Trends

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 […]

Since May 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued more than 40 emergency orders and extensions under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act—more than in any comparable period in the past two decades. The orders have fallen into two broad categories: retirement deferrals, which compel utilities and grid operators to keep specific generating […]

For much of the 21st century, the North American power sector drifted along on near-zero demand growth. Utilities retired aging coal plants, developers filled interconnection queues with wind and solar, and investors looked elsewhere for excitement. Then came the data center boom—and seemingly overnight, the industry found itself in a full-blown supply crisis. In a […]

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 […]

Major power outage events in 2025 reveal a broad spectrum of reliability risks, spanning voltage instability and protection failures to extreme weather and heat-related transmission stress. Compared with recent years, which were largely characterized by weather-driven disruptions and resource-adequacy events, 2025 incidents more clearly highlight vulnerabilities in interconnected system operations, including voltage management, reactive power […]

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.

With electricity demand projected to rise 25% by 2030 and 78% by 2050 from 2023 levels, utilities are facing a perfect storm—aging infrastructure, climate-driven disruptions, and escalating expectations for reliability and resilience. Meeting this moment will require more than incremental improvement; it demands entirely new sources of capacity, and a fundamental rethink of how the […]

When poor data & controls create too much room for plant outages and loss of productivity and profits.   Combined Cycle Power Plants (CCPPs) play a strategic role in enabling renewables and the hydrogen transition, but their reliability hinges on quality data — accurate, timely, consistent, complete, secure – to reflect true system conditions in […]

Demand for electricity from artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, industrial electrification and more is driving innovation in the power generation sector. Speed to power has become even more important, as companies seek ways to more quickly satisfy their hunger for power, without sacrificing efficiency and in some cases their clean energy goals.

A handful of geothermal projects are crossing from experimentation into execution, testing whether drilling gains, reservoir control, and new market demand can turn subsurface risk into firm, contractable power. Since 2021, geothermal power’s proposition has been quietly shifting, driven primarily by encouraging policy, but also a new class of decisive buyers. In response to reliability […]

For the first time in decades, a wave of nuclear projects across the U.S. is advancing in parallel—from test reactors to early construction. POWER examines how first movers are navigating execution risk, supply chain constraints, and the race to achieve criticality by 2026. For the first time since the 1970s, multiple nuclear projects are under […]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has teamed up with artificial intelligence (AI) computing giant NVIDIA to advance “PROMETHEUS,” INL’s first-of-its-kind demonstration of an autonomous nuclear reactor driven by AI, to execute a key challenge under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission. The move adds momentum to DOE’s push to apply AI across the full reactor […]

The challenge of upgrading how power is generated, along with needed improvements in electricity transmission and distribution, is being met in a variety of ways by an array of companies.

Lunar Energy, a leader in integrated home battery systems and virtual power plant software, announced it raised $102 million in an oversubscribed Series D round led by B Capital and Prelude Ventures. This round follows a previously unannounced Series C financing of $130 million led by Activate Capital.

As global electricity demand surges 40% by 2035 and warming projections worsen, nuclear, geothermal, gas, offshore wind, storage, and fusion must all advance—along with the workforce to build them. The global energy landscape is undergoing its most significant transformation since the Industrial Revolution. Electricity demand is surging at unprecedented rates while the imperative to decarbonize […]

Xcel Energy has moved to lock in supply and development capacity for what could become 6 GW of data center load through separate strategic agreements with GE Vernova and NextEra Energy, announced this week, that reserve five F-class gas turbines, multiple gigawatts of wind capacity, and joint development resources to support generation buildout into the […]

For decades, utilities have deployed distributed generation along distribution circuits primarily for single-circuit capacity support and voltage regulation. While these applications remain valuable, a broader opportunity is emerging: siting generators directly at substations to unlock system-level benefits that extend far beyond any single feeder. For rural electric cooperatives, municipal power systems, and even investor-owned utilities […]

When it comes to the latest technologies, utilities aren’t exactly early adopters—with good reason. Silicon Valley’s motto of “move fast and break things” can have disastrous consequences when applied to an industry tasked with keeping the lights on around the clock for millions of Americans.

Sense, a company focused on grid edge intelligence, has announced a new edge-powered Fault Detection Solution that is embedded directly into next-generation smart meters.

The AI boom is poised to fuel a rapid—and drastic—surge in electricity demand, placing unprecedented pressure on utilities to modernize their grids, integrate distributed energy resources, and reduce mounting supply chain and customer costs.

The North American electric grid faces intensifying reliability risks over the next decade as demand growth driven by data centers and artificial intelligence threatens to outpace resource additions, according to the 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA) released Jan. 29 by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The annual 10-year reliability assessment from North America’s Electric Reliability […]

By positioning satellites significantly closer to Earth, LEO networks deliver high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity that makes connection speed at an offshore platform or remote location, just as fast and secure as you will find at corporate headquarters.

For the U.S., keeping up with AI’s insatiable appetite is the biggest systemic risk of the next decade. America needs a massive expansion of power plants, transmission lines, and advanced hardware, while using AI itself to drive grid progress and optimize power distribution.

After more than two decades of relative stasis, electricity demand in the U.S. is expected to increase by 25% by 2030 and by more than 75% by 2050, compared to 2023—a transformation largely driven by the surge in new data centers needed to power the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

Microsoft has committed to “paying its way” to ensure its data centers will not ramp up residential utility rates, becoming the first major hyperscaler to publicly commit to a comprehensive framework that ties artificial intelligence (AI) data center growth to cost-recovery rate design. The hyperscaler also pledged to advance utility coordination, directly fund grid infrastructure, […]

Integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar, wind, batteries, and electric vehicles into the power grid is an important part of the energy transition. Utilities and transmission system operators know they need more flexibility when it comes to power generation and delivery, which involves modernizing infrastructure, using advanced controls, and developing new market rules to manage two-way power flow.

This year will be a pivotal period for the global energy transition. The International Energy Agency’s recent revision to its net-zero roadmap reveals a changing narrative: we are no longer waiting on breakthrough technologies. Sixty-five percent of the emissions reductions we need are achievable with tools sitting on the shelf today. So, the debate is no […]

PJM Interconnection has trimmed its near-term peak-demand projections in its updated 20-year load forecast, citing tighter vetting of large-load adjustment requests and revised electric-vehicle (EV) and economic assumptions. The grid operator, however, reaffirmed expectations for significant long-term growth driven by data centers and broader electrification. In its 2026 Long-Term Load Forecast, issued on Jan. 14, PJM […]

The electricity sector faces a timing problem that’s becoming impossible to ignore. Data centers, artificial intelligence (AI) deployment, industrial reshoring, and broader electrification are driving load growth at rates not seen in decades—and much of that new demand wants carbon-free, firm power. Nuclear checks those boxes. But can the industry deliver capacity fast enough? POWER […]