Sonal Patel
Articles By

Sonal Patel

Sonal Patel is a national award-winning multimedia journalist and senior editor at POWER magazine with nearly two decades of experience delivering technically rigorous reporting across power generation, transmission, distribution, policy, and infrastructure worldwide.

  • POWERnews—Feb. 19, 2026

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 19, 2026 SB Energy Tapped for Proposed 9.2‑GW Ohio Gas Power Plant in First Tranche of $550B U.S.–Japan Deal: What We Know The Trump administration is touting a proposed 9.2‑GW natural gas power complex near Portsmouth, Ohio, as the centerpiece of […]

  • SB Energy Tapped for Proposed 9.2‑GW Ohio Gas Power Plant in First Tranche of $550B U.S.–Japan Deal: What We Know

    The Trump administration is touting a proposed 9.2‑GW natural gas power complex near Portsmouth, Ohio, as the centerpiece of a new U.S.–Japan trade deal that officials say could steer up to $550 billion of Japanese capital into American energy and industrial projects. According to a Feb. 17 Commerce Department fact sheet and a statement by […]

  • Utah ‘Gigasite’ Data Center Contemplates Solar-Storage Baseload Addition

    Zeo Energy Corp., a Florida-based residential solar installer that acquired struggling concentrated solar thermal developer Heliogen Inc. six months ago, has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Creekstone Energy to study the development of 280 MW of generation for a multi-gigawatt data center campus under construction in Millard County, Utah. Under the Feb. […]

  • INL Enlists NVIDIA on ‘PROMETHEUS’ AI Effort to Halve Nuclear Deployment Timelines Under DOE Genesis Mission

    Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has teamed up with artificial intelligence (AI) computing giant NVIDIA to advance “PROMETHEUS,” INL’s first-of-its-kind demonstration of an autonomous nuclear reactor driven by AI, to execute a key challenge under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission. The move adds momentum to DOE’s push to apply AI across the full reactor […]

  • TRISO-X Secures First-Ever NRC Category II License for Commercial Advanced Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

    In a milestone for the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Feb. 13 issued its first approval of a commercial Category II nuclear fuel fabrication facility, granting a license to TRISO-X, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-energy, which allows the company to fabricate commercial tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel using high-assay low-enriched […]

  • POWERnews—Feb. 12, 2026

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 12, 2026 DOE Details 26 Genesis Mission AI Challenges, Targeting Nuclear Timelines, Grid Planning, and Energy Systems The Department of Energy (DOE) has released detailed technical specifications for 26 artificial intelligence (AI) challenges under its Genesis Mission that could reshape how […]

  • DOE Details 26 Genesis Mission AI Challenges, Targeting Nuclear Timelines, Grid Planning, and Energy Systems

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has released specifications for 26 artificial intelligence (AI) challenges under its Genesis Mission that could reshape how power plants are designed, licensed, built, and operated. Several directly target nuclear plant deployment timelines, grid interconnection bottlenecks, data center load integration, fusion commercialization, and subsurface energy recovery. Launched via executive order on […]

  • POWERnews—Feb. 5, 2026

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 5, 2026 Natura, NGL Move to Pair Nuclear Molten Salt Reactors with Large-Scale Produced-Water Treatment in Permian Abilene-based Natura Resources, which won the first federal construction permit for a liquid-fueled molten-salt reactor in 2024, will work with NGL Water Solutions Permian […]

  • Xcel Energy Inks Dual Alliances with GE Vernova, NextEra to Support 6-GW Data Center Outlook, Generation Expansion

    Xcel Energy has moved to lock in supply and development capacity for what could become 6 GW of data center load through separate strategic agreements with GE Vernova and NextEra Energy, announced this week, that reserve five F-class gas turbines, multiple gigawatts of wind capacity, and joint development resources to support generation buildout into the […]

  • NRC Launches Major Reorganization as Licensing Deadlines and Reform Workload Intensify

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency responsible for licensing and oversight of civilian nuclear facilities, on Feb. 4 said it would launch a sweeping organizational restructure intended to consolidate decision-making authority, integrate licensing and inspection teams, and align the agency with presidential directives for accelerated nuclear technology deployment. The reorganization will create […]

  • Natura, NGL Move to Pair Nuclear Molten Salt Reactors with Large-Scale Produced-Water Treatment in Permian

    Abilene-based Natura Resources, which won the first federal construction permit for a liquid-fueled molten-salt reactor in 2024, will work with NGL Water Solutions Permian to explore deploying its 100-MWe reactor design alongside thermal desalination systems to transform briny drilling waste into usable water—while powering data centers and other industrial loads hungry for around-the-clock electricity. The […]

  • ‘Flexibility-as-a-Service’ Gains U.S. Foothold with New Voltus–Octopus Partnership

    Virtual power plant operator Voltus and energy firm Octopus Energy will partner to aggregate residential flexibility across four major power markets—PJM, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), New York, and California—to offer Flexibility-as-a-Service (FaaS) and Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) solutions. The effort will “help data centers, utilities, and grid operators manage accelerating AI-driven load growth,” […]

  • POWERnews—Jan. 29, 2026

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   January 29, 2026 NERC Warns Long-Term Grid Reliability Risks Mounting from Surging Demand, Lagging Resources The North American electric grid faces intensifying reliability risks over the next decade as demand growth driven by data centers and artificial intelligence threatens to outpace resource […]

  • NERC Warns Long-Term Grid Reliability Risks Mounting from Surging Demand, Lagging Resources

    The North American electric grid faces intensifying reliability risks over the next decade as demand growth driven by data centers and artificial intelligence threatens to outpace resource additions, according to the 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA) released Jan. 29 by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The annual 10-year reliability assessment from North America’s Electric Reliability […]

  • 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, […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • POWERnews—Jan. 8, 2026

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   January 8, 2026 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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 […]

  • 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

  • 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 […]