To unlock affordable grid capacity, policymakers should require utilities to consider the best-available line technologies by default, while utilities themselves modernize planning to reinforce their affordability commitment to customers.
Post
The grid’s extreme heat problem is changing
Solar energy and batteries are making it easier for utilities to meet surging electricity demand during extreme heat, but prolonged high temperatures are exposing other vulnerabilities in the grid. Electricity demand rises as air conditioners work harder in extreme heat, while high temperatures can make parts of the system less efficient and put additional stress...
Post
China could control the future of energy if America doesn’t act fast
Rather than causing disparate groups to come together to recognize the importance of all forms of energy, oil prices have resulted in some pushing harder for oil and gas and others pressing harder for solar, wind and batteries. This is a false dichotomy. Both are needed.
Post
Sage Geosystems brings its first next-gen geothermal plant online
Sage Geosystems has hit a big milestone out on a rugged tract near San Antonio: The startup is producing power from its first next-generation geothermal plant. The system is just the third of its kind to come online in the U.S. as the sector races to commercialize the source of on-demand clean electricity. The novel...
Post
US advances next-gen nuclear reactor fuel deployment through 30-month TRISO-X pact
TRISO-X has extended its research and development agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by 30 months. The two organizations have worked together since 2016. Their joint effort centers on improving the chemical engineering methods used to manufacture tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) nuclear fuel. “ORNL has been a critical partner in transforming years of TRISO fuel...
Post
Dominion ordered to directly assign some transmission costs to data centers
Dominion Energy will need to change its transmission cost allocation policy to directly assign the cost of certain transmission infrastructure to the new large-load facilities — such as data centers — which made that infrastructure necessary, the Virginia State Corporation Commission said in an order filed July 31. The mandatory contribution in aid of construction,...
Post
Trump Admin Approval of Data Center on Public Land Faces Legal Challenge
A federal decision to allow a large data center project on public land in southern Nevada is facing a growing legal challenge, setting up what opponents say could become a national test case for the Trump administration’s push to accelerate data center development. Read more in Newsweek here!
Post
DOE selects Tennessee as finalist to host ‘Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus’
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Energy selected Tennessee as a finalist to host a “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus.” According to the governor’s office, the campus could bring billions of dollars in economic investment and create thousands of jobs. The DOE said the campus would support the development of domestic...
Post
Trump’s Reactor Pilot Program Is On Schedule
On May 23, 2025, President Trump, via Executive Order 14301, took multiple actions to jumpstart the nation’s long-dormant nuclear energy industry. Besides “expeditiously” processing applications for qualified test reactors and revising agency policies to further expedite review, approval, and deployment of advanced reactors under Energy Department supervision. The goal was to enable operational test microreactors within...
Post
AI Data Centers Have Been Great for the Steel Industry. Now, a Power Crisis Looms.
The American steel industry is reaping the benefits of the AI data-center construction boom. But now, steelmakers are warning of a high-stakes competition with their data-center customers for a commodity they both require: electricity. Data centers’ insatiable demand for electricity is driving up power costs for steel companies by tens of millions of dollars a year and...