
During his time at the DOE, Mahlhotra came up with his idea for a battery company and founded Sparkz, Inc. in 2020. It’s the only lithium iron phosphate battery, LFP battery assembled in the U.S… just two hours from Lake Tahoe in Sacramento.
“It will be a win-win for everybody. It will be a win for Liberty. It will definitely be a win for the homeowners and for essentially the environment,” he said.
Malhotra added if something isn’t done now to control the supply and demand, the issue won’t be isolated to just Lake Tahoe.
“What has happened in the Tahoe region is actually a sign of things to come, of what could happen in the future,” he said.

Founder & CEO

Dr. Sanjiv Malhotra

Dr. Sanjiv Malhotra is the founder and CEO of Sparkz—the battery start-up reinventing the energy supply chain.

 

Malhotra has been a leader in the energy sector for nearly three decades as a founder, investor and executive. Most recently, he served as the inaugural director for the Energy Investor Center at the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), serving under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

 

At DOE, Malhotra led the Obama Administration’s initiative to boost public-private partnerships to accelerate the commercialization of technologies developed in national research centers like Oak Ridge National Labs.

 

Malhotra was recruited to the Department of Energy after a successful exit of Oorja Protonics—the world leader in methanol fuel cells—which he founded and led as CEO for 10 years. Oorja raised $50 Million in equity financing from leading VCs such as Sequoia, DAG Ventures, Artis Capital and others during his tenure. He boosted Oorja’s revenue and profitability growth, while expanding operations globally in Japan, China, South Africa, Mexico, and India.

 

Oorja was acquired in 2014 by the Private Equity firm MinXing Growth Fund.

 

As an investor and consultant, Malhotra has worked at leading venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers as an advisor on clean energy and advanced materials.

 

Earlier in his career, Malhotra led the engineering and product development team at H Power, a pioneer in hydrogen fuel cells. As part of the management team, he managed the successful IPO, which raised more than $100 million in August 2000.

 

He began his career as a post-doctoral fellow at the renowned Lawrence Berkeley National Labs on electrochemical storage systems. Dr. Malhotra has authored seven patents and more than 40 publications in various fields of energy storage technology and materials. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering and an M.B.A from University of Iowa.