AI
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Engineering
Solving Problems, Not Chasing Technology
In recent years, the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape has shifted from quiet curiosity to relentless noise. Conference taglines, vendor solicitations, and slide decks all seem to begin with the same question: What can AI do for you? And too often the answer comes in the form of a catalog of hundreds of “use cases,” neatly […]
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Power
Idled California Biomass Power Plant to Be Rebuilt as Carbon-Negative AI Factory
A startup specializing in carbon-negative artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure powered by renewable energy systems has acquired the idled Buena Vista Biomass Power facility in Ione, California, and plans to convert the legacy wood-burning plant into a 41-MW “carbon-negative AI factory.” The redevelopment announced on Jan. 14, which New York-based NewYork GreenCloud (NYGC) is executing with […]
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Data Centers
Data Center Developer, Major Investment Group Plan Gigawatts of New Capacity
A data center development company led by former executives with Amazon Web Services (AWS) has joined with a leading investment group to launch a platform for hyperscale data centers in North America.
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Commentary
How AI’s Energy Challenge Is Becoming Its Innovation Engine
As artificial intelligence (AI) models and workloads continue to scale in size and sophistication, their hunger for processing power—and the energy that fuels it—is accelerating faster than any previous wave of digital innovation.
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Investing in Energy Solutions for the Data Center Boom
The race to lead when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more about securing the power necessary for data centers and other AI infrastructure. In this POWER Interview, Andrejka Bernatova, founder, chairman, and CEO of Dynamix Capital Partners, discusses Dynamix’s belief that the energy and infrastructure industry is in the early phases of a decades-long transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future.
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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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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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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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Commentary
The Long Arc of Efficiency: What Refrigerators Teach Us About the Future of AI Data Centers
As AI demand accelerates, the race is on to bend the power curve before it bends the grid. The first electric refrigerators were mechanical curiosities—loud, bulky appliances that consumed staggering amounts of electricity. But they spread anyway, because the productivity gains were too great to ignore. Daily habits shifted. Food systems reshaped. Household labor changed […]
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Commentary
Powering the AI Revolution: Why the Energy Race Is the AI Race
The power of U.S. innovation and market incentives cannot be underestimated. The convergence of a business-driven energy transition and the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) have exposed a critical bottleneck within our energy grid.
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Commentary
The Five Layers of AI Safeguarding the Utility Industry
By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, smart cybersecurity systems are helping to bolster the utility industry’s defenses. AI-powered cybersecurity is powerful because it enhances overall resilience to sophisticated cyber threats by providing real-time threat detection and response capabilities. And at a time when these threats are becoming more prolific and sophisticated, defenders need every advantage they can get.
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Data Centers
Emerson Addresses Power Industry’s AI-Driven Demand Surge
The power industry is experiencing unprecedented demand growth, driven largely by data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. This surge is creating both opportunities and challenges for utilities, equipment manufacturers, and the broader power generation ecosystem. As a guest on The POWER Podcast, Seth Harris, growth director for Emerson’s Power business in North America, discussed […]
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Coal
How AI Is Breathing New Life into Aging Coal-Fired Power Assets
For years, some folks have considered coal-fired power plants relics of a bygone era, overshadowed by the rise of natural gas and renewables. Yet, in an unexpected twist, coal is finding its way back into the
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Nuclear
Power Play: Takeaways from Westinghouse, Google AI Partnership
Westinghouse has partnered with Google Cloud to develop a custom AI-powered platform using specialized models from both Google and Westinghouse—itself a leader in AI for energy production—that helps optimize and accelerate reactor construction.
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Gas
Blackstone Investing $1.2 Billion for 600-MW Gas-Fired Plant in West Virginia
Global investment group and asset manager Blackstone said it will support construction of a 600-MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in West Virginia. The Wolf Summit Energy facility, which will feature GE Vernova equipment, is affiliated with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which serves about 1.5 million customers across three states.
