POWER Magazine

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 [...]The post Data Centers, the Grid, and the Assumptions That Don't Hold Up appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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 [...]The post Amazon Data Centers Aren't Raising Your Electric Bills-They May Be Lowering Them appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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.The post Lebanon, Egypt Sign Deal to Supply Natural Gas for Lebanese Power Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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 [...]The post DOE's Genesis Mission' Enlists AI to Double U.S. Research Productivity in a Decade appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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 [...]The post NKT Completes Investment of New Test Hall and Capacity Expansion at Swedish Cable Accessories Site appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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. [...]The post GE Vernova to Modernize a Key High-Voltage Power Transmission Link in India appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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 [...]The post The Next Wave in Hydropower Condition Monitoring appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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.The post Entergy Arkansas Adding New Gas-Fired Power, Extending Nuclear as Part of Investment Plan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Local government officials in Japan have given approval for the restart of a reactor at the world's largest nuclear power plant. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, where seven reactors have total generation capacity of nearly 8,000 MW, has sat idle since early 2012 in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, which caused Japan to shut down its nuclear power industry.The post Japan Prepares to Restart Unit at World's Largest Nuclear Power Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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.The post Alphabet Buying Clean Energy Developer to Support Data Centers appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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).The post Bulgarian Group Has Deal to Build Up to Six BWRX-300 SMRs appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The fusion industry just achieved a major milestone-and this time, it's not about science.The post Trump Media-TAE Merger: Fusion's Public Market Leap appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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. [...]The post Federal Court Strikes Down Trump's Wind Energy Moratorium appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Data centers are already among the world's hungriest power users, and artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing their energy consumption to new heights. TheInternational Energy Agencyexpects data centers' electricity use to more than double by 2030, reaching roughly 1,000 TWh.That's a growth rate four times faster than the overall grid. In some scenarios, AI-optimized facilities could [...]The post AI Is Draining the Grid-and the Power Solution Is Sitting Idle Right Next Door appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Small modular reactor (SMR) developer X-energy has secured a binding reservation agreement with South Korean power-generation equipment giant Doosan Enerbility to manufacture main power system steel components for 16 Xe-100 SMRs. As part of the decisive move to industrialize the supply chain for advanced nuclear energy,Doosan has also committed to building a new dedicated SMR [...]The post X-energy, Doosan Lock In 16-Unit Xe-100 Component Reservation as Doosan Commits to New SMR Factory appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) is merging with a California-based company focused on development of nuclear fusion in a $6-billion deal. The all-stock transaction announced December 18 would create one of the first publicly traded fusion companies.The post Trump Media Group, Fusion Company TAE Merging in $6-Billion Deal appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A Colorado-based company focused on utility-scale battery energy storage has partnered with global technology group Wartsila and others for construction of a 500-MWh project near the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas, the latest of several major battery energy storage installations being built in the state.The post Companies Announce Major Energy Storage Projects in Texas appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Three advanced nuclear developers-Radiant, Last Energy, and ARC Clean Technology-announced the closing of major private funding rounds in mid-December 2025, signaling renewed investor momentum behind microreactors and small modular reactors (SMRs) as the companies move from design and licensing into pilot deployment and early commercialization. The announcements-which span a new $300-million-plus round at Radiant, an [...]The post Advanced Nuclear Developers Raise New Capital as 2025 Investment Hits Record Levels and Demonstrations Near appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The last coal-fired power generation unit in Washington state, scheduled to close by year-end, is the latest U.S. coal facility ordered to remain in operation by the Trump administration. The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) on December 16 told TransAlta, a Calgary, Canada-based independent power producer (IPP), to keep the 730-MW, coal-fired Centralia Unit 2 [...]The post DOE Orders Last Coal-Fired Unit in Washington State to Remain Online appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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 [...]The post The Long Arc of Efficiency: What Refrigerators Teach Us About the Future of AI Data Centers appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Hitachi Energy has announced investments of $30 million CAD ($22 million) to expand and modernize its service operations in Ontario, Canada. The investment aims at addressing Canada's growing electricity demand while mitigating the challenges posed by aging grid infrastructure. It includes the purchase and upgrade of the company's Stoney Creek facility and the acquisition of [...]The post Hitachi Energy Investing $30 Million to Expand Canadian Operations appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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.The post Powering the AI Revolution: Why the Energy Race Is the AI Race appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Vema Hydrogen, developer of a sustainable hydrogen production technology, said it has entered a hydrogen purchase and sale agreement with Verne, a provider of on-site power and cooling solutions. Verne will leverage Vema's clean energy, known as Engineered Mineral Hydrogen (EMH), to provide low-emission power for its data center customers.The post Development Deal Will Provide Hydrogen for California Data Centers appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In the push for more efficient and streamlined permitting processes, recent changes from Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the executive branch have reshaped the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) landscape.The post Permitting the AI Boom: A New NEPA Landscape for Energy Infrastructure Projects appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Fusion technology company Thea Energy said it has completed its preconceptual fusion power plant design. The company, founded in 2022 as a spin-out of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University, is advancing the stellarator as part of its Helios system.The post Thea Energy Completes Fusion Power Plant Preconceptual Design appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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.The post The Five Layers of AI Safeguarding the Utility Industry appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Land strategy often determines whether a project moves forward or falls apart. While interconnection delays and equipment shortages get more attention, land presents a distinct and consistently underestimated source of friction in the development lifecycle.The post Rethinking Land Strategy in Utility-Scale Solar appeared first on POWER Magazine.

