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—July 24, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 24, 2025 China Breaks Ground for World's Largest Hydropower Station China has started construction of what would be the world's largest hydropower dam. Chinese Premier Li Qiang on July 19 led a ceremony marking groundbreaking for the Motuo Hydropower Station,…   […]

  • EPA Extends Coal Ash Compliance Deadlines, Citing Utility, Contractor Strain

    Citing a mounting compliance crunch in America’s coal-fired power sector, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized new rules extending key deadlines for coal ash cleanup and management, while floating the prospect of a further 12-month delay. The changes address calls from utilities, engineering contractors, and state regulators for more realistic timeframes to assess, […]

  • Nuclear Developer Oklo Advances Dual Alliances Targeting Data Center and Industrial Power Needs

    Advanced nuclear technology company Oklo entered into two separate high-profile collaborative agreements this week that seek to supply integrated energy solutions to data centers and large load industrial operations. The alliances—one with Liberty Energy, an energy services and technologies firm, and another with critical digital infrastructure provider Vertiv—mark the newest notch in the growing market […]

  • POWERnews—July 17, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 17, 2025 Google Signs Deal with Brookfield for 3 GW of Hydropower Capacity Technology giant Google announced the company will buy as much as 3 GW of hydropower generation capacity from Brookfield Renewable, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management. The companies […]

  • PPL, Blackstone Launch Major Gas-Fired Generation Venture Targeting Data Center Surge in Pennsylvania

    PPL Corp. and investment giant Blackstone Infrastructure have formed a joint venture to build, own, and operate natural gas combined-cycle generation plants in Pennsylvania specifically designed to serve data center loads through long-term energy service agreements (ESAs). The partnership, unveiled at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh on July 15, represents a strategic […]

  • PSC Greenlights Georgia Power Plan to Expand Coal, Gas, Nuclear, and Grid Infrastructure

    The Georgia Public Service (PSC) Commission has unanimously approved Georgia Power’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), authorizing a massive energy expansion to accommodate what the utility calls “extraordinary” growth in electricity demand. The PSC’s approval on July 15 allows the Southern Co. subsidiary to proceed with major capacity extensions at its flagship coal, gas, and […]

  • POWERnews—July 10, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 10, 2025 North Dakota's Largest Coal Plant Could Power Data Centers, Industrial Complex County commissioners in North Dakota have signed off on a rezoning request from a local energy provider, a move that means a large coal-fired power plant could be […]

  • Regulator Approves AEP Ohio’s Landmark Data Center Tariff

    The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has approved a landmark tariff structure requiring large new data center customers to pay for a minimum of 85% of their subscribed electricity usage—regardless of actual consumption—for up to 12 years. The measure marks a pivotal step in Ohio’s efforts to address surging demand from hyperscale data centers […]

  • Private Equity Firm Moves to Secure Ohio Gas Power Plant as Demand for Firm Power Rallies

    Private equity firm ArcLight Capital Partners has entered into definitive agreements to acquire 100% of the economic interests in the 484-MW Middletown Energy Center, a combined cycle natural gas power plant in Butler County, Ohio. The firm said on July 10 that the acquisition—structured through a series of transactions with a consortium of sellers—adds a […]

  • “We’re Writing a New Chapter”: Mitsubishi Power CEO Bill Newsom on AI, Gas Turbines, and the Path to Decarbonization

    The U.S. power sector seems to be increasingly pulled in two directions. While trundling toward rapid electrification, it is seeking to hold its ground on recent decarbonization triumphs. And while utilities and power companies are racing to add generation capacity, their prospects are limited by aging infrastructure and upended by supply chain constraints that have […]

  • POWERnews—July 3, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 3, 2025 Google Signs Deal to Buy Fusion Energy from Future Virginia Plant Tech giant Google has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) to buy at least 200 MW of energy from CFS's planned fusion-based power […]

  • Westinghouse, Radiant Selected for First Fueled Nuclear Microreactor Tests at INL’s DOME Facility

    Nuclear microreactors developed separately by Westinghouse and Radiant are poised to become the first fueled designs tested at the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility—the world’s first dedicated microreactor test bed slated to open at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in early 2026. The first fueled experiment is expected to begin as early as spring 2026. […]

  • A Transformative Dawn: South Fork Wind Leads America’s Offshore Reboot

    Winning POWER’s highest honor, South Fork Wind—the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in U.S. federal waters—stands as a beacon for the power sector’s ambition to forge new industries in the

  • A Modern Blueprint for Coastal Power: China’s Offshore Solar-Hydrogen Integration

    Built on degraded tidal flats in China’s Jiangsu Province, CHN Energy’s Rudong project combines 400 MW of offshore photovoltaic generation, grid-scale battery storage, and green hydrogen production with

  • POWERnews—June 26, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 26, 2025 Hydropower Growth Continues, Though Policy Challenges Loom in U.S. Hydroelectric power generation hit a 10-year high in Europe in 2024, while hydro growth in other regions—most notably China—kept the technology at the top of the list when it comes […]

  • Deadline vs. Deployment: Can U.S. Advanced Reactors Meet DOE’s 2026 Criticality Goal?

