POWERnews
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O&M
The Critical Role of Coatings in SMR Design
Electricity demand for data centers worldwide is projected to double by 2030. As a result, developers are looking at small modular reactors (SMRs) to add low‑carbon power generation capacity.
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Data Centers
Protecting the Grid in the Age of Data Center Growth
The rapid growth of data centers in recent years is increasingly causing angst among power operators. Power industry leaders want assurances that the electric grid is reliable, protected, and sustainable for businesses and the public alike.
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Gas
How Energas Turned an Environmental Concern into Cuba’s Cheapest Power
Energas is a company that stands as a successful example of foreign investment for over 20 years. Its partners include the Cuban state-owned companies Unión Eléctrica (UNE) and CubaPetróleo (CUPET), and its foreign partner is Sherritt International. With an installed capacity of 480 MW across three plants—Energas Boca de Jaruco (Figure 1), Energas Puerto Escondido, […]
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Renewables
Arevon Starts Construction of $600 Million Cormorant Energy Storage Project
An Arizona-headquartered developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy projects said construction of another major energy storage project is underway in California.
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Commentary
The Missing Intelligence Layer of the Smart Grid
Over the past two decades, utilities have invested billions of dollars building a smarter grid—deploying sensors, automated substations, and advanced analytics platforms capable of monitoring system performance in real time.
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Nuclear
FluxPoint Energy Enters Race to Build First New U.S. Uranium Conversion Plant in Nearly 70 Years
A new Texas-based startup has launched an effort to build what would be the first U.S. uranium conversion facility in more than seven decades to restore a domestic capability it says has become “an unacceptable chokepoint” in America’s nuclear fuel supply chain. FluxPoint Energy made its public debut this week at CERAWeek by S&P Global, […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Solar Power Satellites and Orbital Data Centers—International Space Law Implications
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 […]
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Finance
BlackRock’s Infrastructure Arm Leads $250 Million Bet on Commercial Building Efficiency as a Grid Asset
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of investment giant BlackRock following its acquisition in 2024, has led a $250 million upsizing of Budderfly’s debt facility, bringing the total facility to $550 million and boosting the Shelton, Connecticut-based Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) company’s cumulative capital base well past $1 billion. The transaction, announced on March 25, also includes […]
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Business
Investing in Energy’s ‘Anti-Fragile’ Future
With federal tax credits under threat and regulatory stability in short supply, Bala Nagarajan, managing director of the energy investments team at S2G Investments, explained what he looks for in a company. “Is the product or the solution sold by this business cheaper, faster, better than the incumbent solution?” he asked. If so, it’s worth […]
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Electrification
UK Government Will Require Solar Power, Heat Pumps in All New British Homes
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.
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Renewables
Google Has PPAs for Solar Power from Renewable Energy Group
A Maryland-headquartered utility-scale developer, owner, and operator of solar power and energy storage projects said it has power purchase agreements (PPAs) with technology giant Google for the electricity from two Texas solar installations.
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T&D
Anatomy of a Blackout: Findings from the Spain-Portugal Grid Collapse Final Report
An analysis of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) Expert Panel’s final report on the April 28, 2025, Iberian Peninsula power grid incident. On a mild, sunny Monday in late April 2025, the power grids of Spain and Portugal collapsed in less than 90 seconds. At 12:33 p.m. Central European Summer […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Electrification Key for Decarbonization, Energy Efficiency
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 […]
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Press Releases
CPUC Backs Renewable Natural Gas Contract from Anaergia Facility
Anaergia Inc. said the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has conditionally approved a long-term biomethane procurement contract supported by Anaergia’s SoCal Biomethane LLC facility, Anew Climate LLC, and Southwest Gas. The project will be the first to supply renewable natural gas (RNG) under California’s Senate Bill (SB) 1440 Biomethane Procurement Program.
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Fusion
OpenAI in Talks with Helion to Secure Fusion Energy
Artificial intelligence (AI) group OpenAI is reportedly discussing buying electricity from Helion Energy, the fusion startup company based in Everett, Washington. Sources told POWER that a deal would enable OpenAI to be guaranteed part of Helion’s power generation, with as much as 5 GW available by 2030 and up to 50 GW by 2035.
