Technology
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Data Centers
The Rise of Low-Power Instrument Transformers in Data Center and Industrial Applications
Traditional magnetic induction-based instrument transformers have served the power industry reliably for decades, but a new generation of low-power alternatives is gaining ground — particularly in data centers and industrial facilities where accuracy, size, and integration with digital secondary systems matter. This paper reports on LPIT history, standardization, and some of the applications in […]
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Expert Commentary
Bringing a Power Plant’s Worth of Load Onto the Grid: NERC’s Interconnection Reckoning
Data centers are connecting to the transmission system faster than the reliability rules were built to handle and behaving nothing like the passive load those rules assumed. Here’s what the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s (NERC’s) Large Loads Action Plan, a new class of registered entity, and a hard 2026 deadline mean for anyone planning, […]
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Technology
What the DOE’s Quantum Computing Competition Could Mean for Fusion and Battery Materials
The Department of Energy (DOE) on Sept. 17 announced the Quantum Genesis Q Competition, a $215 million initiative to fund private-sector teams racing to build the world’s first fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computer. Structured as a milestone-based competition rather than a conventional grant, it will pay out fixed awards of up to $1.5 million per […]
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Data Centers
On-Demand Podcast – The Data Center Challenge: Build Faster, Be Efficient, and Keep the Data Flowing
Data centers face big challenges, from processing trillions of search queries, storing billions of emails and photos and serving countless hours of video every day while at the same time developing ways of decreasing their energy and carbon footprints and increasing data security. In this episode, Angad Sandhu, CTO of Giga Energy (director of […]
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Data Centers
Keeping the Lights On — Smarter Fault Management for Data Center Power Systems
Data centers commonly deploy looped medium-voltage (MV) distribution systems with automated protection and control schemes to deliver exceptionally high levels of power availability. However, these automation schemes rely on communications infrastructures where latency and scalability can affect fault-response performance. This paper presents a robust, hybrid FLISR strategy that integrates centralized and decentralized control to […]
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Commentary
The Business of Power, and the Power of Business
I have spent my career building companies, and along the way I’ve learned that the technical mastery of a trade and the strategic discipline required to scale a business around it are two fundamentally different competencies. You can be the most capable operator in your field and still not have a business. A business is […]
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Solar
Planted Raises $31.8 Million to Accelerate Autonomous Solar Deployment
A company that specializes in autonomous power deployment said it has raised $31.8 million to scale its operations. California-based Planted said the new capital expands its robotic fleet.
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T&D
A Phased Framework for Adaptive Protection Migration in DER-Heavy Transmission Substations
This article presents a practical four-phase engineering methodology for migrating legacy transmission substations toward adaptive protection architectures in power systems with high distributed energy resource (DER) penetration. Increasing DER integration introduces significant challenges to conventional protection schemes, including bidirectional power flow, dynamic fault current behavior, relay coordination complexity, and reduced protection reliability in aging substations. […]
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Data Centers
AI Data Centers Turn to Industrial Boilers and Steam Turbines for Power
Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers are being built at an unprecedented pace. There are more than 12,000 active projects in the U.S. currently seeking grid interconnection representing 1,570 GW of generator capacity and 1,030 GW of energy storage. Analyst firm Omdia predicts that AI will drive more than 50% of installed power generation capacity over […]
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O&M
Why Crankcase Ventilation Matters in Engine-Based Power
As reciprocating engines/gensets assume a larger role in distributed generation, data center infrastructure, and other critical duty applications, crankcase ventilation and the resulting emissions warrant increased attention and mitigation. When power generation professionals discuss engine emissions, the conversation typically focuses on the exhaust stack. While this emphasis is justified, it underestimates another emissions pathway: the […]
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solid state transformers
Major Leap for Solid-State Transformers: Megawatt-Class Unit Demonstrated on Live Feeder
North Carolina State University, the New York Power Authority (NYPA), and EPRI have demonstrated a megawatt-class solid-state transformer (SST) on a live 13.2-kV utility distribution feeder, marking what the partners describe as the first independent validation of a megawatt-class SST under real-world distribution conditions. The NC State-built prototype was connected at EPRI’s power delivery laboratory […]
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Press Releases
PG&E, Google, Rewiring America Launch VPP in California
California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) on September 3 announced SHARE (Smart Home Assets for Reliability and Efficiency), a first-of-its-kind virtual power plant designed to help communities benefit from rising electric demand, while improving affordability and reliability for all customers. PG&E, together with Rewiring America, Google, Carrier Global Corporation, Tesla, Sunrun, Renew Home, Demand […]
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Smart Grid
NextEra, Santee Cooper Point to Real Dollar Savings From AI Deployments
NextEra Energy says an artificial intelligence (AI)–driven dispatch and outage-scheduling tool has saved its customers more than $20 million so far this year. Santee Cooper expects a custom AI weather-forecasting model to help it avoid spot-market purchases that can cost $100,000 an hour during extreme weather. Both utilities say the tools moved from concept to […]
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Connected Plant
Energy Management Goes Beyond Monitoring to Decision-Making
Utilities and independent power producers have spent years adding sensors to their generating fleets and creating dashboards to view what they relay. But visibility into how a plant is operating isn’t the same as knowing what to do about it—and that gap is where Siemens Energy’s Omnivise Energy Management System is increasingly shedding light, explained […]
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Data Centers
One Nuclear Signs Deal for 2.88-GW Gas-Fired Plant, Large BESS for Louisiana Data Center Campus
Florida-headquartered ONE Nuclear Energy said the company has executed a binding letter of intent (LOI) that would provide site control for development of Project Cayman, a 2.88-GW gas-fired power plant and 700-MW/2.88 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) sited alongside a data center complex.
