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☆ Meet nuclear power's newest fans: data centers
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The deal illustrates data centers' new-found interest in nuclear power. Joe Dominguez, the CEO of Constellation, the nation's largest operator of nuclear plants, said in a March earnings call that powering data centers with nuclear energy was "kind of a perfect marriage." AdvertisementVistra, another nuclear owner, also indicated it was arranging data center deals for a nuclear plant it owns in Ohio and one in Texas. Greg Poulos, the executive director of a PJM watchdog group, said that "one of my highest priority, highest radar items" is how data centers could push costs onto consumers and also whether nuclear data centers deals could reduce grid reliability. Beyond the nuclear optionNot all data centers, of course, are seeking out nuclear power to seize their energy independence.

Persons: —, Wes Swenson, Swenson, Joe Dominguez, Jim Burke, Ralph La Rossa, La Rossa, Steve Helber, Burke, Dominguez, PJM, Michael Jacobs, Brian Janous, Greg Poulos, Poulos, Biden Organizations: Service, Susquehanna, Amazon, Business, US Energy Information Administration, Nuclear, Constellation, Public Service Enterprise Group, Microsoft, International Energy Agency, Dominion Energy, Talen Energy, Energy, Union of Concerned Locations: Pennsylvania, Salt Lake City, Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, Our, Jersey, Virginia, Chester , Va, Susquehanna, Chicago, New York City

☆ New data centers require billions of dollars in utility system upgrades. You may end up paying for it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

A record surge of data center construction is underway to provide the computing and storage that underpins society's fast-expanding digital footprint and powers artificial intelligence. In areas of the country where data centers have clustered, utilities have unveiled plans to spend billions of dollars to keep up. asked David Springe, the executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. "Then you have the data centers that are having exponential load growth," Nelson said. Data centers also don't deliver the number of long term jobs – a key yardstick for public benefits – that other industries do.

Persons: Mike DeWine, David Springe, they're, Ryan Augsburger, Augsburger, Ron Nelson, Strategen, ratepayers, Nelson, Steve Helber, That's, PJM, David Lapp, Lapp, Jeffrey Shields, Shields, Kantele Franko, Shelby Moore, Meta, behemoth Blackstone, QTS, John Gavan, Daniel Tait, Tait Organizations: Amazon, Ohioans, Business, Wall, Boston Consulting Group, National Association of State, Consumer, Ohio Manufacturers ' Association, Web Services, Energy, Dominion Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Tech, Wall Street titans, American Electric Power, Buckeye Power, AEP, Buckeye, AEP Ohio, Staff, Intel, Policy Institute Locations: Ohio, ratepayers, Chester , Va, Virginia, PJM, Chicago, New Jersey, New York City, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Columbus , Ohio, Denver, New Albany , Ohio, Minnesota, Columbus, Mississippi

☆ A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Brad Plumer | Nadja Popovich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Nathan Howard for The New York TimesIn California, electric vehicles could soon account for 10 percent of peak power demand. AP Photo/Mike StewartIn interviews, utility executives say gas is needed to back up wind and solar power, which don’t run all the time. Gas plants can sometimes be easier to build than renewables, since they may not require new long-distance transmission lines. “It’s going to take a diversified fleet.”Mr. Mitchell noted that Georgia Power was planning a large build-out of solar power and batteries over the next decade and would offer incentives to companies to use less power during times of grid stress. The tech companies and manufacturers that are driving up electricity demand could also play a major role, experts say.

Persons: ”, Daniel Brooks, Nathan Howard, Lauren Justice, Biden’s, “, Tyler H, Norris, Mr, John Wilson, Ken Seiler, Seiler, Devin Hartman, Duke, Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s, it’s, we’ve, Georgia Power, It’s, Greg Buppert, Megan Varner, Mike Stewart, Aaron Mitchell, “ It’s, Mitchell, Heather O’Neill, Brian Janous Organizations: Electric Power Research Institute, The New York Times, Duke University, Biden, Utilities, North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Boston Consulting, Dominion Energy, Nationwide, R Street Institute, The New York Times Soaring, Duke Energy, Georgia, Southern Environmental Law Center, AP, Dominion, Georgia Power, Advanced Energy, Microsoft Locations: America, California, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina , Tennessee, Kansas, Northern Virginia, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, York City, PJM, “ Texas, Ashburn, Va, Dalton , Ga, Dalton, Duke

☆ How Hedge Funds Are Betting on Electricity and the Changing Power Grid
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Alex Morrell | Bradley Saacks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

A onetime commodities backwater, congestion trading has become a growing business in recent years as the demand for electricity and volatility on the power grid in the US has soared. The financial category, which includes specialized power-trading companies, banks, hedge funds, and large proprietary trading firms, dominates the market, in part because the physical power firms typically operate in only one or two regions. He launched three congestion trading teams for the firm, including in California and Texas after those states introduced congestion trading in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Citadel, along with Susquehanna International Group and Tower Research, has been involved in FTR trading since the market's infancy. Volatility has been increasing on the power grid, in part because of changing weather patterns, Jeev added.

