Shuttered nuclear plants get a new lease on life thanks to power demands of data centers Energize Weekly, October 9, 2024 Aging – and even shuttered – nuclear power plants are getting a new lease on life, thanks to the growing demand for electricity from data centers and artificial intelligence.…
Three Mile Island nuclear plant will reopen to power Microsoft data centers
Three Mile Island nuclear plant will reopen to power Microsoft data centers September 20, 2024 Three Mile Island, the power plant near Middletown, Pa., that was the scene of the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history, will reopen to power Microsoft’s data centers, which are responsible for powering the…
Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft balk at Ohio utility’s demand they pay for electric grid upgrades to support AI rollout
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…
Promoters of clean-energy data centers in Virginia coal country unfazed by doubters
Promoters of clean-energy data centers in Virginia coal country unfazed by doubters September 10, 2024 Will Payne and Will Clear are all too aware of the skeptics. But those doubters only fuel the duo’s vision for Southwest Virginia. The former Virginia state energy office bureaucrats turned private-sector consultants have an…
Data Centers Face Seven-Year Wait for Dominion Power Hookups
Data Centers Face Seven-Year Wait for Dominion Power Hookups August 29, 2024 Dominion Energy Inc. expects the time it takes to connect large data centers to the electric grid to increase by one to three years amid a surge in requests, bringing the total wait time to as long as…
Why Mississippi coal is powering Georgia’s data centers
Why Mississippi coal is powering Georgia’s data centers Aug 27, 2024 Last October, Georgia Power approached regulators with what it said was a crisis. Unless they did something soon, they discovered, the growing demand for electricity would outpace production sometime in the winter of 2025. Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp and…
FERC rejects Basin Electric’s bid for special cryptocurrency mine and large load rates
FERC rejects Basin Electric’s bid for special cryptocurrency mine and large load rates Energize Weekly, August 28, 2024 The Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s plan for special rates for cryptocurrency mines and other large loads was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which said the co-op had not proved…
Data centers driving Oklo’s nuclear project pipeline
Data centers driving Oklo’s nuclear project pipeline 8.15.2024 Advanced nuclear company Oklo now has non-binding letters of intent for about 1,350 MW of microreactor capacity, a 93% increase from its 700 MW project pipeline in July 2023, the company told investors in its Q2 earnings call this week. Of the…
US utilities poised to ride data center demand wave in second half
US utilities poised to ride data center demand wave in second half August 13, 2024 U.S. electric utilities sounded bullish on demand from data centers powering the artificial intelligence boom after striking several supply deals during the second quarter, reinforcing market expectations of sales growth through the year. Top utilities,…
US to invest $2.2 billion to overhaul national power grid
US to invest $2.2 billion to overhaul national power grid August 5, 2024 The Biden administration said on Tuesday it is investing $2.2 billion to revamp the nation’s power grid to protect it against growing threats of extreme weather events. The U.S. government has been working to overhaul the country’s…
U.S. electricity demand to rise spurred by the growth of data centers and electric vehicles
U.S. electricity demand to rise spurred by the growth of data centers and electric vehicles Energize Weekly, July 31, 2024 After remaining relatively flat for the last 20 years, U.S. electricity demand is projected to grow 13 percent by 2030, boosted by demands from data centers, electric vehicles (EVs) and…
AI is poised to drive a doubling in data center electricity demand by 2030, studies say
AI is poised to drive a doubling in data center electricity demand by 2030, studies say Energize Weekly, June 5, 2024 Data centers, spurred by increased artificial intelligence applications, could double their demand for electricity in the U.S. reaching 9.1 percent of the nation’s electricity load by 2030, according to…