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Nuclear
Nuclear Sprint: DOE and Industry Race to Meet Trump’s Target
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources convened March 19 for a full committee hearing to examine the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) implementation of President Trump’s May 2025 nuclear energy executive orders. Three witnesses—DOE Assistant Secretary Theodore Garrish, Kairos Power CEO Dr. Michael Laufer, and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Director Dr. John C. Wagner—testified, […]
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Energy Storage
Cuba Begins Testing First Battery Energy Storage System to Boost Grid Stability
As part of the country’s strategic program to strengthen the stability of the national grid, Cuba has begun load testing of the first unit of a battery energy storage system (BESS) at the El Cotorro substation in Havana. This is the first of four systems with a total capacity of 200 MW. According to the […]
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POWERnews—March 19, 2026
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store March 19, 2026 Constellation to Sell 4.4 GW of PJM Gas Power Assets to LS Power for $5B in Regulatory Divestiture Competitive generation giant Constellation Energy has agreed to sell approximately 4.4 GW of natural gas–fired generation capacity in PJM Interconnection to […]
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Data Centers
Google Signs Deal for Demand Response Capacity for Data Centers
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.
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Coal
South Korean Groups Backing New 1.25-GW Coal-Fired Power Plant in Alaska
A fact sheet published by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior notes a $1-billion agreement between Hyundai Heavy Industries Power Systems and developers of the proposed 1.25-GW Terra Energy Center, a new 1.25-GW coal-fired power plant in Alaska. Officials on March 16 said the Terra Energy Center would be the first new coal-fired station built in the U.S. in more than a decade.
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Geothermal
Fervo Energy Secures More Funding for Cape Station Geothermal Project
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.
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Power
Constellation to Sell 4.4 GW of PJM Gas Power Assets to LS Power for $5B in Regulatory Divestiture
Competitive generation giant Constellation Energy has agreed to sell approximately 4.4 GW of natural gas–fired generation capacity in PJM Interconnection to LS Power Equity Advisors for $5 billion, marking the largest single tranche of divestitures required to resolve antitrust and market-power concerns arising from Constellation’s $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine Corporation. The deal, announced on […]
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Solar
Avantus, Toyota Group Complete Construction of Texas Solar Power Project
U.S.-based clean energy group Avantus, along with Toyota Tsusho America (TAI), announced completion of the 159-MW Norton Solar Project in Runnels County, Texas. The companies on March 18 said TAI has entered into a long-term virtual power purchase agreement with Toyota Motor North America for the full output of the solar facility.
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Workforce
How a University and Industry Partner Are Building Tomorrow’s Power Workforce
The power industry is staring down a workforce crisis. An aging labor force is heading for the exits, new recruits aren’t arriving fast enough to replace them, and a historic wave of energy infrastructure investment is only widening the gap. Against that backdrop, a partnership between Stony Brook University and Haugland Group—an infrastructure services company […]
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Gas
GE Vernova, IHI Achieve 100% Ammonia Combustion in F-Class Gas Turbine Test
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 […]
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Trends
The Frog Is Dead: North America’s Power Grid Faces Its Biggest Reckoning in a Generation
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 […]
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Nuclear
GE Vernova, Hitachi Exploring SMR Deployment in Southeast Asia
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.
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Commentary
Speed-to-Power: Energy Strategy in the Age of AI
As we move further into 2026, the global energy landscape is increasingly defined by divergence. Oil and natural gas fundamentals are separating, geopolitical volatility remains elevated, and across the industrial economy, execution speed is becoming the defining competitive variable.
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Commentary
Resource Plans Drive Clean Energy Value Creation for Investors
Electric utilities have a significant opportunity to create long‑term value by building new clean energy infrastructure—an approach Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway utilities have followed quietly but effectively for decades. Xcel Energy calls its version of this strategy “Steel for Fuel.”
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Press Releases
Eagle Point Provides Loan to Texas Solar and Storage Developer
Eagle Point Credit Management LLC, a private credit investment manager, said it has provided a $28.5-million senior secured term loan to Heritage Energy Storage DevCo I LLC, owned by Heritage Energy Holdings, LLC, a Texas-based solar and storage developer.