Technology

Electricity management is undergoing a fundamental shift. The traditional model of one-way power flows is giving way to a dynamic system shaped by distributed assets and active consumer participation. Renewables are proliferating, distributed energy resource (DER) adoption is accelerating and assets are emerging at the grid edge.

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 […]

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) and an independent study it commissioned, the answer is a definitive no. As a guest on The POWER Podcast, Mandy Ulrich, senior manager […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the “Genesis Mission,” a national effort to build an integrated artificial intelligence (AI) platform across its 17 national laboratories. According to The White House, the initiative will “accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen national security, secure energy dominance, enhance workforce productivity, and multiply the return on taxpayer investment into […]

The hydropower industry stands at a critical juncture where traditional operation and maintenance are quickly becoming obsolete. As global energy demand surges and grid systems become increasingly dynamic, hydropower operators face unprecedented challenges in maintaining optimal machine performance under variable operating conditions while at the same time managing aging infrastructure and reduced staffing levels. Not […]

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 […]

As AI demand accelerates, the race is on to bend the power curve before it bends the grid. The first electric refrigerators were mechanical curiosities—loud, bulky appliances that consumed staggering amounts of electricity. But they spread anyway, because the productivity gains were too great to ignore. Daily habits shifted. Food systems reshaped. Household labor changed […]

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.

Fusion technology company Thea Energy said it has completed its preconceptual fusion power plant design. The company, founded in 2022 as a spin-out of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University, is advancing the stellarator as part of its Helios system.

Prisma Photonics, a global provider of advanced optical fiber sensing technology, announced a trial deployment with California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to deploy grid monitoring solutions traversing some of California’s most challenging geographic areas in San Luis Obispo and Humboldt counties. The project comes as California’s electrical grid faces surging data center demand, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has selected the five commercial teams that will potentially demonstrate advanced applications—including data center integration—at its much-watched Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) platform, an 85-kWth/20-kWe liquid-metal-cooled test bed currently under construction at the lab. The initial selections, unveiled on Dec. 4, mark the “first potential end users for MARVEL,” […]

Framatome said it has been awarded a contract to upgrade several digital control systems at Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station. The scope of the project includes system design, engineering, manufacturing, testing and installation for new digital feedwater level control and feedwater heater vents and drains systems. The upgrades announced December 4 are part of Energy […]

SmartestEnergy US, part of a global energy company helping businesses navigate the energy transition, has selected GridBeyond, a global smart energy company, as its technology partner to optimize battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. The strategic partnership will leverage GridBeyond’s advanced price forecasting, bid optimization, and trading […]

Global renewable energy contractor INTEC Energy Solutions has been selected by a leading European renewable energy investment group to lead construction of a 50-MW solar power plant in Lachendorf, Germany. INTEC on December 3 said it has been commissioned by AUKERA as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the project. The solar farm […]

Antares, an advanced nuclear energy startup, announced the close of its $96-million Series B funding round, which was led by Shine Capital with participation from Alt Capital, Caffeinated, FiftyThree Stations, Industrious, and other investors.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said the agency has selected the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Holtec Government Services to support early deployments of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. The DOE on December 2 said project teams with the two groups will receive up to $800 million in “federal cost-shared funding” targeted for projects in Tennessee and Michigan.

The dawn of electric semitrucks and other medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles has arrived, and if the technology is going to be widely adopted, we have to come to grips with what this means for our electrical infrastructure.

The power industry is experiencing unprecedented demand growth, driven largely by data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. This surge is creating both opportunities and challenges for utilities, equipment manufacturers, and the broader power generation ecosystem. As a guest on The POWER Podcast, Seth Harris, growth director for Emerson’s Power business in North America, discussed […]