The Vertical Stack Technology Coalition For Near-Zero Emissions PBC (VTCNZE) today proposed a national framework to deploy approximately 600 GWh of distributed grid storage within 48 months by adapting the public equity model used under the CHIPS and Science Act. The 'Speed-to-Power' framework aims to unlock grid bottlenecks that are constraining growth in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, and defense technologies.
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 that the same taxpayer-aligned model should now be applied to the physical power infrastructure required to support frontier technologies.
'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.'
The framework centers on high-density, load-adjacent, non-lithium energy storage assets positioned near major computing and industrial load centers. Rather than relying on sprawling horizontal battery farms or years-long utility interconnection queues, the model prioritizes compact, modular, vertically integrated storage structures deployable on urban industrial parcels, brownfields, and underutilized public land.
VTCNZE argues that the national AI power challenge is an industrial strategy, national security, ratepayer protection, and community wealth issue. The company's framework would allow federal, state, and municipal entities to take minority, non-controlling equity positions in qualified infrastructure projects, tying public value to the acceleration provided by each level of government.
The proposed deployment model targets high-density vertical energy storage structures designed to compress large-scale storage capacity into smaller footprints. VTCNZE's working target of 600 GWh across major U.S. data center and industrial corridors is subject to engineering validation, financing, and utility coordination, but the company believes it becomes more realistic if the U.S. treats energy storage deployment as a manufacturing challenge rather than a one-off real estate development project.
'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.'
A central component of the proposal is the 'WIMBY Factor' — Welcome In My Backyard — which ensures communities are protected from unfair costs and included in the upside. Under the model, qualifying projects should not pass avoidable grid upgrade costs onto residential ratepayers, and should include mechanisms for direct local benefit such as municipal equity participation, revenue sharing, and workforce pathways.
'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 calls for immediate cooperation among public-sector authorities, utilities, data center operators, and financiers to evaluate pilot deployment pathways, with priority given to urban industrial brownfields, underutilized municipal land, and sites adjacent to high-load data center corridors. The company believes Illinois and the Chicago region are strong candidates for early pilot evaluation.
For more information, visit https://verticalstack.energy.
