EUCI Blog

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer U.S utilities have been caught “flat-footed” in the face of the soaring demand for electricity from data centers and manufacturing plants, according to a Wood Mackenzie study. Wood Mackenzie is tracking 134 gigawatts (GW) of proposed data centers across the U.S., a 68% increase from the 50 GW in…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has canceled $3.7 billion in grants to industries aimed at cutting carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency at facilities ranging from cement kilns to a ketchup factory. “DOE found that these projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer In the face of tariffs and economic and political uncertainties, the performance of clean energy technologies remains robust with 59 gigawatts (GW) of renewable generation and 31 GW of battery storage set to be installed in 2025, according to two market reports. “Investors and businesses navigating the energy transition…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer As data centers multiply and with them a sharp increase in the demand for electricity, nuclear power is poised for a resurgence providing as much as 10% of data center power in the next decade, according to a report by Deloitte. “Nuclear energy presents a potential solution for meeting…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer In the last 10 years more than $230 billion has flowed into energy startups, but in the face of economic and political uncertainty, that funding stream has slowed, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Between 2015 and 2022, funding for a broad range of startups rose 570%, but…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) – serving all or part of 14 states from Texas to North Dakota – will need as much as $263 billion in new generation and transmission through 2050 to support a peak demand projected to rise 40% to 80%. Those investments can be made…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Efforts to expand and modernize electric grids around the world – to cope with growing demand for power and a shift to renewable generation – are struggling to keep pace in the face of supply chain bottlenecks, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report. “Prices and procurement times…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum – set to begin March 12 – will challenge the utility sector, but in the short run should not undermine company finances, according to the credit rating service Morningstar DBS. Still, the tariffs may have a ripple…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Global energy project financing – with a few areas of risk such as aging wind farms, data centers, and trade impacts for solar – will be largely stable in 2025, according to report from the investment research company Morningstar. The Morningstar analysis covers its portfolio of wind, solar, river…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Natural gas inventories heading into the winter heating season are at their highest level since 2016, 6% above the five-year average, but electric reliability regulators remain concerned about the impact of freezing temperatures on deliveries to power plants. “While the natural gas industry is making progress on commercial practices…

Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft balk at Ohio utility’s demand they pay for electric grid upgrades to support AI rollout Sep. 16, 2024 Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta have banded together to fight an Ohio utility that wants them to pay for upgrades to the electric grid that will be necessary to support the Big…

Renewables, cleantech sector will grow regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election Energize Weekly, September 18, 2024 The results of the U.S. presidential election – even if there is a victory by Donald Trump – will likely not derail growth in the renewable energy and cleantech sectors, according to an analysis by energy consultant…