The surge in AI and data centers risks driving up electricity demand faster than we can deploy the power lines needed to carry it. The high-voltage transmission that this expansion, and economic growth more broadly, relies on is slow and expensive to develop, and stuck in an outdated regulatory system that often hands the work to local utilities without competition. New analysis from the R Street Institute shows what this costs us, finding that, when transmission projects are open to competitive bidding, they get built cheaper and faster.
Modular approach can speed data center construction by 30%
A modular approach to data center design and construction could help overcome bottlenecks like labor availability, land constraints and long lead times for power and electrical equipment while boosting performance once operational, an executive with data center solutions provider Flex told Facilities Dive last week. Chris Butler, president of Flex’s embedded and critical power business,...
How Data Centers Can Drive Energy Innovation
Necessity, the proverb says, is the mother of invention. That indicates that the reason behind most innovations is that they fill a need. Many of us have a different, more modern way to explain that same observation: free markets work. People see a need, and they innovate to fill it, often crafting a new product or service.
A Deal to End the Iran War Won’t End High Oil Prices Overnight
Yesterday, the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the war. The 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) includes an immediate and permanent end to military operations, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It is a preliminary deal, not a final settlement, and sets a maximum 60-day deadline to negotiate a final agreement.
The Future of the Great American Outdoors
In the 154 years since, the world has followed America’s lead, establishing national parks in over 100 countries. The United States now has 63 federally protected national parks, and hundreds of other National Park Service sites including battlefields, trails, seashores, and rivers. Often called “America’s best idea”, all play an incredible role in the preservation of some of the country’s most treasured landscapes.
A Consumer-First Grid: How Texas is Privatizing Transmission Delivery Risk to Win the AI Century
America’s electric grid is facing a structural breaking point. Trillions of dollars of artificial intelligence infrastructure, data centers, and industrial reshoring demand power today, but traditional high-voltage transmission upgrades take five to seven years to deliver firm capacity. Under the status quo, large energy consumers are forced to wait in line, threatening stymied global leadership and lost economic growth.
A New Coal Plant in the U.S.? Once Unthinkable, Now a Strong Maybe
New coal-fired generation has been effectively off the table in the U.S. for more than a decade. The TerraSpark Energy Campus is testing whether that’s still true. The DOE’s selection of the Grant County, West Virginia, project for up to $18.5 million in development funding is a notable signal that surging electricity demand—driven by data...
Ocean Carbon Removal Tech Moves Toward Coastal Field Testing
Mitsubishi Electric and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have completed core development of a direct ocean capture system, moving the project closer to demonstration in coastal conditions. The system is designed to remove carbon dioxide through seawater rather than through air or industrial exhaust streams. That makes it part of the growing marine carbon dioxide removal market,...
Switch Bioworks Advances Microbial Fertilizer to Corn Trials
Switch Bioworks is moving its engineered microbial fertilizer into U.S. field trials, giving the company a practical test for technology designed to reduce dependence on conventional nitrogen fertilizer. The San Carlos, California-based biotechnology company has received authorization from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin advanced research and development field trials across multiple...
U.S. Energy Secretary ties Michigan nuclear power plant to data centers
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the Palisades nuclear power plant in Van Buren County will help power data centers while bringing down utility rates when it reopens later this year. Wright discussed the plant during a media availability Monday in Lansing after an event with U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, which he said was...









