Commentary

  • Early-Stage Risk Mitigation—Essential Element for Data Center Financing

    Lenders and investors are scrutinizing data center projects closely. Identifying and mitigating risks early helps attract investors and reduce financing costs. Clear documentation and realistic timelines are essential to securing financing. Land Control—The Foundation of Success: Land remains the cornerstone of any data center development. Verifying land control ensures the project’s legal and physical foundation […]

  • Solar’s Next Chapter: Beyond Incentives

    The U.S. residential solar industry has entered a new era. With the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) phasing out at the end of 2025, the market faces a moment of recalibration. This will likely mean a short-term decline, but it’s far from a death knell for the industry. After all, while incentives may fade, energy […]

  • Frugal AI’s Energy Reckoning: Why Efficiency Isn’t Enough

    The story of artificial intelligence (AI) is often told in the language of speed and efficiency. Every quarter brings claims of models that run faster and cost less. Yet behind the glossy benchmarks lies a more sobering truth: the appetite for AI is growing so quickly that even the most impressive efficiency gains cannot keep […]

  • Uncertainty Gives Way to Urgency: Latest Treasury Guidance Signals the Time is Now to Get Solar Projects Underway

    Ever since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) first surfaced, it has been widely portrayed as an existential threat to the renewable energy transition. From boardrooms to project sites, developers braced for the worst—expecting a wave of regulatory shifts that could undermine years of progress in clean energy deployment. However, with the latest guidance from the Treasury Department released this August, uncertainty has been replaced by urgency—signaling that the time is now for decision-makers to get moving on their much-needed solar initiatives.

  • Energy Sector Teaching AI How to Grow Up

    When artificial intelligence (AI) manages a power grid, it cannot operate as a black box. A wrong decision will not just frustrate users, it will trigger a blackout. This critical nature of AI deployments in energy is forcing AI to mature faster in energy than in any other sector. When algorithmic decisions affect high-stakes systems […]

  • AI’s Growing Appetite: What the Grid Needs to Keep Up

    The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just transforming industries; it is also transforming the energy grid. Behind every AI breakthrough lies a massive surge in computing power, and with it, an unprecedented demand for reliable and affordable electricity. As the U.S. positions itself for continued technological leadership, meeting the energy needs of AI data […]

  • California’s Backup Power Crossroads: Balancing Clean Energy Ambitions with Public Safety

    California is on the verge of banning the sale of portable fossil fuel-powered generators, the most commonly used backup power solution for households and small businesses. The state’s move aligns with its ambitious climate strategy to cut carbon emissions and advance toward a clean energy future. However, the ban also exposes a difficult reality: millions […]

  • How Flexible Fleet Strategies Power Infrastructure Projects

    As infrastructure projects accelerate across industries, the role of fleet operations has never been more critical. Organizations depend on vehicles that can adapt to evolving jobsite, supply chain, and regulatory demands. Yet in a market defined by volatility and OEM shortages, rigid fleet specifications and single-source loyalty are no longer sustainable strategies. Instead, the fleets […]

  • Bridging the AI Gap for Energy Utilities

    The energy industry is in a bit of a technological whirlwind. Climate-related disruption and shifting adaptation requirements inject alarming levels of uncertainty into traditional business models, while a surge in amazing engineering breakthroughs and innovations simultaneously present irresistible opportunities for enhanced efficacy and resilience.

  • U.S. Energy M&A Trends: The Shift from Renewables to Fossil Fuels

    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has redrawn the U.S. energy sector map. By scaling back clean energy tax credits and easing regulations on fossil fuels, the act has simultaneously cooled renewable investment and reignited traditional energy expansion. For dealmakers in the energy industry, this has created both headwinds and new openings, especially in […]

  • The Evolution of Data Center Cooling: From Water to Emerging Technologies

    Data centers are the backbone of the digital age, housing the servers and networking equipment that power everything from cloud computing to streaming services. As these facilities grow in size and complexity, so does the challenge of keeping them cool.

  • Energy: The Most Critical 7% of America’s GDP

    The true engine of America’s economy might surprise you. It’s not tech. It’s not artificial intelligence, finance, or manufacturing. It’s energy. Energy accounts for just 7% of America’s gross domestic product (GDP), but, as former FERC Chair Mark Christie put it, “it’s the foundational 7% … everything else in our economy and lifestyle flows from it.”

  • Nuclear: The Cornerstone of Security and Sovereignty

    From France’s legacy to America’s momentum, experts warn that without decisive leadership, China and Russia will dominate the nuclear-AI economy. Nuclear energy has moved from being a quiet constant to the centerpiece of a global race. Nations increasingly recognize that sovereignty—economic, technological, and cultural—depends on securing clean, stable, and independent sources of power. COMMENTARY Myrto […]

  • AI’s Energy Hunger Demands an All-of-the-Above Strategy

    Here’s a fundamental truth: there is no AI without energy. And as the technology grows, its demand for energy, and carbon footprint, may never again be as small as it is today. Against this backdrop, debates over which energy source should power AI miss the point. AI’s appetite for energy—relative to what the grid has […]

  • Fusion: The 24/7 Solution Renewables Can’t Match

    For decades, renewables like solar and wind have been hailed as the answer to our looming climate and infrastructure challenges. However, persistent issues have surfaced—especially with surging demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and broad electrification. Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently pointed to analysis wind and solar only supply about 3% of raw energy […]

