News
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Commentary
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 […]
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Energy Storage
Fullmark Energy Brings Another Energy Storage Project Online in California
A Midwest-based energy storage developer and independent power producer said it has brought the third project in a strategic collection of California energy storage facilities online. Fullmark Energy, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, on August 20 announced the start of commercial operation for the company’s 20-MW/40-MWh Ortega energy storage project in Lake Elsinore. Fullmark on Wednesday […]
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Data Centers
Aalo Atomics Secures Capital, Regulatory Backing for 2026 Modular Nuclear Project at INL, Eyes Potential First Data Center Pairing
Advanced nuclear firm Aalo Atomics has secured new capital and regulatory backing to complete construction of its 10-MWe Aalo-X reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The project, recently selected under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) new Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, will demonstrate cold criticality by July 2026 in an unusually aggressive federal milestone for advanced […]
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Trends
AI and the Energy Transition: Building a Smarter, Decarbonized Energy System
Solar energy generation from a rooftop panel system can be monitored quickly and easily, an example of how artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools are empowering businesses to optimize energy use and contribute to a decentralized, decarbonized grid. The energy transition is accelerating. Electrification is surging, renewable power generation is expanding and energy consumption patterns […]
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Renewables
Solar Farm Will Power Meta Data Center in South Carolina
A major solar farm owner and operator is partnering with an electric cooperative to build a 100-MW solar power facility that will serve Meta’s first data center in South Carolina. Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and other social media and communication platforms, is expanding its relationship with Silicon Ranch, a project developer and independent […]
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nuclear technology
TVA Inks First U.S. Utility PPA for Gen IV Nuclear Power in Landmark Three-Way Deal with Google, Kairos
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has signed a first-of-its-kind power purchase agreement (PPA) with advanced nuclear technology firm Kairos Power to buy power from the company’s planned Hermes 2, a molten salt nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The deal makes TVA the first U.S. utility to contract for electricity from a Gen-IV reactor. Under […]
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Hydrogen
Carbon Removal Company Closes on Major Investment
A California-based carbon removal company said it has completed a funding round in support of the company’s first 100-kilotonne carbon dioxide removal (CDR) commercial facility. Equatic, which is considered a pioneering company in combined carbon dioxide removal and green hydrogen production, on August 11 announced the successful closure of its Series A round, with Catalytic […]
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Renewables
Trump Administration Further Restricts Tax Credits for Solar and Wind Energy
The Trump administration has announced another policy that will likely harm the U.S. renewable energy industry. New guidance from the Treasury Department announced August 15 will make it even harder for wind and solar power projects to take advantage of federal tax credits, which already were under fire from the White House. Friday’s move is […]
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Hydrogen
Leading Hydrogen Producer May Abandon U.S. Projects Due to Trump’s Actions
A Germany-headquartered company involved in the global hydrogen industry said it plans to abandon some of its projects in the U.S. due to actions from the Trump administration. Werner Ponikwar, chief executive of Thyssenkrupp Nucera, on August 13 said the company has been in discussions with stakeholders in its U.S. hydrogen projects and would cancel […]
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Solar
Texas Solar Projects Move Forward Under New Leadership
OCI Energy and Sabanci Renewables jointly announced the successful closing of the sale of Project Lucky 7 Solar, a 100-MWac/130-MWdc installation located in Hopkins County, Texas, within the ERCOT-North market. The companies on August 15 said the project, which was developed by OCI Energy, will now move forward to construction and operation under the leadership […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Trump Names Democrat David Rosner as FERC Chairman
President Trump has appointed David Rosner as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), elevating the Democratic commissioner to lead the independent energy regulator after Republican Mark Christie stepped down from the position. Rosner has served as a FERC commissioner since June 2024 and officially assumed the chairman role on Aug. 13. The appointment […]
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Commentary
Transforming Energy Finance Through AI-Driven Processes
The power and utility sector underpins every part of modern life, from residential comfort to industrial productivity. Yet, as the global energy landscape evolves, so must the internal operations that keep these organizations running. COMMENTARY With total U.S. power use expected to reach around 4,189 billion kWh in 2025, and 4,278 billion kWh in 2026, […]
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Renewables
Nextracker Supporting Major New Solar Power Projects in Brazil
One of Brazil’s largest renewable energy developers, mostly known for its wind power projects, is adding significant solar power generation capacity to its portfolio. Casa dos Ventos, which has developed one of every four wind power facilities in Brazil and has about 35 GW of renewable energy deployed in the country, will utilize equipment from […]
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Gas
New Gas-Fired Power Stations Planned for North and South Dakota
Regulators in North Dakota have given their approval for a 1,490-MW natural gas-fired power plant, a combined-cycle station that Basin Electric Power Cooperative officials said would provide the area with its first new baseload electric output in more than four decades. South Dakota utility commissioners, meanwhile, are set to consider an application for a smaller, […]
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Workforce
BP Cutting More Than 6,000 Jobs, and Thousands of Contractors, as Part of Cost Reductions
