Lawmakers in both parties are scrambling to address the issues revealed by data centers. President Donald Trump, his administration officials, and several governors (including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro) signed on to a statement of principles that encourage data centers to bring their own power or pay for the power they need.
American Electric Power secured 3 GW of gas turbine capacity in the second quarter, bringing its total turbine supply that can be deployed by 2031 to about 13 GW, Bill Fehrman, AEP chairman, president and CEO, said Thursday during a quarterly earnings conference call. AEP has also secured options for an additional 10 GW of...
As Americans crank up their air conditioning bills in the summer months, the importance of affordable, dependable power is critical but often taken for granted. Especially today, families are more acutely aware of how much they’re paying as electricity rates have risen at a pace more than double the rate of inflation over the past year.
Electricity bills are up, and data centers are getting the blame. But in the data so far, the states with the fastest-growing power use have mostly seen rates rise slower than elsewhere, not faster. Rising demand is supposed to push rates up, not down, but there are good reasons to think rising demand has held electric rates down in some areas. The question worth asking is whether we can count on that to last.
Nuclear energy is safe, clean, reliable, and scalable. It can power the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, revitalize industrial communities, and help meet our environmental ambitions. So why does building a nuclear plant in the United States cost so much?
Previous studies showed that transmission competition can provide meaningful cost savings, but some questioned whether the additional effort of competitive solicitations was worth it, especially if they delay needed transmission, Kent Chandler, one of the report’s authors, said in an email. “Our analysis found no evidence that competitive solicitations have added time to the overall...
Should taxpayers love or loathe data centers? This question seems a loaded one in the first place. To ask it is to present a binary choice when, in reality, public opinion on the matter is more complex. Initially, a handful of fiscal conservatives branded the facilities that provide the infrastructure of the next Information Age as little better than taxpayer-funded sports stadiums or convention centers, which are proven economic and fiscal losers for the communities in which they abide compared to the various government subsidies they receive. Yet, aside from the fact that data centers, sports stadiums, and convention centers are physical structures, they have little to nothing in common.
When wildfires are treated as a temporary, seasonal disruption rather than a continual, chronic risk, the default policy response is suppression. But a new analysis from PERC shows just how much that’s costing us.
Politicians—especially those facing reelection this year—are starting to hammer the energy affordability debate once again. There’s often a disconnect between political discourse and reality. But in the case of energy affordability, the data tells us that perhaps there is less hyperbole in these debates than usual. The following chart shows the change in prices for residential electricity,...
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