An energy company focused on supporting artificial intelligence (AI) through infrastructure has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Utah-based nuclear power services company, as the groups evaluate ways to provide electricity for a massive data center campus in that state.The post Utah Groups Look at Nuclear Options to Power World's Largest Data Center Site appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Greenville Electric Utility System (GEUS) has broken ground on a 104-MW power plant that will deploy 11 Jenbacher J920 FleXtra reciprocating engines, marking the largest U.S. installation of the engine model to date. Commissioning is scheduled for summer 2027. The plant reflects growing interest among utilities in generation assets that can respond rapidly to fluctuations [...]The post Texas Utility Turns to Fast-Start Reciprocating Engines for Grid Stability appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Prisma Photonics, a global provider of advanced optical fiber sensing technology, announced a trial deployment with California's Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to deploy grid monitoring solutions traversing some of California's most challenging geographic areas in San Luis Obispo and Humboldt counties. The project comes as California's electrical grid faces surging data center demand, [...]The post Prisma Photonics Deploys Grid Monitoring Equipment in California appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The lone remaining coal-fired power plant in the state of Washington will shut down at the end of December, and will be converted to burn natural gas. Operator TransAlta Corp. on December 9 signed an agreement with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) for the transition, with a 16-year, fixed-price contract for the gas-fired generation that runs through 2044.The post Last Coal-Fired Plant in Washington State Converting to Natural Gas appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) has completed Step 2 of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process in the UK.The post BWRX-300 SMR Reaches Regulatory Milestone in UK appeared first on POWER Magazine.

GE Vernova said the company has signed an agreement with Public Power Corporation Renewables (PPC R) to supply, install, and commission 14 of its 6.1 MW-158m turbines for a wind farm in Vaslui County, Romania.The post GE Vernova Inks Turbine Deal with Romania Wind Farm appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The result of the 2024 presidential election probably had the biggest impact on the direction the U.S. energy industry is headed right now," Brandy Johnson, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), told POWER. It has opened up the pathway for fossil fuels in power generation again." That shift is already visible across [...]The post Coal's Not Dead Yet: B&W CTO Suggests Fossil Fuels Are Back in Favor appeared first on POWER Magazine.

