The Vertical Stack Technology Coalition For Near-Zero Emissions PBC (VTCNZE) today announced a proposed national 'Speed-to-Power' framework designed to help the United States deploy approximately 600 GWh of distributed grid storage within 48 months by adapting the emerging CHIPS-era public equity model to critical energy infrastructure. 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 and Science Act.
VTCNZE believes that same taxpayer-aligned model should now be applied to the physical power infrastructure required to support frontier artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, defense readiness, robotics, and high-density data center growth. 'The CHIPS model changed the conversation from one-way subsidy to taxpayer upside,' said Max Davis, Founding Architect of VTCNZE. '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.'
VTCNZE's proposed framework calls for a coordinated public-private deployment model built around high-density, load-adjacent, non-lithium energy storage assets positioned near major computing and industrial load centers. Rather than relying solely on sprawling horizontal battery farms or years-long utility interconnection queues, the framework prioritizes compact, modular, vertically integrated storage structures capable of being deployed on urban industrial parcels, brownfields, underutilized public land, and infrastructure-adjacent sites.
The company argues that the national AI power challenge is no longer merely a utility planning issue. It is an industrial strategy issue, a national security issue, a ratepayer protection issue, and a community wealth issue. The 'Speed-to-Power' framework is designed to address that bottleneck by creating a repeatable pathway for rapidly deployable, high-density storage assets that can support critical load centers while reducing grid stress.
Under the conceptual model, the federal government could contribute national priority designation and financing access; state governments could contribute statutory clean-grid authority and infrastructure bank liquidity; and municipal governments could contribute brownfield access and local permitting acceleration. Private investors would contribute project capital and engineering execution. Public partners would not merely subsidize strategic infrastructure—they would share in the long-term value created by accelerating it.
VTCNZE's working national deployment target is approximately 600 GWh of distributed grid storage across major U.S. data center and industrial corridors within approximately 48 months. The company believes the target becomes more realistic if the United States treats energy storage deployment as a programmatic manufacturing challenge rather than a one-off real estate development challenge.
A central component of the proposal is what VTCNZE calls the 'WIMBY Factor'—Welcome In My Backyard. Communities are more likely to support critical infrastructure when they are protected from unfair costs and included in the upside. Under the proposed model, qualifying AI and energy infrastructure projects should not pass avoidable grid upgrade costs onto residential ratepayers. Instead, projects receiving public acceleration should include mechanisms for direct local benefit, such as municipal equity participation and community benefit pools.
VTCNZE is calling for immediate cooperation among public-sector authorities, utilities, data center operators, and infrastructure financiers to evaluate pilot deployment pathways. The company believes Illinois and the Chicago region are strong candidates for early pilot evaluation because of existing data center demand, industrial land availability, and grid pressure. 'This is not just a clean energy proposal,' Davis said. 'It is an AI strategy, a national security strategy, a ratepayer protection strategy, an industrial policy strategy, and a community wealth strategy.'
