Technology

A once-predictable industry is moving at hyperscale speed. Here are five trends defining the biggest gas power buildout in a generation. Natural gas power is in the middle of its biggest buildout in a

Electric utilities and energy consumers have discovered the benefits of electrification as a way to decarbonize operations and take advantage of more intelligent power systems. The push for decarbonization

The global surge in energy demand is spurring investment in several sectors, and is bringing renewed interest in areas such as geothermal. The world’s literal hot spots—places such as Iceland, Indonesia, Kenya, and part of the U.S.—are seeing new projects, often as part of testing of advanced technologies such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS).

Ameren Illinois and Ameren Missouri found a “creative” way to strengthen their utility service territory by strategically installing fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite utility poles by Creative

Record battery deployments across Europe are masking a growing crisis: assets that are grid-connected but financially idle, stranded by saturated markets and outdated optimization strategies.

The electric sector is standing at a pivotal moment. Utilities are no longer observers in the renewable transformation but instead are becoming direct owners and operators of technologies that were once primarily developed, financed, and managed by third-party developers. Among these technologies, battery energy storage systems (BESS) are moving to the center of long-term generation […]

Power demand in the U.S. is rising faster than the grid was designed to accommodate, driven in large part by rapid growth in data centers. Large, concentrated data center loads are clustering in regions where

Capable new lasers with quantum cascade and tunable diode technologies lay the foundation for accurate, low-maintenance, and fast-response continuous emissions monitoring systems to monitor multiple gas

In 2011, I published an article in the Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law examining space-based solar power (SBSP) and the issue of property rights in space, and more specifically, in geostationary orbit (GEO), under the current regime of international treaties and policies.  Today, as the demand for computing power grows, that question […]

Officials in the UK have published a planning document that calls for housing developers to install solar panels and heat pumps in all new homes in England starting in 2028. The government on March 24 also said plug-in solar panels that homeowners can self-install on balconies would be widely available in the coming months.

Electrification has become key for the global move toward cleaner energy, even as government policies continue to impact the use of renewable resources and in some cases embrace continued and even increased support for fossil fuels. Governments and industries wanting to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases look to electrification not only as an environmental […]

The conflict in Iran has rekindled a debate that was already building quietly for 24 months in technology circles: energy. Not as a footnote to the artificial intelligence (AI) story, but as a structural constraint at its center. There is an important structural fact about current AI pricing that rarely surfaces in business conversations: the […]

Tech giant Google has announced what the company calls “A new milestone for smart, affordable electricity growth.” Here’s the text of a blog post from Michael Terrell, Head of Advanced Energy for the company.

Geothermal energy group Fervo Energy, known as a pioneer of next-generation geothermal deployment, said it has successfully closed $421 million in non-recourse debt financing for the first phase of its flagship Cape Station development in Utah.

GE Vernova and Japanese integrated heavy industry group IHI Corp. have demonstrated for the first time that full-scale combustor components for GE Vernova’s F-class gas turbines can operate on 100% ammonia at full-load conditions, clearing a critical technical barrier in their joint effort to decarbonize dispatchable power. The test was conducted at IHI’s Large-Scale Combustion […]

Energy giants GE Vernova and Hitachi said the companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) as part of a plan to deploy the groups’ water-cooled BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in Southeast Asia.

Utilidata, a group specializing in embedded artificial intelligence (AI) for power infrastructure, and NexGen Cloud, a European AI cloud provider, have announced the deployment of the Karman AI power control platform across NexGen Cloud’s data centers. The companies on March 12 said the collaboration is designed to increase available AI compute capacity within existing grid […]

The energy industry, specifically the nuclear sector, is staring down a challenging 2026 with a combination of mounting pressure: tech giants shaking hands on purchasing agreements before facilities are fully built, innovative solutions reinventing the methods of long-established leaders, and mounting demands to deliver efficiency faster. Does that sound familiar? COMMENTARY If you’ve had an […]

Energy group Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) said it will proceed on a $2.4-billion design-build agreement with an independent power producer (IPP) to support data center campuses. B&W on March 4 said the deal with Base Electron, an IPP, will supply power for what the groups called artificial intelligence (AI) factory campuses for Dallas, Texas-headquartered Applied Digital.

Clean energy provider Avantus said it has closed a financing package of more than $300 million with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) and the New York branch of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for the Kitt Solar and Energy Storage Project in Pinal County, Arizona.

America’s power grid is aging into obsolescence. Much of the infrastructure that keeps the lights on today was constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, long before the digital and electrified demands of the 21st century took shape. The consequences are increasingly visible: mounting reliability issues, rising costs, and a growing need to modernize a system never designed for the challenges of climate volatility or the surge in load from data centers and electric vehicles.

Caterpillar Inc, OnePWR Solutions and Vero3 announced a strategic collaboration focused on developing large-scale lower-carbon power generation and permanent carbon storage projects to support mission-critical facilities, including data center infrastructure. The parties on March 2 said they intend to collaborate on the design of a fully integrated solution combining natural gas–based prime power generation, carbon […]

Microgrids are bringing greater energy independence to rural and remote communities. ABB’s microgrids experts outline how today’s smart localized power generation and distribution systems lessen far-flung homes and businesses’ reliance on costly fossil fuels and fragile national grid infrastructures. Protecting Remote Communities from Energy Insecurity It’s easy for town and city dwellers to take the […]

While the bulk of focus on advanced nuclear technology has honed in tightly on the U.S., from enrichment and conversion to advanced fuels, reprocessing strategies, and fast-spectrum systems, several other

Power outages have become increasingly common, and longer in duration, due to extreme weather and temperature events. Behind-the-meter (BTM) batteries are proving their worth, as they have become more than niche devices quietly supporting backup power during storms. These batteries now offer vital support in an increasingly volatile energy ecosystem.

Customized power solutions that provide reliability, resiliency, and energy autonomy no longer are a “nice to have,” but rather a “must have” for many businesses, not just for critical sites such as hospitals and military bases but also for other enterprises.

While artificial intelligence (AI) adoption has spread rapidly, meaningful productivity gains remain elusive because organizations have conflated easy-to-deploy horizontal AI tools with the domain-specific

Artificial intelligence (AI) has pushed the idea of a “one-button start-up” from sci-fi closer to engineering reality. But where is industrial AI for energy operations today, and how far away is that fully

Bring-Your-Own-Generation (BYOG) is emerging as a practical solution for power-hungry facilities that can’t wait on grid upgrades. Success hinges on a unified control architecture that coordinates diverse

  See how AI is transforming combined cycle power plants! In this episode of AI in Action, discover how the Ovation™ Virtual Advisor and Ovation AI Agents help operators quickly analyze alarms and speed up startup processes. It’s a real-world look at how artificial intelligence boosts performance and decision-making across operations, improving situational awareness, reducing […]