As the global demand for clean energy intensifies, nuclear power is enjoying a resurgence not seen in decades. However, this renewed interest has exposed a critical vulnerability in the U.S. energy sector: a massive disconnect between uranium consumption and domestic production. As a guest on The POWER Podcast, Thomas Lamb, president and CEO of Myriad [...]The post The Uranium Renaissance: Revitalizing America's Nuclear Supply Chain appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Renewable energy company BayWa r.e. said it has closed financing for a solar-plus-storage installation in San Diego County, California. The group on December 9 said the Jacumba Valley Ranch (JVR) Energy Park is expected to enter commercial operation in 2026.The post BayWa r.e. Moving Forward With California Solar-Plus-Storage Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. solar power industry installed 11.7 GW of new generation in the third quarter of this year, according to a report from Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). It's the third-largest quarterly gain on record, and moves total solar installations in 2025 above the 30-GW level.The post Report: U.S. Adds 11.7 GW of New Solar Capacity in Q3 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Utilities that provide natural gas to customers are investing in smart technologies to modernize their infrastructure. These measures are leading to better efficiency in gas delivery, while also enhancing safety measures along their delivery networks.The post The POWER Interview: Data Collection Optimizing Gas Delivery, Safety appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A California-based nuclear energy company with plans to place small modular reactors (SMRs) in mile-deep boreholes said it will break ground December 9 for a pilot project at a site in Parsons, Kansas. Berkeley-headquartered Deep Fission on December 4 said the company's Gravity Nuclear Reactor is bring prepared for the Great Plains Industrial Park. Deep [...]The post Nuclear Startup Announces Kansas Site for Mile-Deep Reactor Pilot appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Idaho Falls Power celebrated the formal launch of a new natural gas-fired peaking generation plant on December 4, calling the occasion a major milestone" in its 125-year history.The post Idaho Utility Celebrates 125 Years, Brings New Peaker Plant Online appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Alight, a Nordic solar developer and independent power producer, has commissioned the Lidso solar park on Lolland in Denmark. The solar installation is the second-largest in Denmark with an installed capacity of 215 MWp. The new solar park marks Alight's first operational asset in the Danish market. The park covers 253 hectares at Rodby Harbour [...]The post Alight Commissions 215-MW Solar Park in Denmark appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The past year saw a multitude of factors driving up electricity prices, including rapid growth in electricity demand, supply chain tightness, deployment delays for transmission and production projects, and an uncertain political and permitting climate. We expect all of these trends to continue in 2026. Changing economics have turned the justification for project development in [...]The post Looking Back at 2025 to Look Forward for 2026: Navigating Policy Shifts and Market Surges appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Project Pele, the Department of War's (DOW's) first-of-its-kind transportable nuclear microreactor prototype, has received its tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where formal system testing is slated to begin as early as 2027. The fuel-manufactured by BWXT Technologies (BWXT) and shipped from its Lynchburg, Virginia, facility-represents the first TRISO microreactor fuel [...]The post A First for Military Nuclear Power: TRISO Fuel Arrives at Project Pele appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has selected the five commercial teams that will potentially demonstrate advanced applications-including data center integration-at its much-watched Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) platform, an 85-kWth/20-kWe liquid-metal-cooled test bed currently under construction at the lab. The initial selections, unveiled on Dec. 4, mark the first potential end users for MARVEL," [...]The post INL Taps AWS, GE Vernova, Oil Majors for First MARVEL Microreactor Experiments appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Framatome said it has been awarded a contract to upgrade several digital control systems at Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station. The scope of the project includes system design, engineering, manufacturing, testing and installation for new digital feedwater level control and feedwater heater vents and drains systems. The upgrades announced December 4 are part of Energy [...]The post Framatome Selected to Deliver Critical Digital Control Upgrades at Columbia Generating Station appeared first on POWER Magazine.

SmartestEnergy US, part of a global energy company helping businesses navigate the energy transition, has selected GridBeyond, a global smart energy company, as its technology partner to optimize battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. The strategic partnership will leverage GridBeyond's advanced price forecasting, bid optimization, and trading [...]The post SmartestEnergy US Partners with GridBeyond to Optimize Three Energy Storage Resources in ERCOT Totalling 29.7 MW appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Global renewable energy contractor INTEC Energy Solutions has been selected by a leading European renewable energy investment group to lead construction of a 50-MW solar power plant in Lachendorf, Germany. INTEC on December 3 said it has been commissioned by AUKERA as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the project. The solar farm [...]The post INTEC Chosen to Build 50-MW Solar Power Facility in Germany appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Antares, an advanced nuclear energy startup, announced the close of its $96-million Series B funding round, which was led by Shine Capital with participation from Alt Capital, Caffeinated, FiftyThree Stations, Industrious, and other investors.The post Antares Raises $96 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate Nuclear Microreactor Development appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said the agency has selected the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Holtec Government Services to support early deployments of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. The DOE on December 2 said project teams with the two groups will receive up to $800 million in "federal cost-shared funding" targeted for projects in Tennessee and Michigan.The post DOE Selects TVA, Holtec to Receive $800 Million to Advance SMR Deployment appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The dawn of electric semitrucks and other medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles has arrived, and if the technology is going to be widely adopted, we have to come to grips with what this means for our electrical infrastructure.The post Getting the Grid and Charging Infrastructure Ready for Heavy-Duty Electric Trucks appeared first on POWER Magazine.