Power
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Engineering
Selecting the Right Three-Phase Transformer Configuration: A Decision Guide for Power Distribution Systems
In power distribution systems, three-phase transformer configuration directly impacts system reliability and load management. Understanding the trade-offs between Delta and Wye connections enables engineers to
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News and Notes
POWER Digest [January 2026]
Vattenfall, Industrikraft Advance SMR Program at Ringhals in High-Stakes Deal. Swedish state utility Vattenfall and industrial consortium Industrikraft i Sverige AB signed an agreement, announced on Nov. 10
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Trends
Meeting the Moment: Industry Leaders Chart the Course for Power in 2026
From artificial intelligence-driven efficiency to transmission bottlenecks, power industry insiders share their perspectives on the opportunities and obstacles shaping 2026 and beyond. The power generation
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Electrification
Reshaping the Power Grid: Driving Resilience Through DERs
Distributed energy resources (DERs) have become a major part of the power generation landscape, particularly in support of a more reliable and resilient grid. Generating electricity from a variety of sources, including fossil fuels and renewables, using smaller-scale installations is now a key element of demand response and energy efficiency.
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O&M
Bridging the Gap: How the Power Industry Is Tackling Its Workforce Crisis
The power industry’s ambitious expansion plans for 2026 face an unexpected obstacle that has nothing to do with technology, regulations, or capital: there simply aren’t enough skilled workers to build and
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Gas
Germany Cuts New Gas-Fired Generation as Country Works on Energy Strategy
Officials in Germany are scaling back their plans to develop more natural gas–fired power plants, as the government wants to continue its path toward decarbonization while also recognizing the need to back
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O&M
Marnie Surfaceblow: Marnie and Maya—She Spies
Critical plant control systems can be vulnerable to both physical and remote attacks. Marnie and Maya demonstrate some of these vulnerabilities as they become white-hat hackers at a biomass power plant. The
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Interview
How Remote Operations Centers Are Reshaping Power Plant Operations
Centralized remote monitoring is reshaping power plant operations, enabling specialized teams to oversee multiple facilities from a single location. This discussion examines the technology, benefits, and
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O&M
New Products [January 2026]
Chicken Switch Hitter CBS ArcSafe, a leading manufacturer of remote racking and switching solutions for low- and medium-voltage switchgear, introduced the RSK-CSH-W Chicken Switch Hitter (Figure 1), a wireless
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Commentary
Grid Reliability Hinges on Workforce Stability
The grid faces unprecedented pressures as data center-driven demand skyrockets, with expected growth hitting 50% over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, utilities contend with record-high turnover rates and an aging workforce, half of which is expected to retire over the next decade. Without workforce stability, there can be no grid reliability. The sector is racing to modernize its infrastructure, but no amount of intelligent technology can replace human input.
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O&M
Filter Debris Analysis: High-Resolution Diagnostics for Power Generation Reliability
In reliability engineering, few indicators are as consistently revealing as the particles that infiltrate a lubrication system. Long before vibration, temperature, or performance changes become measurable
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Legal & Regulatory
Despite Federal Support, Economic Forces Are Driving the Future of Coal
The Trump administration during both its terms has prioritized its efforts on reviving the coal industry by introducing a series of policy changes and executive actions intended to boost coal leasing and production on federal lands. Yet, despite these political moves, coal’s trajectory in the U.S. energy market has followed a different path.
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Water
Four Reasons to Consider Water Chemistry Early in the Design Process
Power plants are engineered with precision down to the smallest detail, yet one critical variable is often considered too late in the process: water chemistry. When it’s considered early in design rather
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Distributed Energy
Grid Edge DERMS: The Ultimate Enabler of the Decentralized Grid
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.
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Renewables
Reimagining the Grid: How Microgrids Can Strengthen Utility Resilience
Microgrids have long been viewed as bespoke energy systems mostly deployed by universities, hospitals, and corporations looking to ensure power reliability and reduce costs. Widespread outages caused by major named storms, such as Sandy in 2012 and Maria in 2017, demonstrated the essential role microgrids can play in maintaining service continuity, with some communities sustaining power through local generation even as millions lost power.