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Data Centers
TIDAL PWR, BTQ Develop Blueprint for Quantum-Ready Data Centers
Texas data center developer TIDAL PWR, which says it has seven projects totaling 9.87 GW in its artificial intelligence (AI) campus development pipeline and designs its campuses to combine utility service and behind-the-meter generation, is collaborating with quantum technology company BTQ Technologies to determine how power and data center infrastructure could eventually accommodate quantum computing […]
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Nuclear
Reactor Restart Rekindling Japan’s Nuclear Renaissance
Japan is rebuilding its nuclear power fleet after the Fukushima disaster, with upgrades targeted toward ensuring safe operations. Japan continues work to restart its nuclear power fleet, which supplied about a
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gas turbines
Ansaldo Returns to U.S. Gas Turbine Market as Equipment Crunch Widens Supplier Field
A widening gas turbine supply crunch has prompted Ansaldo Energia to explore a new path back into the U.S. generation market after more than 30 years. The Italian manufacturer will supply California-based
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Renewables
European Countries Boost Variety of Renewable Energy Projects
More solar power projects paired with energy storage are taking shape across Europe, with a variety of investors supporting assets in the UK and Italy, among other countries.
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Connected Plant
Condenser Chemistry Management: From Grab Samples to Predictive Digital Twins
When I walk into the main office of a power plant, it’s always on the main TV screen, along with heat rate, load, and other critical numbers. I’m talking about condenser backpressure. Every power plant manager watches this number (Figure 1), and they should. A PEPSE (Performance Evaluation of Power System Efficiencies) analysis of a […]
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Technology
Making Energy Intensity a Controlled Variable
Rising power costs and load increases have elevated energy monitoring and analysis on plant agendas, but consumption only becomes controllable once it is reliably measured per unit produced and modeled
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Data Centers
AI Data Centers Demand a New Model for Power Infrastructure
Unprecedented scale and load volatility are pushing developers beyond traditional generation strategies toward integrated, digitally orchestrated power systems built for speed, stability, and resilience. As
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Water
Manage Water Use in Power and Energy With Reliable Process Instrumentation
From green hydrogen and coal wastewater, to data center cooling and steam cycle chemistry, reliable measurement helps power producers moderate water use, protect critical equipment, and comply with
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Gas
Supercritical CO2 for Gas Turbines: Accelerating Speed to Power
Many simple-cycle gas turbines are running harder than they were ever intended to—yet steam retrofits have never penciled out for most of that fleet. Supercritical CO 2 bottoming cycles change the economics
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Hydrogen
Japan’s Hydrogen Strategy Is About More Than Hydrogen
Japan for nearly a decade has been one of the world’s most committed proponents of hydrogen. It was among the first countries to establish a national hydrogen strategy, and it continues to invest heavily in
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O&M
How IoT and Industrial AI-Enabled Grids Are Transforming Utility Operations
Electricity grids historically have been relatively predictable systems. Power flowed in one direction, from centralized generation facilities through transmission and distribution networks to homes and
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Engineering
How Full-Train Validation Is Raising the Reliability Benchmark for High-Power Steam Turbines
Triveni Turbine validated a complete 60-MW turbine-generator train—not just the turbine—inside its own factory, using a dynamometer to simulate real load conditions before the package ever reached its
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Press Releases
Portable Ultrasonic Flow Meters Offer Plant-Wide Visibility
Emerson has introduced the Flexim FLUXUS 631 series, a new line of portable, non-intrusive clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters designed to measure liquids, gases, and steam from a single platform. The company unveiled the technology in July, positioning it as the flagship of its portable flow measurement lineup. The 631 series (Figure 1) is built to […]
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Nuclear
The Janus Five: 20+ Commercial Nuclear Microreactors, Starting in 2028
Five advanced nuclear companies will build, own, and operate more than 20 commercial nuclear microreactors across five U.S. Army installations under the Janus Program, a milestone-based effort designed to place the first project into useful service by September 2028 and establish repeatable commercial products. In exclusive interviews, the selected companies told POWER they intend to use the […]
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Commentary
AI for Utilities: When Keeping the Lights on is Your Responsibility, Adoption Looks Different
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being adopted across industries at an unprecedented pace, and the electric utility sector is no exception. Faced with rising energy demand, aging infrastructure, and an increasingly complex grid, utilities are turning to AI to innovate and modernize operations. However, adoption of this technology—as with various digital innovation waves preceding it—fundamentally looks […]