-
POWERnews—Jan. 22, 2026
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store January 22, 2026 Five Years After Winter Storm Uri, a Texas Co-op Shares Its Lessons Learned Rayburn Electric Cooperative faced three years of power costs in five days during the 2021 storm. The experience transformed the organization’s approach to risk, generation assets, […]
-
Trends
Microsoft Commits to Full Electricity Cost Recovery in Data Center Communities
Microsoft has committed to “paying its way” to ensure its data centers will not ramp up residential utility rates, becoming the first major hyperscaler to publicly commit to a comprehensive framework that ties artificial intelligence (AI) data center growth to cost-recovery rate design. The hyperscaler also pledged to advance utility coordination, directly fund grid infrastructure, […]
-
POWERnews—Jan. 15, 2026
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store January 15, 2026 Meta Locks In Up to 6.6 GW of Nuclear Power Through Deals with Vistra, Oklo, and TerraPower In-Depth: Meta's suite of three landmark agreements is poised to provide the financial certainty to extend aging plants, accelerate first-of-a-kind advanced reactor […]
-
Trends
PJM Dials Back Near-Term Load Outlook but Maintains Steep Long-Term Growth Trajectory
PJM Interconnection has trimmed its near-term peak-demand projections in its updated 20-year load forecast, citing tighter vetting of large-load adjustment requests and revised electric-vehicle (EV) and economic assumptions. The grid operator, however, reaffirmed expectations for significant long-term growth driven by data centers and broader electrification. In its 2026 Long-Term Load Forecast, issued on Jan. 14, PJM […]
-
Power
Idled California Biomass Power Plant to Be Rebuilt as Carbon-Negative AI Factory
A startup specializing in carbon-negative artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure powered by renewable energy systems has acquired the idled Buena Vista Biomass Power facility in Ione, California, and plans to convert the legacy wood-burning plant into a 41-MW “carbon-negative AI factory.” The redevelopment announced on Jan. 14, which New York-based NewYork GreenCloud (NYGC) is executing with […]
-
Trends
Vistra to Bolster Gas-Fired Fleet by 5.5 GW with $4B Cogentrix Acquisition
Vistra Corp. has executed definitive agreements to acquire Cogentrix Energy, a portfolio company of Quantum Capital Group, in a $4 billion transaction that will expand its generation footprint across the PJM Interconnection, ISO New England, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Announced on Jan. 5, 2026, the acquisition includes 10 modern natural gas […]
-
Nuclear
Meta Locks In Up to 6.6 GW of Nuclear Power Through Deals with Vistra, Oklo, and TerraPower
In-Depth: Meta’s suite of three landmark agreements is poised to provide the financial certainty to extend aging plants, accelerate first-of-a-kind advanced reactor deployments, and relieve PJM’s tightening capacity constraints while establishing the hyperscaler as an anchor customer for a 6.6-GW corporate-backed nuclear fleet. In a stunning move that reinforces Big Tech’s growing role in underwriting […]
-
Technology
Eavor’s First-of-Its-Kind Closed-Loop Geothermal Project Produces Grid Power in Germany
Eavor’s Geretsried project marks the first time a closed-loop geothermal system has delivered electricity to a commercial power grid, demonstrating a new pathway for advanced geothermal deployment. Calgary-based Eavor Technologies on Dec. 4, 2025, became the first company to deliver electricity to a commercial power grid at its Geretsried facility in Bavaria, Germany, using a fully […]
-
Legal & Regulatory
DOE Issues $2.7B Orders to Scale Domestic Nuclear LEU and HALEU Enrichment
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its first production-scale task orders under a $2.7-billion uranium enrichment program launched in 2024, awarding $900 million each to Centrus Energy Corp., General Matter, and Orano Federal Services to expand domestic capacity for conventional low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) over the next decade. The […]
-
Supply Chains
Transformers in 2026: Shortage, Scramble, or Self-Inflicted Crisis?
