Business

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 […]

In early 2020, the prevailing narrative in the power sector was a continuation story of the developments from the decade before: renewable buildout will keep compounding, thermal capacity will keep retiring (albeit at a slower rate), markets will evolve to compensate for flexible generation products, capital will keep moving earlier in the development value chain […]

The power sector is grappling with a fundamental mismatch: hyperscale data centers demand electricity at unprecedented speed and scale, while the infrastructure to serve them operates on timelines measured in years, not months. According to Stephen Empedocles, PhD, founder and CEO of Clark Street Associates (CSA), an advisory firm specializing in government funding for technology […]

[Ed. update 1/6/2026: This article has been updated to include additional context about the scope and methodology of the E3 study referenced herein.] As electricity demand from data centers continues to surge, a persistent question has dogged the industry: Are residential ratepayers footing the bill for massive tech infrastructure? According to Amazon Web Services (AWS) […]

Officials from both Egypt and Lebanon have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deliver Egyptian natural gas to the Deir Ammar power plant in Lebanon.

To support the high demand for high-voltage power cable accessories in Europe, NKT has invested in the construction of a new test hall, the expansion of production capacity, and a new office building at its cable accessories factory in Alingsas, Sweden. The new facilities are now fully operational, enhancing both the factory’s capacity and its […]

Contract from POWERGRID for Chandrapur 2 x 500-MW back-to-back high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) link Scope includes advanced HVDC controls and valves, delivered from GE Vernova’s facilities in India First HVDC refurbishment project awarded to GE Vernova in India GE Vernova Inc. announced that its Electrification Systems business has been awarded a contract by Power Grid Corp. […]

Entergy Arkansas, the utility that provides electricity to about 735,000 customers in 63 counties in that state, announced a plan to add about 2.6 GW of new power generation capacity, in part by converting old coal-fired units to burn natural gas. It also is renewing the operating license for the 1.8-GW Arkansas Nuclear One power plant, the state’s only nuclear power station, with plans to invest in new equipment that would increase the facility’s output.

Alphabet, the parent of technology giant Google, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Intersect, which provides data center and energy infrastructure solutions, for $4.75 billion in cash, plus the assumption of debt. Google already owns a minority stake in Intersect from a previously announced funding round.

A Bulgarian energy company, along with a European project developer, has signed a letter of intent for a joint venture (JV) that could build a fleet of as many as six small modular reactors (SMRs) in the country. Blue Bird Energy AD and SGE S.A. on December 22 announced the JV would deploy BWRX-300 SMRs from GE Vernova Hitachi (GVH).

The fusion industry just achieved a major milestone—and this time, it’s not about science.

Data centers are already among the world’s hungriest power users, and artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing their energy consumption to new heights. The International Energy Agency expects data centers’ electricity use to more than double by 2030, reaching roughly 1,000 TWh. That’s a growth rate four times faster than the overall grid. In some scenarios, AI-optimized facilities could […]

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 […]

The Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) is merging with a California-based company focused on development of nuclear fusion in a $6-billion deal. The all-stock transaction announced December 18 would create one of the first publicly traded fusion companies.

A Colorado-based company focused on utility-scale battery energy storage has partnered with global technology group Wärtsilä and others for construction of a 500-MWh project near the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas, the latest of several major battery energy storage installations being built in the state.

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 […]

Hitachi Energy has announced investments of $30 million CAD ($22 million) to expand and modernize its service operations in Ontario, Canada. The investment aims at addressing Canada’s growing electricity demand while mitigating the challenges posed by aging grid infrastructure. It includes the purchase and upgrade of the company’s Stoney Creek facility and the acquisition of […]

Vema Hydrogen, developer of a sustainable hydrogen production technology, said it has entered a hydrogen purchase and sale agreement with Verne, a provider of on-site power and cooling solutions. Verne will leverage Vema’s clean energy, known as Engineered Mineral Hydrogen (EMH), to provide low-emission power for its data center customers.

An energy company focused on supporting artificial intelligence (AI) through infrastructure has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Utah-based nuclear power services company, as the groups evaluate ways to provide electricity for a massive data center campus in that state.

Greenville Electric Utility System (GEUS) has broken ground on a 104-MW power plant that will deploy 11 Jenbacher J920 FleXtra reciprocating engines, marking the largest U.S. installation of the engine model to date. Commissioning is scheduled for summer 2027. The plant reflects growing interest among utilities in generation assets that can respond rapidly to fluctuations […]

The lone remaining coal-fired power plant in the state of Washington will shut down at the end of December, and will be converted to burn natural gas. Operator TransAlta Corp. on December 9 signed an agreement with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) for the transition, with a 16-year, fixed-price contract for the gas-fired generation that runs through 2044.

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.

GE Vernova said the company has signed an agreement with Public Power Corporation Renewables (PPC R) to supply, install, and commission 14 of its 6.1 MW–158m turbines for a wind farm in Vaslui County, Romania.

“The result of the 2024 presidential election probably had the biggest impact on the direction the U.S. energy industry is headed right now,” Brandy Johnson, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), told POWER. “It has opened up the pathway for fossil fuels in power generation again.” That shift is already visible across […]

As the global demand for clean energy intensifies, nuclear power is enjoying a resurgence not seen in decades. However, this renewed interest has exposed a critical vulnerability in the U.S. energy sector: a massive disconnect between uranium consumption and domestic production. As a guest on The POWER Podcast, Thomas Lamb, president and CEO of Myriad […]

Renewable energy company BayWa r.e. said it has closed financing for a solar-plus-storage installation in San Diego County, California. The group on December 9 said the Jacumba Valley Ranch (JVR) Energy Park is expected to enter commercial operation in 2026.

The U.S. solar power industry installed 11.7 GW of new generation in the third quarter of this year, according to a report from Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). It’s the third-largest quarterly gain on record, and moves total solar installations in 2025 above the 30-GW level.

A California-based nuclear energy company with plans to place small modular reactors (SMRs) in mile-deep boreholes said it will break ground December 9 for a pilot project at a site in Parsons, Kansas. Berkeley-headquartered Deep Fission on December 4 said the company’s Gravity Nuclear Reactor is bring prepared for the Great Plains Industrial Park. Deep […]

Idaho Falls Power celebrated the formal launch of a new natural gas-fired peaking generation plant on December 4, calling the occasion a “major milestone” in its 125-year history.

The past year saw a multitude of factors driving up electricity prices, including rapid growth in electricity demand, supply chain tightness, deployment delays for transmission and production projects, and an uncertain political and permitting climate. We expect all of these trends to continue in 2026. Changing economics have turned the justification for project development in […]