EchoStar wins $2.7 billion Navy contract
EchoStar wins $2.7 billion Navy contract May 20, 2024 EchoStar has been awarded a $2.7 billion contract to provide 5G smart devices and services for the DoD and federal agencies. In an announcement, the company said it had been awarded a contract for the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract…
AEP Ohio: Data center electricity demands to put central Ohio on same tier as Manhattan
AEP Ohio: Data center electricity demands to put central Ohio on same tier as Manhattan May 14, 2024 AEP Ohio is asking state regulators to sign off on a new plan to deal with the surge in data centers in central Ohio that is expected to eat up so much…
AI could drive a natural gas boom as power companies face surging electricity demand
AI could drive a natural gas boom as power companies face surging electricity demand MAY 5 2024 Natural gas producers are planning for a significant spike in demand over the next decade, as artificial intelligence drives a surge in electricity consumption that renewables may struggle to meet alone. After a…
States rethink data centers as ‘electricity hogs’ strain the grid
States rethink data centers as ‘electricity hogs’ strain the grid APRIL 30, 2024 State Sen. Norm Needleman championed the 2021 legislation designed to lure major data centers to Connecticut. The Democratic lawmaker hoped to better compete with nearby states, bring in a growing industry, and provide paychecks for workers tasked…
Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal
Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal April 17, 2024 A helicopter hovers over the Gee family farm, the noisy rattle echoing inside their home in this rural part of West Virginia. It’s holding surveyors who are eyeing space for yet another power line next to…
North Dakota’s Dept. of Commerce looking at nuclear power to meet the increasing demand for electricity
North Dakota’s Dept. of Commerce looking at nuclear power to meet the increasing demand for electricity April 15, 2024 North Dakota’s Commerce Department has begun studying whether nuclear power could be used to help meet the increasing demand for electricity. That demand is being driven – in part – by…
U.S. Power Grid Struggles to Keep Up with Data Center Growth
U.S. Power Grid Struggles to Keep Up with Data Center Growth March 18, 2024 The exponential growth of data centers with a tremendous appetite for electricity rapidly is outpacing the capacity of utilities to meet their needs, pushing data center developers to prioritize new markets where they can be sure…
DOE announces $45 million investment for cybersecurity research
DOE announces $45 million investment for cybersecurity research FEBRUARY 26, 2024 The Department of Energy on Monday announced a $45 million investment into cybersecurity research for the energy sector, including projects on artificial intelligence detection and response and quantum communication for the grid. DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and…
Texas Electric Utility Courts Unnamed Crypto Miners With Five-Year Deals
Texas Electric Utility Courts Unnamed Crypto Miners With Five-Year Deals Feb 17, 2024 In a recent report, the community-driven, nonprofit electric provider in Texas, Denton Municipal Electric (DME), is attracting interest from several crypto mining companies seeking to establish operations. These companies are eyeing a five-year agreement for powering their…
Facing a growing crypto-mining sector, the U.S. to require reports of power use by miners
Facing a growing crypto-mining sector, the U.S. to require reports of power use by miners Energize Weekly, February 14, 2024 Faced with a burgeoning cryptocurrency market and its rising demand for electricity, the U.S. government is going to collect monthly data on the industry’s use of power. The federal Energy…
AES positioned to provide tech sector with growing renewable energy solutions
AES positioned to provide tech sector with growing renewable energy solutions January 19, 2024 With data centers and generative AI (GenAI) driving an enormous demand for power and major technology firms working to fulfill ambitious clean energy goals, AES Corp. said it is positioned as the premiere provider of renewable…
New manufacturing facilities and data centers are driving increased electricity demand