Analysts still see multi-year deficits in U.S. transformer supply, even as equipment manufacturers invest billions in new factories and advanced manufacturing processes. But some brokers suggest there is no
-
News and Notes
POWER Digest [January 2026]
Vattenfall, Industrikraft Advance SMR Program at Ringhals in High-Stakes Deal. Swedish state utility Vattenfall and industrial consortium Industrikraft i Sverige AB signed an agreement, announced on Nov. 10
-
Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: Power Affordability [Infographic]
Household electricity use is set to climb sharply through 2035 as electrification expands, shifting power system costs toward capital-intensive grids, renewables, and storage and making affordability increasingly sensitive to policy and financing choices. POWER’s monthly print infographic breaks down the forces reshaping electricity bills worldwide. In its November 2025–released World Energy Outlook, the International Energy […]
-
Trends
The Age of Electricity and 5 Other Forces Reshaping the Global Energy Outlook
The world has firmly crossed into the “Age of Electricity.” That is a unifying finding in the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) 2025 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO), which shows a global
-
Legal & Regulatory
DOE Uses Emergency Powers to Freeze More Than 2 GW of Coal Retirements as Opposition Intensifies
A rapid succession of Section 202(c) emergency orders has forced utilities to keep more than 2 GW of coal capacity online in December alone, marking an unprecedented federal intervention in grid operations and triggering legal challenges from states and environmental groups. Across all orders issued since May 2025, the DOE has now stalled the retirement […]
-
POWERnews—Dec. 18, 2025
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store December 18, 2025 X-energy, Doosan Lock In 16-Unit Xe-100 Component Reservation as Doosan Commits to New SMR Factory Small modular reactor (SMR) developer X-energy has secured a binding reservation agreement with South Korean power-generation equipment giant Doosan Enerbility to manufacture main power […]
-
Nuclear
X-energy, Doosan Lock In 16-Unit Xe-100 Component Reservation as Doosan Commits to New SMR Factory
Small modular reactor (SMR) developer X-energy has secured a binding reservation agreement with South Korean power-generation equipment giant Doosan Enerbility to manufacture main power system steel components for 16 Xe-100 SMRs. As part of the decisive move to industrialize the supply chain for advanced nuclear energy, Doosan has also committed to building a new dedicated SMR […]
-
Trends
Advanced Nuclear Developers Raise New Capital as 2025 Investment Hits Record Levels and Demonstrations Near
Three advanced nuclear developers—Radiant, Last Energy, and ARC Clean Technology—announced the closing of major private funding rounds in mid-December 2025, signaling renewed investor momentum behind microreactors and small modular reactors (SMRs) as the companies move from design and licensing into pilot deployment and early commercialization. The announcements—which span a new $300-million-plus round at Radiant, an […]
-
POWERnews—Dec. 11, 2025
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store December 11, 2025 BWRX-300 SMR Reaches Regulatory Milestone in UK The GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) has completed Step 2 of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process in the UK. Sponsored Content From Spec to Site: […]
-
POWERnews—Dec. 4, 2025
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store December 4, 2025 INL Taps AWS, GE Vernova, Oil Majors for First MARVEL Microreactor Experiments Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has selected the five commercial teams that will potentially demonstrate advanced applications—including data center integration—at its much-watched Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation […]
-
Nuclear
A First for Military Nuclear Power: TRISO Fuel Arrives at Project Pele
Project Pele, the Department of War’s (DOW’s) first-of-its-kind transportable nuclear microreactor prototype, has received its tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where formal system testing is slated to begin as early as 2027. The fuel—manufactured by BWXT Technologies (BWXT) and shipped from its Lynchburg, Virginia, facility—represents the first TRISO microreactor fuel […]
-
Research and Development
INL Taps AWS, GE Vernova, Oil Majors for First MARVEL Microreactor Experiments
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has selected the five commercial teams that will potentially demonstrate advanced applications—including data center integration—at its much-watched Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) platform, an 85-kWth/20-kWe liquid-metal-cooled test bed currently under construction at the lab. The initial selections, unveiled on Dec. 4, mark the “first potential end users for MARVEL,” […]
-
Data Centers
Data Centers and the Grid: Key Insights from POWER’s Inaugural Data Center POWER eXchange Summit
POWER breaks down the top insights from Data Center POWER eXchange, its unique one-day summit curated by POWER’s editorial team and convened to examine the collision between accelerating data center load and tightening grid constraints. The rise of artificial intelligence is poised to create the fastest, largest, and most concentrated surge of electricity demand in […]
-
Nuclear
China’s Molten Salt Reactor Reaches Thorium-Uranium Conversion Milestone
China’s Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) in November reported it had achieved thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion inside an operating molten salt reactor (MSR). The milestone provides the first
-
Top Plant
Flamanville 3: Europe’s Hard-Won Nuclear Milestone
Flamanville 3 synchronized to the French grid in December 2024 after a prolonged, hard-fought build—an achievement that reflects years of technical recovery, regulatory rigor, and lessons now shaping
-
POWERnews—Nov. 26, 2025
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store November 26, 2025 Winter Reliability Concerns Spur Fresh DOE Intervention for PJM, MISO The Department of Energy (DOE) extended its run of federal grid interventions into winter over the past week, issuing a Section 202(c) emergency order on Nov. 18 for Consumers […]
-
Energy Security
Winter Reliability Concerns Spur Fresh DOE Intervention for PJM, MISO
The Department of Energy (DOE) extended its run of federal grid interventions into winter over the past week, issuing a Section 202(c) emergency order on Nov. 18 for Consumers Energy’s 1,420-MW J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan and another on Nov. 25 for Constellation’s 760-MW Eddystone Units 3 and 4 in southeastern Pennsylvania in a […]
-
Energy Security
NERC: Winter Grid Reliability at Risk Amid Soaring Demand, Fuel Supply Gaps
In its recently released Winter Reliability Assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) found that while resources are adequate for normal winter peak demand, large swaths of North America face an elevated risk of electricity shortfalls during prolonged, wide-area cold snaps. Noting that four severe Arctic storms have swept across much of the continent since […]
-
Nuclear
UK Confirms Wylfa as Launch Site for First Nuclear SMR Fleet
The UK has confirmed that Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, North Wales, will host three Rolls-Royce small modular reactors (SMRs) that could deliver first power in the mid-2030s—launching a state-backed, fleet-based nuclear deployment through publicly owned entity Great British Energy–Nuclear (GBE-N). The UK government has framed the SMR project, which is underpinned by more […]
-
POWERnews—Nov. 20, 2025
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store November 20, 2025 Blackstone Investing $1.2 Billion for 600-MW Gas-Fired Plant in West Virginia Global investment group and asset manager Blackstone said it will support construction of a 600-MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in West Virginia. The Wolf Summit Energy facility, […]
-
POWERnews—Nov. 13, 2025
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store November 13, 2025 Texas Issues First Performance-Based Grant Under Energy Fund for LCRA’s New 188-MW RICE Peaker The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) has executed its first agreement under the Texas Energy Fund (TxEF) Completion Bonus Grant (CBG) Program, awarding the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) up to […]