For DG Matrix, “Power is Power”
The "Mainframe" grid is failing our competitive AI economy. "Cellular Power" bypasses delays and energizes real estate assets - today.
By Keith Reynolds | Publisher & Editor, ChargedUp!
Originally published 1/28/2026
Haroon Inam is not a man who deals in small stakes.
A 30-year veteran of the tech and energy sectors, Inam has raised over $300 million for startups, led two successful nine-figure exits, and led teams that won two World Economic Forum awards for innovation. Such accolades are usually reserved for giants like Google, OpenAI, or Siemens.
Today, as CEO of DG Matrix, Inam is leading a company that has moved rapidly from a "power electronics nerd's" vision to a venture-backed disruptor with a $20 million seed round and partnerships with global players like Ampace, ABB, Duke Energy, FlexGen, and PowerSecure.
But when he speaks to real estate developers, owners, and urban planners about the energy future, he talks about competitiveness and survival.
“Those that have power will be able to get to AI superhuman intelligence first,” Inam says. “It is very important to businesses and communities, and it is very important to nations.”
Power is Power
His mantra, "Power is Power," defines the new economic reality for 2026. For the first time in a century, access to the grid is no longer guaranteed. And, for the first time, there are alternatives.
While China energizes the equivalent of the entire German grid annually, the U.S. grid is calcified. Nearly 2,300 gigawatts of projects are stuck in interconnection queues, facing delays of three to five years.
For a city manager in Ohio, developer in California, or a landlord in New York, this bottleneck is an existential threat. If you cannot guarantee power, the next data center, manufacturing plant, or office campus will go somewhere else.
The Scale of the Problem: A City Inside a Building
To understand the magnitude of the 2,300-gigawatt interconnection backlog, consider this: just one gigawatt powers a city of a million people, like Jacksonville, Florida. The current queue represents 2,300 such cities waiting for a connection—roughly double the entire existing generation capacity of the United States.
But the challenge isn't just volume; it is density. We are essentially putting that "city" inside a single building. Just five years ago, a server rack used 10 kilowatts. Today, NVIDIA’s next-generation Rubin Ultra platform pushes that to nearly 600 kilowatts per rack.
It is also about volatility. Unlike a city, which draws power smoothly, AI workloads spike violently—up to four times a second. "Can you imagine the havoc that causes?" Inam asks, noting that in tests, these surges created resonances that literally tore the shafts off standard generators. The legacy grid simply cannot handle this physics.
The Mainframe vs. The Cellular Grid
The root cause is structural. For 100 years, we built a "Mainframe" grid: centralized plants pushing electrons down massive lines to passive buildings. It was a model designed for a predictable world.
“We are moving to a ‘cellular’ model,” Inam explains. "The time has come for cellular power."
Just as the PC liberated computing from the mainframe, "Cellular Power" liberates real estate from the transmission line. It allows developers to deploy "Behind the Meter" solutions—microgrids, batteries, and solar—that energize a site years before the utility upgrade arrives.
The Technology: Revenge of the Power Electronics Nerds
For decades, the software world exploded in value while hardware moved at a glacial pace. Inam jokingly calls this the "Revenge of the Power Electronics Nerds."
The key enabler of this revenge is the "Power Router," a multi-port solid-state transformer that digitizes electricity. Think of it as a traffic circle.
In the old grid, if everyone entered the intersection at once, the system crashed (blackout). The Power Router acts as a hyper-intelligent traffic controller.
The DG Matrix solution is to take energy from any source—grid, solar, battery, or generator—packetize it, and route it digitally and instantly to where it is needed.
"We create packets of energy," Inam explains. "These packets are 10 to 20 microseconds wide. We synchronize them, add them up, and release them to where they are needed."
By transforming electricity from a volatile utility expense into a controllable, capitalized asset, property owners can protect margins and significantly boost Net Operating Income (NOI).
This "Cellular Power" model drives value through three primary levers: accelerating speed-to-revenue by bypassing interconnection delays, eliminating costly peak demand charges, and utilizing energy arbitrage to buy power at low rates and use it when costs are highest.
Beyond Data Centers: A Solution for Communities
While AI data centers grab the headlines, the benefits of cellular power extend to every corner of the community:
EV Fleets: Logistics depots on weak industrial feeders can charge electric trucks without waiting for substation upgrades.
Housing: Communities can accelerate new home construction by bypassing utility bottlenecks.
Resilience: Hospitals and schools gain "bridge power" that transitions seamlessly from off-grid survival to grid-interactive optimization.
The Path Forward
DG Matrix is ramping up a new North Carolina facility to produce thousands of units annually, partnering with established giants to scale this technology.
For developers and planners, the implication is stark: Reliance solely on the utility is now a liability. In a world of increased demand and volatile loads, every serious project requires a "Cellular" power plan.
Inam’s "Power is Power" thesis is the new law of real estate gravity. The winners of the next decade won’t just be those with access to energy, but those who can route, stabilize, and deploy it on business timelines rather than utility timelines.
"We don’t want to bash utilities; they provide a vital service," Inam concludes. "But they can’t grow fast enough. Cellular power is the shortest, fastest path to get the energy we need."
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DG Matrix is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based, high-growth technology company specializing in solid-state transformer (SST) solutions for AI data centers, electric vehicle (EV) fleet charging, and micro grids. The company addresses the urgent need for faster, more reliable infrastructure to support AI data centers, which are straining traditional power grids. Named to the 2026 Global Cleantech 100 list, DG Matrix provides market-ready solutions for AI infrastructure, "bridge power" and grid resiliency.
About ChargedUp! digital media and events platform focuses on the convergence of electricity, connectivity, and AI within the commercial real estate and infrastructure sectors. Content is geared toward property owners, operators, investors, planners, and engineers to help them navigate the transition to sustainable and intelligent building systems. Click here to get ChargedUp! every week delivered to your inbox.
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