New manufacturing facilities and data centers are driving increased electricity demand Energize Weekly, December 27, 2023 The U.S. electric grid is ill-prepared for a surge in demand coming from new manufacturing, data centers and in future years, electrification of transport and building heating. Meanwhile, the queue of generation projects waiting…
FBI: Play ransomware gang has attacked 300 orgs since 2022
FBI: Play ransomware gang has attacked 300 orgs since 2022 December 18th, 2023 The ransomware gang behind several devastating attacks on major American cities has allegedly launched more than 300 successful incidents since June 2022, according to cybersecurity officials in the United States and Australia. The FBI joined the Cybersecurity…
Dominion, in rare move, details data centers’ big electricity demands
Dominion, in rare move, details data centers’ big electricity demands Sep 18, 2023 Data centers, some of the biggest electricity users of all, have signed agreements with Dominion Energy showing they expect to use the equivalent of 35% of the record flow of electricity the utility saw during last year’s…
Data Centers in Oregon Strain Electricity Grid and Challenge Clean Energy Goals
Data Centers in Oregon Strain Electricity Grid and Challenge Clean Energy Goals AUG 12, 2023 Data centers in Oregon are expected to consume significantly more electricity than initially estimated, according to three recent forecasts. This unexpected increase in energy consumption is placing additional strain on the Northwest electrical grid and…
Infrastructure and green energy spending are powering the economy
Infrastructure and green energy spending are powering the economy July 28, 2023 A surge in government funding and related private investment is beginning to make its way to businesses and communities across the country, building electric vehicles, new bridges, airport upgrades and a host of other infrastructure and green energy…
Northern Virginia data centers could strain power grid
Northern Virginia data centers could strain power grid February 27, 2023 Data centers in Northern Virginia starting to draw new environmental concerns. Monday, The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will weigh whether the centers get a waiver on air pollution. Northern Virginia hosts the largest collection of data centers in…
House bill aims to create lending institution for infrastructure projects
House bill aims to create lending institution for infrastructure projects Feb. 7, 2023 The bank would help finance work such as transportation projects, ports, electric grid security and broadband connectivity, according to the release. The bill also allows for broad discretion by the bank to invest in any infrastructure projects…
First Bitcoin Mining Powered By Nuclear Energy To Open In The U.S. In Q1 This Year
First Bitcoin Mining Powered By Nuclear Energy To Open In The U.S. In Q1 This Year January 23, 2023 Positioning bitcoin mining with carbon-free sources, like nuclear energy, offers enormous benefits to the cryptocurrency industry as digital assets grow in popularity, acceptability, and engagement with the broader economy. World Nuclear…
US Cities Are Falling Out of Love With the Parking Lot
US Cities Are Falling Out of Love With the Parking Lot JAN 7, 2023 They are gray and rectangular, and if you laid all 2 billion of them together they would cover an area roughly the size Connecticut, about 5,500 square miles. Parking lots have a monotonous ubiquity in US…
Phoenix airport launches autonomous service with Waymo
Phoenix airport launches autonomous service with Waymo 29 Dec 2022 Waymo also announced it is more than doubling the Waymo One service area in Downtown Phoenix. The expansion connects the airport service to a large part of the downtown area. In early November, Waymo began offering its trusted tester participants…
Baltimore utility to deploy Itron smart streetlights
Baltimore utility to deploy Itron smart streetlights 12 Dec 2022 Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) is to deploy 260,000 smart streetlights as it bids to reduce energy consumption and enhance the wellbeing and safety of the community. Critical infrastructure solutions specialist Itron is working together with Maryland’s largest gas and…
Thornton has plenty of water – it’s just in the wrong place. And that’s a very Colorado story.