    In a new pilot program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued an ambitious challenge: bring at least three advanced nuclear test reactors to criticality by July 4, 2026. Announced in June, the program sidesteps traditional Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing, seeking instead to authorize full-scale reactors on private sites through DOE’s internal review process. […]

  • DOE Pilot Program Targets Three Nuclear Test Reactors for 2026 Criticality Under Department Authorization

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a novel pilot program that will allow private developers to build and operate full-scale advanced nuclear test reactors outside of the national laboratory system, without a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Through a new authorization model grounded in the Atomic Energy Act and a Trump-era […]

  • Centrus Completes 900-kg HALEU Delivery to DOE in U.S. Nuclear Fuel Enrichment Milestone

    Centrus Energy has produced and delivered 900 kilograms (kg) of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), completing Phase II of its pioneering enrichment contract with the agency. The shipment marks the first significant domestic production of HALEU—a specialized fuel required for many advanced reactors now under development—and stands as a […]

  • GE Vernova, IHI Launch Test Hub to Enable 100% Ammonia Combustion in F-Class Gas Turbines by 2030

    Japanese integrated heavy industry group IHI Corp. and GE Vernova have inaugurated a new Large-Scale Combustion Test (LCT) facility at IHI’s Aioi Works in Hyogo, Japan, marking a pivotal step in their joint effort to commercialize gas turbine combustors capable of burning up to 100% ammonia by 2030. The facility will accelerate full-scale prototype testing […]

  • POWERnews—June 18, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 18, 2025 DOE Opens Door to Private-Sector Demonstrations at MARVEL Nuclear Microreactor Test Bed The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is inviting private-sector nuclear developers to submit proposals for experiments and demonstrations using its Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) […]

  • NuScale Advances SMR-Powered Desalination and Hydrogen Production with Integrated Brine Reuse Strategy

    Small modular reactor (SMR) technology developer NuScale Power has unveiled research programs that could advance an energy system that integrates its nuclear technology to produce desalinated water and hydrogen, while reusing brine waste as an industrial feedstock. The research, developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and […]

  • DOE Opens Door to Private-Sector Demonstrations at MARVEL Nuclear Microreactor Test Bed

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is inviting private-sector nuclear developers to submit proposals for experiments and demonstrations using its Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) project. The first-of-its-kind operational test bed for advanced microreactor technologies is now 90% through its final design phase, with key components already under fabrication. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), […]

  • POWERnews—June 12, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 12, 2025 EPA Weakening Rules on Power Plant Emissions in Boost for Fossil Fuels The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced sweeping changes to regulations on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants from coal- and natural gas-fired power […]

  • Talen, Amazon Launch $18B Nuclear PPA—A Grid-Connected IPP Model for the Data Center Era

    Talen Energy has restructured and significantly expanded its nuclear energy agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), finalizing a 17-year, $18 billion power purchase agreement (PPA) that will supply up to 1,920 MW of carbon-free electricity from the 2.5-GW Susquehanna nuclear plant to Amazon’s data centers across Pennsylvania. The deal, announced on June 11, restructures a […]

  • Out of Sync: The Infrastructure Misalignment Undermining the U.S. Grid 

    U.S. power infrastructure—the intricate physical fabric that laces together generation, transmission, and distribution—is under intensifying strain. Outdated and overextended, it must now absorb relentless growth from electrification and data centers or risk escalating reliability threats, surging costs, and a weakened global competitive edge. POWER examines the dysfunction and what it will actually take to future-proof […]

  • Decarbonization Whiplash Prompts a Power Sector Recalibration 

    What happens when a political U-turn suddenly upends years of decarbonization strategy? As the U.S. House of Representatives moves to dismantle key clean energy tax credits, POWER examines how utilities and developers are rethinking timelines, technologies, and financing, while racing to keep the energy transition on track.  On May 22, 2025, the U.S. House of […]

  • Oklo Retapped for Alaska Air Force Microreactor, Proposes Nuclear Fleet-Wide Licensing Framework

    The U.S. Air Force has formally reaffirmed its selection of Oklo’s liquid metal-cooled fast reactor to provide nuclear energy at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, re-issuing a Notice of Intent to Award (NOITA) for the company’s Aurora Powerhouse following a comprehensive evaluation process. The June 10 announcement, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency Energy […]

  • Duke Energy Advances New 1.4-GW Gas-Hydrogen Power Plant in South Carolina Under New Energy Security Mandate

    Duke Energy intends to submit an application to South Carolina’s Public Service Commission (PSC) for approval to build a 1.4-GW gas-fired combined cycle plant with hydrogen capability in Anderson County. If approved, the project, which could come online in 2031, will mark the company’s first new generation proposal in the state in a decade. The […]

  • POWERnews—June 5, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 5, 2025 Meta Deal With Constellation Will Keep Illinois Nuclear Plant Open Technology group Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to take about 1.1 GW of electricity from Constellation's Clinton […]

  • NuScale’s 77-MWe SMR Clears NRC Review, Sets Stage for First Firm Order

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved NuScale Power’s uprated 77-MWe (250-MWth) small modular reactor (SMR) design, clearing the nuclear technology firm’s second standard design approval (SDA). The development marks a boost for ENTRA1 Energy, NuScale’s exclusive commercialization partner, which is in “various stages of discussions with potential customers” in the U.S. and abroad, the […]