POWERnews

The global energy landscape is experiencing increased uncertainty. Recent geopolitical tensions have created volatility in oil and gas markets, highlighted vulnerabilities in global supply chains, and renewed attention on energy security. While these events often dominate headlines, the effects extend far beyond energy producers and governments. For businesses that depend upon reliable power to keep […]

The transition to sustainable energy infrastructure has been experiencing steady progress in recent years across the globe, while simultaneously undergoing constant fluctuation. Actual progress is influenced by a wide variety of factors, such as the drivers behind participants’ motivations and the technologies enabling the transition, as well as the status of supply chains and geopolitical […]

For most of the last two decades, the anxiety in power planning was about demand: would consumption grow fast enough to justify new capacity, and how would an aging fleet keep pace? That question has inverted. Demand is no longer the uncertain variable—it is the one thing forecasters are confident about. The uncertainty now sits […]

For power generation operators navigating the complex landscape of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) compliance, two critical questions frequently arise: when does a generation control facility become a Low Impact BES (Bulk Electric System) Control Center, and when does it escalate to Medium Impact status? Understanding these thresholds is essential for proper planning and […]

Critical infrastructure operators should view recent incidents where artificial intelligence (AI) agents escaped containment from test environments and executed successful cyberattacks on a relatively sophisticated production infrastructure as near-misses. This challenge is urgent precisely because AI moves fast and infrastructure moves slow. All indications suggest these were not malicious uses of AI for targeted attacks. […]

As utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) scale from megawatts to gigawatts, the engineering complexity grows exponentially. Higher-voltage architectures and denser rack configurations are pushing the limits of conventional component design and exposing gaps that can compromise system performance and site safety. For the electrical engineers and systems integrators building these projects, the cells, fire […]

Government officials in China have given the green light for construction of eight new nuclear reactors, as the country looks to add more electricity to meet growing demand for power.

Advanced nuclear firm Aalo Atomics has formed a strategic partnership with energy-first AI infrastructure company Crusoe to develop a nuclear-powered “AI Factory” data center in a project that will combine Aalo’s advanced reactor development program at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with Crusoe’s modular AI data center platform. The companies said on July 30 that under […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the License Termination Plan (LTP) for the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey, a regulatory milestone that clears the final phase of decommissioning and sets the stage for Holtec International to pursue construction of four SMR-300 small modular reactor units at the Lacey Township, New Jersey, […]

A varied group of investors has provided Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) with another $1 billion in equity financing, with the company on July 30 saying the funding supports the group’s continuing work toward operating a commercial fusion energy power plant.

What is the best mix of power generation to build and use in the years ahead? For U.S. integrated electric utilities balancing reliability, affordability, and state and federal policy, resource plans are the answer. But like with any model, these plans are only as robust as the information that is fed into them. Investors are […]

A coalition led by Brookfield and NextEra Energy has unveiled plans to build a $100 billion, privately funded artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Paducah Site in Western Kentucky, paired with up to 4.6 GW of dedicated new power generation that will be built and paid for solely to serve […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho as initial contenders to host Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses—voluntary federal–state partnerships designed to co-locate fuel fabrication, enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, and waste disposition within integrated, full‑cycle nuclear ecosystems. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed non-binding memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the […]

Last week, Microsoft announced a $60 million, multiyear commitment to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission, the national initiative to embed artificial intelligence (AI) across the country’s 17 national laboratories. The company’s stated goal, echoing DOE’s own framing, is to help “double the productivity and impact of American research and innovation within a decade.” […]

Battery storage developer Viridi has announced a strategic partnership with the Dept. of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee to support research into next-generation utility grid technologies that advance grid resilience and reliability.

Energy Vault, a global energy infrastructure company that supports power grid reliability and next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing infrastructure, on July 27 announced that construction has commenced at its powered AI infrastructure campus in Snyder, Texas, for Crusoe Cloud.

Global investment firm Strategic Value Partners (SVP) said its SVP Funds group is acquiring a minority equity interest in the 1,182-MW South Field Energy natural gas-fired power plant in Columbiana County, Ohio.

The pace of change in energy markets has never been faster. Price signals that once evolved over days now shift within settlement windows. Geopolitical shocks that once took weeks to propagate through commodity markets now ripple across interconnected European power grids and global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply chains in hours. And amid this acceleration, […]

Congress and the White House advanced parallel tracks this week to keep large data centers from shifting their grid costs onto electricity customers, reflecting a concern that has gathered momentum among state regulators, consumer advocates, and members of both parties. On July 21, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 52-0 to advance the Ratepayer Protection […]

A federal appeals court has upheld the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) use of a generic environmental analysis for nuclear plant license renewals, rejecting claims that the agency failed to adequately consider how aging components and climate change could affect the risk of severe reactor accidents. The July 21 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

A major operator of power plants in the U.S. has a new name. IHI Power Services Corp. (IPSC) will now be known as Kyuden Energy Partners Corp. after the company finalized its acquisition by Japan-headquartered Kyuden International.

A California-based solar power equipment group said it has signed two separate five-year, 5-GW commercialization partnerships with a pair of India’s leading solar module manufacturers.

Why Generative Engine Optimization Is the Next Reputation Management Secret Weapon for Energy Brands Energy has become a kitchen-table issue. Bills are climbing. Data centers are being built at a breakneck pace, and new technologies are being launched faster than ever before, often facing NIMBY concerns. As customers and stakeholders look for answers, they may […]

The explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) computing is, for most utilities, a problem to be absorbed: gigawatts of new data-center demand arriving faster than transmission can be planned or built. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission does not dispute that framing. But buried in the national research portfolio it unveiled July 22 is […]

Renewable energy developer Avantus said its Aratina 1 solar-plus-storage project has entered commercial operation in California. The 200-MW/500-MWh installation in Kern County has long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), a pair of community choice aggregators.

Artificial intelligence and high-performance computing have helped electrical utilities modernize how they model, forecast, and manage grid operations. These tools already play a central role in maintaining reliability, balancing supply and demand, and planning new infrastructure. But as electrical grids become more distributed, data-intensive, and renewable-heavy, some of the most complex decision-making problems are becoming […]

Power industry severe service applications can be difficult, but new advanced trim designs and external noise reduction devices have created higher-performing and more cost-effective alternatives. Power industry applications practically define the phrase “severe service.” Elevated temperatures and pressures, cavitation, erosive solids, and high noise all conspire to push control valve technology to its very limits. […]

President Trump’s four nuclear executive orders issued on May 23, 2025, represented a historic liftoff for American nuclear energy. COMMENTARY As electricity demand surges, geopolitical energy competition intensifies, and America’s power infrastructure faces mounting strain, the administration acted decisively. It recognized that American energy dominance—and leadership in the digital age—requires a resurgence of nuclear reactor […]

For years, utility wildfire liability was largely framed around a straightforward question: who caused the fire? That question still matters, but it is no longer the only one that matters.

A micro-modular nuclear reactor developer with global headquarters in Italy and a U.S. corporate office in Pennsylvania said it has been selected to deploy its equipment for data center infrastructure in Latin America and Brazil.