Thornton has plenty of water – it’s just in the wrong place. And that’s a very Colorado story. Dec 4, 2022 Thornton needs water. Developers are scrapping homebuilding projects out of fears that the city can’t guarantee them a water tap in the next few years. Thornton has water. It’s…
Amtrak prepares for $1.5-billion Susquehanna River Rail Bridge replacement project
Amtrak prepares for $1.5-billion Susquehanna River Rail Bridge replacement project Nov. 22, 2022 Amtrak is advancing the planned replacement of the 116-year-old Susquehanna River Rail Bridge with two new bridges that will increase capacity and improve reliability of both freight and passenger trains. The existing structure is the Northeast Corridor’s…
Commuter Tunnel Under the Hudson Won’t Be Finished Until 2035
Commuter Tunnel Under the Hudson Won’t Be Finished Until 2035 Nov. 15, 2022 The long-delayed, $16 billion project to repair the existing Amtrak tunnels under the Hudson River and build a new two-track tunnel is about to move forward under the control of the Gateway Development Commission, which became the…
The infrastructure lobbying frenzy is just getting started
The infrastructure lobbying frenzy is just getting started 11/06/2022 The $1.2 trillion infrastructure law has kicked off a lobbying scramble by states, municipalities and industries seeking a slice of one of Washington’s biggest cash bonanzas in a generation. Those vying for a slice of the funding include Detroit, which obtained…
C40 and mayors offer US Inflation Reduction Act guidance
C40 and mayors offer US Inflation Reduction Act guidance 31 Oct 2022 Climate Mayors and C40 Cities have issued a guidebook to help local leaders understand the US Inflation Reduction Act and all the resources available to them through the law. The guidebook – supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies – advises…
FAA Clears New York Drone Corridor for Sightless Flights
FAA Clears New York Drone Corridor for Sightless Flights October 24, 2022 Last week the Federal Aviation Administration approved New York’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site (NUAIR) to fly uncrewed drones without supervision across 50 miles of airspace within the state’s drone corridor. In essence, this means that an uncrewed…
$1B Cybersecurity Grant Program Still Coming Into Focus
$1B Cybersecurity Grant Program Still Coming Into Focus OCTOBER 16, 2022 State and local governments are preparing to use $1 billion from the federal infrastructure law to improve cybersecurity. It marks the most significant federal support yet for protecting the computer networks and data of smaller governments. But many crucial…
Three Ways to Build Back Smarter After Hurricane Ian
Three Ways to Build Back Smarter After Hurricane Ian Oct. 3, 2022 The damage from Hurricane Ian will very likely run into the tens of billions of dollars and scientists say the United States can expect more severe storms like it as the planet heats up. They also say the…
Modular Construction Technology Comes Far and Fast During the Pandemic
Modular Construction Technology Comes Far and Fast During the Pandemic SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 Six years ago, 461 Dean Street — then and now the nation’s tallest modular apartment building at 32 stories — opened its doors on Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The 363-unit tower had been plagued with…
Big NY, NJ Infrastructure Projects Advance With Renewed Momentum
Big NY, NJ Infrastructure Projects Advance With Renewed Momentum September 19, 2022 Signature transportation infrastructure projects across the New York and New Jersey region are accelerating, thanks to recent infusions of federal funding and successful efforts to break through political logjams. But as contractors and engineers spin up to meet…
Xcel property in Becker eyed for another big data center project
Xcel property in Becker eyed for another big data center project Sep 9, 2022 Xcel Energy Inc. plans to sell 348 acres of land at its Sherco location in Becker to an unknown company that could build a $1 billion data center project there. The utility said the new center…
Toxic arsenic levels make tap water unsafe for thousands in New York City
Toxic arsenic levels make tap water unsafe for thousands in New York City 6 Sep 2022 Dangerous levels of arsenic were found in a New York City Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) complex, leaving thousands of affected residents without safe tap water. The crisis plays out as people in the predominantly…
Massachusetts getting municipal infrastructure improvements
Massachusetts getting municipal infrastructure improvements August 30, 2022 Newly signed legislation in Massachusetts will provide millions for municipal infrastructure improvements. Earlier this month, Gov. Charlie Baker signed MassTRAC legislation into law to provide funding that is designed to prop up municipal infrastructure needs throughout the state with an $11.4 billion…
New apartment construction to match 50-year high
New apartment construction to match 50-year high Aug 22, 2022 Some 420,000 new apartments are expected to be completed in cities across the U.S. this year, marking a historic 50-year high in multifamily construction, according to data from the listing service RentCafe. Read more
$1.66B in grants for buses and bus facilities announced by Federal Transit Administration
$1.66B in grants for buses and bus facilities announced by Federal Transit Administration Aug. 16, 2022 The Federal Transit Administration today announced $1.66 billion in grants to transit agencies, territories and states for buses and bus facilities across the U.S. The agency said in a press release that the grants…
Urban wood movement looks to capture value, carbon from city trees
Urban wood movement looks to capture value, carbon from city trees 8/8/2022 When architect David Rousseau designed a manufacturing facility for Promega Corp., he specified a unique material for the lobby stairs: Walnut trees from the biotech company’s land. Cut for various reasons over the preceding decades, the trees had…