Global energy giant BP said it would cut thousands more jobs by the end of this year, as the company continues to reduce its renewable energy plans to focus more on its longtime core business of oil and gas production. UK-based BP, which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston, Texas, has said it plans to […]
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Technology
Building ChatGPT for the Power Industry: EPRI Leads the Way
More than 100 of the world’s largest energy companies are betting that artificial intelligence (AI) will revolutionize how electricity gets made, moved, and managed. But they’re not waiting for Silicon Valley to build it for them—they’ve taken matters into their own hands through an EPRI-led consortium. That initiative is the Open Power AI Consortium, which […]
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Renewables
Arevon Brings $2-Billion California Solar-Plus-Storage Project Online
An Arizona-based energy developer, owner, and operator of power generation projects said one of its major solar-plus-storage facilities has entered full commercial operation in California. Arevon Energy on August 7 held a ceremony to celebrate completion of the second phase of the Eland Solar-plus-Storage Project, located near Mojave in Kern County. The two-phase Eland installation […]
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Data Centers
Caterpillar Among Groups Working on Massive Utah Data Center Campus
Three groups active in the industrial infrastructure space have announced a collaboration that would create the largest data center campus in Utah and provide gigawatts of new power generation capacity to the state. Infrastructure company Joule Capital Partners, along with Caterpillar Inc., and Wheeler Machinery Co. on August 7 said they have an agreement to […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Trump Administration to Overhaul Drone Rules, Fast-Track Nuclear Reactor Deployment on the Moon
The Trump administration has proposed new drone regulations that will eliminate case-by-case approval processes for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, while Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy confirmed accelerated plans to deploy a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and […]
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Renewables
LRE Starts Construction of 152 MW of Solar Power in Oklahoma
A Texas-headquartered renewable energy group said it has started construction of two solar power projects in southern Oklahoma, expanding the company’s solar portfolio in the state. Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) recently announced it has broken ground for the Twelvemile Solar 1 & 2 projects, a combined 152-MW solar facility. The company in late July said […]
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Renewables
Lightstar Announces Agrivoltaics Project at New York Farm
An agricultural farm in New York will add solar power at the site in a project designed to benefit both farmers and the solar energy community. Lightstar Renewables LLC on August 4 announced the launch of the Plains Road Agrivoltaics project, which integrates solar energy with agriculture on the DiMartino Farm in Montgomery, New York. […]
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Trends
Google, I&M Strike Landmark Deal to Share Clean Capacity and Flex AI Load
American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiary Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) has filed a special customer-specific contract with technology giant Google that could create a dual-purpose arrangement to address power capacity constraints in one of the fastest-growing digital infrastructure regions in the U.S. AEP on Aug. 4 announced that the two companies filed a petition to the […]
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Renewables
Arevon Starts Construction of $600-Million California Energy Storage Project
Arizona-headquartered Arevon Energy said it has started construction of the Nighthawk Energy Storage Project in Poway, California. The company on July 31 provided more details of the 300-MW/1,200-MWh installation that represents a $600-million investment. Arevon will own and operate Nighthawk. The company in 2021 signed a long-term contract under which the energy storage facility will […]
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T&D
Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Award
Previous winners 2025: How Nation’s Largest Dynamic Line Rating Deployment Unlocked Nearly 50% More Transmission Capacity for Great River Energy 2024: The Viking Link, connecting Bicker Fen substation in Lincolnshire, UK, with Revsing substation in southern Jutland, Denmark
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T&D
How Nation’s Largest Dynamic Line Rating Deployment Unlocked Nearly 50% More Transmission Capacity for Great River Energy
Great River Energy’s dynamic line rating (DLR) project is the largest DLR deployment to date in the U.S. based on the number of sensors installed. Early results identified a 48.92% increase in power carrying
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Trends
Delays, Rollbacks, and Diverging Paths: The Global State of Power Plant Emissions Controls
In recent years, analysis of the world’s power plant emissions appears to have centered largely on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), mainly because carbon dominates global accounting frameworks and climate goals. In
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Hybrid Power
The White Island Goes Green: How Graciosa Became a Global Benchmark for Hybrid Renewable Power
A Portuguese island that once relied almost exclusively on expensive diesel fuel shipments to keep the lights on now runs entirely on wind and solar power for nearly half the year. Graciosa didn’t just
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News and Notes
POWER Digest August 2025
MHI to Supply Four Circulating Water Pumps for Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in China. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) received an order for the supply of four circulating water pumps (CWP) for Units 5 and
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Data Centers
Luxembourg Group Seeks Sustainability in Powering Data Center Operations
The global buildout of data centers continues to put a spotlight on the energy needs of those facilities. LuxConnect, a Luxembourg-based data center firm, has made sustainability one of its main goals.
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Sustainability
How Biogas Is Solving Data Centers’ Clean Energy Challenge
Biogas doesn’t just offer a backup plan for tech companies seeking more power; it provides a blueprint for sustainability. By transforming landfill, agricultural, and wastewater emissions into usable power, biogas solves two problems at once: it reduces fugitive methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), and generates renewable electricity. This is energy that’s good for […]