  • Advanced Grid Solutions—Harnessing the Power of Prosumers

    Historically, the relationship between energy producers and consumers has been straightforward—energy companies produce energy, grid operators deliver that energy, and end users consume the energy they receive. Energy flowed in one direction, from generators to homes and businesses. Producers and consumers were easy to identify in this market because there was no overlap, and they […]

  • Bill Gates: ‘The Future of Energy Is Subatomic’

    I’m lucky to learn firsthand about some of the world’s most cutting-edge technologies. I’ve seen artificial intelligence ace an AP biology test, long before AI became an everyday tool. I’ve seen genetically modified mosquitoes that stop malaria in its tracks. I’ve seen geothermal wells that go 15,000 feet below the surface of the earth.   But […]

  • Young Americans Are the Future of Energy—It’s Time to Unleash Them

    Throughout the first nine months of the Trump Administration, “energy dominance” has been the agenda. To win the artificial intelligence (AI) race, ensure energy reliability for Americans, and beat China on the world stage, we need more energy – period. But we can’t do it without America’s young people. Fortunately, it’s a dynamic time to get […]

  • Powering AI: From CERA Week Optimism to New York Climate Week Realism

    This week, the energy world convenes in New York for the United Nations Climate Week. The gathering will encompass the most vital sectors of the U.S. economy at present—technology firms and utilities will be well-represented, along with a host of consultants, suppliers, experts, and academics, who consistently attend these events. UN Climate Week mirrors another […]

  • Nuclear Power is Not Just About AI—It’s the Linchpin of American Geopolitical Strength

    As nations compete for energy dominance, America’s policy framework demands strategic clarity and bold ambition, and nuclear must be at the center of it. As an advocate for an “all-of-the-above” approach where the U.S. invests in energy sources that make sense and are proven economically viable at scale, I champion natural gas for its flexibility, […]

  • How Innovation in Nuclear Power Projects is Rewriting the Business Energy Playbook 

    Global energy demand is accelerating, and organizations are increasingly turning to nuclear power to secure stable, long-term electricity supplies. Advances in AI, modular design, and predictive analytics are helping overcome legacy hurdles of cost, complexity, and schedule, while business leaders shift capital toward projects that prioritize resilience as much as efficiency.

  • Keep Powering the Energy Transition With Storage Technologies

    With the energy transition well underway, energy storage options, including zinc batteries, have been building capacity to meet demand. The International Zinc Association developed the Zinc Battery Initiative to serve as the voice of this safe and sustainable technology and promote its many advantages. Now that zinc batteries have achieved a pivotal milestone–reaching more than […]

  • A Solar Opportunity in C&I: Monetize, Upgrade, Restructure Existing Arrays

    In the early 2010s, the “build-to-sell” model dominated the commercial and industrial (C&I) real estate solar market. Building owners, especially REITs (real estate investment trusts), with an understanding and comfortableness in investing in long-term assets, would pay solar developers to build arrays on their roof or parking lot. Owners reaped the benefits associated with solar, […]

  • RE+ Opener: Storytelling is Clean Energy’s Missing Link, Says WRISE’s Constance Thompson

    As RE+ kicked off America’s largest solar conference on September 8, Constance Thompson, president of WRISE (Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy), made the case during the “Deep Dive on Storytelling” session that the clean energy transition will stall without one essential ingredient: a compelling narrative. “We are talking about people today,” she opened, […]

  • How Provider Partners Can Help Integrate, Innovate, and Improve Energy Resiliency

    We know the current energy grid isn’t enough to handle today’s needs. Across industries, the demand for power is accelerating at rapid-fire speed. Over the next five years, electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI)-optimized data centers is projected to more than quadruple, according to the International Energy Agency. Fueled by AI use, the U.S. is […]

  • AI and the Grid: Smarter Paths to Renewable Integration and Grid Modernization

    According to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 70% of the nation’s grid transmission lines and transformers are more than 25 years old, straining under the pressures of rising electrification and renewable integration. As power producers, utilities, and grid operators push toward decarbonization targets, the need for more intelligent, responsive, and resilient grid infrastructure […]

  • High Power Prices Are Stoking a Grassroots Wildfire—Here’s How to Respond

    As Labor Day beckons, the hottest conversation topic isn’t a hit movie or summer pop anthem, but rather the widespread shock that ratepayers are seeing amidst unexpectedly high power bills. While widely predicted in the spring to those in the industry, this development is already causing headaches for operators and serving as an unpleasant surprise […]

  • Why Grid Hardening Is No Longer Optional

    In the past decade, we have seen “once in a century storms” almost every year, flash floods wiping out entire towns, and extreme heat that melts shoes on pavement. Our climate is becoming more extreme, and we need to be proactive in preparing our infrastructure for more to come. The annual average for U.S. billion-dollar […]

  • Powering the Data Center Future: Understanding the Resurgence of Nuclear

    With billions of dollars pouring into the sector from power players like Google and Amazon, the data center industry is having a moment. But this surge in investment and interest has also brought up serious questions—particularly around how we are going to power these massive computing engines. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data […]

  • Nuclear Industry Ponders Risks of Building New Reactors

    Everybody is now jumping on the pro-nuclear bandwagon. With U.S. electricity demand ramping up due to the rapid build-out of energy-intensive data centers across the country, there is finally broad political and business support for dispatchable 24/7 nuclear power to help meet projected load growth and ensure overall grid reliability. The Trump White House, the […]