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Gas
Maryland Regulators Support Fast-Tracking New Gas-Fired Plants
Utilities regulators in Maryland are prepared to expedite reviews of two natural gas-fired power plants proposed by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy. The state’s Public Service Commission on December 30 issued a 14-page order in which the group approved Constellation’s request to fast-track the facilities in the regulatory process.
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Coal
One Day Prior to Planned Closure, DOE Orders Colorado Coal-Fired Unit to Keep Running
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued another emergency order to keep a coal-fired power plant operating, this time saying a Colorado facility must remain online at least another three months.
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Commentary
Power Generation in the Age of AI: Year-End 2025 Outlook
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 […]
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Data Centers
Data Centers, the Grid, and the Assumptions That Don’t Hold Up
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 […]
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Data Centers
Amazon Data Centers Aren’t Raising Your Electric Bills—They May Be Lowering Them
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 […]
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Gas
Lebanon, Egypt Sign Deal to Supply Natural Gas for Lebanese Power Plant
Officials from both Egypt and Lebanon have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deliver Egyptian natural gas to the Deir Ammar power plant in Lebanon.
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Research and Development
DOE’s ‘Genesis Mission’ Enlists AI to Double U.S. Research Productivity in a Decade
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 […]
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Press Releases
NKT Completes Investment of New Test Hall and Capacity Expansion at Swedish Cable Accessories Site
To support the high demand for high-voltage power cable accessories in Europe, NKT has invested in the construction of a new test hall, the expansion of production capacity, and a new office building at its cable accessories factory in Alingsas, Sweden. The new facilities are now fully operational, enhancing both the factory’s capacity and its […]
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Press Releases
GE Vernova to Modernize a Key High-Voltage Power Transmission Link in India
Contract from POWERGRID for Chandrapur 2 x 500-MW back-to-back high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) link Scope includes advanced HVDC controls and valves, delivered from GE Vernova’s facilities in India First HVDC refurbishment project awarded to GE Vernova in India GE Vernova Inc. announced that its Electrification Systems business has been awarded a contract by Power Grid Corp. […]
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Hydro
The Next Wave in Hydropower Condition Monitoring
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 […]
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Gas
Entergy Arkansas Adding New Gas-Fired Power, Extending Nuclear as Part of Investment Plan
Entergy Arkansas, the utility that provides electricity to about 735,000 customers in 63 counties in that state, announced a plan to add about 2.6 GW of new power generation capacity, in part by converting old coal-fired units to burn natural gas. It also is renewing the operating license for the 1.8-GW Arkansas Nuclear One power plant, the state’s only nuclear power station, with plans to invest in new equipment that would increase the facility’s output.
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Data Centers
Alphabet Buying Clean Energy Developer to Support Data Centers
Alphabet, the parent of technology giant Google, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Intersect, which provides data center and energy infrastructure solutions, for $4.75 billion in cash, plus the assumption of debt. Google already owns a minority stake in Intersect from a previously announced funding round.
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Nuclear
Bulgarian Group Has Deal to Build Up to Six BWRX-300 SMRs
A Bulgarian energy company, along with a European project developer, has signed a letter of intent for a joint venture (JV) that could build a fleet of as many as six small modular reactors (SMRs) in the country. Blue Bird Energy AD and SGE S.A. on December 22 announced the JV would deploy BWRX-300 SMRs from GE Vernova Hitachi (GVH).
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Commentary
Trump Media—TAE Merger: Fusion’s Public Market Leap
The fusion industry just achieved a major milestone—and this time, it’s not about science.
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Legal & Regulatory
Federal Court Strikes Down Trump’s Wind Energy Moratorium
On Dec. 8, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris of the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment against the Trump administration declaring that the Jan. 20, 2025, executive memorandum directing federal agencies to halt wind energy development (and all related agency actions to implement the memorandum) were unlawful. Wind Energy in the U.S. […]