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Power
How Artificial Intelligence Can Unlock the Next Level of Energy Flexibility
Flexibility has become a defining characteristic of the future of our energy system. As distributed energy resources surge, electric vehicles (EVs) proliferate, and demand patterns shift, the ability to manage demand in real time is as critical as our capacity to generate. But achieving this level of adaptability requires more than just upgraded infrastructure; it […]
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Commentary
Frugal AI’s Energy Reckoning: Why Efficiency Isn’t Enough
The story of artificial intelligence (AI) is often told in the language of speed and efficiency. Every quarter brings claims of models that run faster and cost less. Yet behind the glossy benchmarks lies a more sobering truth: the appetite for AI is growing so quickly that even the most impressive efficiency gains cannot keep […]
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Data Centers
Power Quality in the AI Era: Solving for Subharmonics
Data center operators are keenly aware that securing access to the grid is job number one on their to-do list. But the extraordinary demand placed on the grid by artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) has another concern rapidly ascending the list: power quality. While data centers running traditional workloads have largely solved for […]
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Commentary
Energy Sector Teaching AI How to Grow Up
When artificial intelligence (AI) manages a power grid, it cannot operate as a black box. A wrong decision will not just frustrate users, it will trigger a blackout. This critical nature of AI deployments in energy is forcing AI to mature faster in energy than in any other sector. When algorithmic decisions affect high-stakes systems […]
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T&D
AI’s Growing Appetite: What the Grid Needs to Keep Up
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just transforming industries; it is also transforming the energy grid. Behind every AI breakthrough lies a massive surge in computing power, and with it, an unprecedented demand for reliable and affordable electricity. As the U.S. positions itself for continued technological leadership, meeting the energy needs of AI data […]
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Commentary
Bridging the AI Gap for Energy Utilities
The energy industry is in a bit of a technological whirlwind. Climate-related disruption and shifting adaptation requirements inject alarming levels of uncertainty into traditional business models, while a surge in amazing engineering breakthroughs and innovations simultaneously present irresistible opportunities for enhanced efficacy and resilience.
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Commentary
Energy: The Most Critical 7% of America’s GDP
The true engine of America’s economy might surprise you. It’s not tech. It’s not artificial intelligence, finance, or manufacturing. It’s energy. Energy accounts for just 7% of America’s gross domestic product (GDP), but, as former FERC Chair Mark Christie put it, “it’s the foundational 7% … everything else in our economy and lifestyle flows from it.”
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Commentary
AI’s Energy Hunger Demands an All-of-the-Above Strategy
Here’s a fundamental truth: there is no AI without energy. And as the technology grows, its demand for energy, and carbon footprint, may never again be as small as it is today. Against this backdrop, debates over which energy source should power AI miss the point. AI’s appetite for energy—relative to what the grid has […]
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Trends
POWER Digest [October 2025]
Two business conglomerates with interests across Asia announced a partnership to build six geothermal power plants in Indonesia.
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Gas
Blackstone Acquires Gas-Fired Plant in Pennsylvania in $1 Billion Deal
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, said its energy-focused private equity business has a deal to buy the 620-MW natural gas-fired Hill Top Energy Center in Pennsylvania. The agreement announced September 15 will see Blackstone Energy Transition Partners acquire the power station from Ardian, a global private investment firm. Blackstone officials said the purchase […]
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Trends
Why Power Plants Need AI That Engineers Can Trust
America’s power producers face growing pressure to do more with less. A rapidly evolving grid, increasing demand, aging infrastructure, and policy uncertainty have created a system where traditional approaches to reliability are no longer enough. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) recently issued its 2025 RISC report, highlighting the leading risks facing America’s power […]
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Data Centers
Eaton Offers Solution to Detect AI-Related Load Spikes for Power
Intelligent power management company Eaton said it has launched technology for identifying large fluctuations in energy demand from artificial intelligence (AI) computing infrastructure. The edge-based solution, available via a firmware update for its Eaton Power Xpert quality (PXQ) event analysis system, helps detect AI power bursts, including potential subsynchronous oscillations (SSO) in data centers. The […]
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Geothermal
Baker Hughes, CTR Have Agreements for 500 MW of Geothermal in California
Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, and Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) have entered into definitive agreements to collaborate on the development of up to 500 MW of baseload geothermal power at CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen project in Imperial County, California. The staged development, announced September 9, will deliver baseload geothermal energy at scale, providing reliable power […]
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Energy Storage
Preparing Energy Storage Technology to Support Data Center Power Demands
The increasing power demands of data centers are adding urgency to grid resiliency and renewable energy projects. Data center electricity use is expected to grow 300% by 2035 as hyperscale cloud computing companies race to adopt new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). Renewable energy and microgrid solutions will play an essential role in the digitalized and electrified future.
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Water
How Advanced Monitoring and Early Warning Tools Are Revolutionizing Power Plant Cooling Water Intake Management
Thermal power plants, nuclear and fossil-fueled, rely on cooling water intake structures (CWIS) to withdraw water for rejecting waste heat. The CWIS serves as a critical interface between engineered systems and the natural environment, making it vulnerable to various external factors such as biological growth, water chemistry changes, hydraulic forces, drifting debris, and meteorologic events. […]