Persons: Kumar Jeev, Jane Street, Richard Roseblade, who's, There's, Roseblade, Bill Clark, Jeev, DC Energy's Tyler Kuhn, DRW, California Al Seib, Brevan Howard, Jane, Stephanie Staska, Staska, couldn't, Joe Biden's, It's, Meredith Angwin, Angwin Organizations: Business, Capital, Midwest, Citadel, Tower Research, Yes Energy, Energy, Anadolu, Getty, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, Nasdaq, York Stock Exchange, Nvidia, Johns Hopkins University, DC Energy, Wayfair, Squarepoint, Appian, Boston Energy, Susquehanna International Group, DC, Bloomberg, Commodities, Traders, Wall Street, Workers, GreenHat Energy, JPMorgan, Hill Energy Resource & Services, P, Grid, & $ Locations: Wall, East Coast, DRW, Susquehanna, FTRs, New York, Canada, Texas, Virginia, California, Berlin, Chicago, Oregon, California Al, Ukraine, Russian, Uri, Northern Virginia

☆ A Goldman Sachs-backed electricity firm is making a play to reach more Americans’ homes
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

That covers energy networks, mostly in the Northeast, that provide electricity for 190 million Americans, according to federal data. It also gets Goldman into an industry, albeit through an intermediary, that critics have called a hotbed of consumer abuse. The startup, which began offering retail energy plans to Texans in 2021, avoids the teaser rates and hidden fees of rivals, it has said. "Many of those companies operate businesses that serve retail customers. Private equity firms have transformed the energy landscape in the nation's largest power markets.

Persons: Omar Marques, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, watchdogs, James Bride, Marcus, David Solomon, Dennis Wamsted, Tyson Slocum Organizations: Lightrocket, Getty, Energy, CNBC, Texans, U.S . Energy Information Administration, New, Institute for Energy Economics, Utilities, Federal Energy Regulatory, Street, Public Citizen Locations: Texas, Houston, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland

☆ Two-thirds of North America could face power shortages this winter -NERC
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In its 2023-24 winter outlook, the regulatory authority warned that prolonged, wide-area cold snaps threaten the reliability of bulk power generation and availability of fuel supplies for natural gas-fired generation. "Recent extreme cold weather events have shown that energy delivery disruptions can have devastating consequences for electric and gas consumers in impacted areas," NERC said. It put the U.S. Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and South, along with some Canadian provinces, at the highest risk for electricity supply shortages this winter. NERC also found that load forecasting in winter is growing in complexity, and underestimating demand is a risk to reliability in extreme cold temperatures. Flows of gas into pipelines were reduced during Elliott, while demand for the fuel for heating and power generation increased, dramatically lowering line pressures.

Persons: Greenlee Beal, NERC, John Moura, Storm Elliott, Elliott, Anjana Anil, Scott DiSavino, Leslie Adler, Marguerita Choy Organizations: PIKE Energy, REUTERS, North American Electric Reliability Corp, U.S ., PJM, Reliability Corp, Texas, Federal Energy Regulatory, Storm, Consolidated Edison, Thomson Locations: Texas, San Antonio , Texas, U.S, Canada, U.S . Midwest, Northeast, South, New England, MISO , New York, New York City, Bengaluru, New York

☆ Data centers are booming. Their need for power is causing utilities to retreat on green energy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Katie Hobbs at Google's September announcement of a a new $600 million data center in Mesa, Arizona. The amount of electricity needed to power data centers in the U.S. is expected to more than double by 2030, according to McKinsey. "With data centers, you're going to do all of the above to have capacity to meet those loads." Utilities struggle to meet data center loads while cutting carbonThe utility-level impact of the data center industry's energy demand reaches beyond Phoenix. In preliminary documents, it has identified data centers as "the major source of load growth during 2023-2038."

Persons: Karla Moran, Moran, Katie Hobbs, you've, Terry Boston, James Glynn, Glynn, Caryn Potter, it's, OPPD, that's, David Corbin, Corbin, Valerie Plesch, Aaron Ruby, Devon Smiley, Smiley, Lee Kestler, Ruby, George Frey, Wendy Bridges, Bridges, Jill Hanks, Hanks, Potter, Meghin Delaney, Reno, Kestler, EdgeCore, Hunter Holman, Delaney, Holman Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Digital Realty, Arizona Gov, McKinsey, PJM, Columbia University's Center, Global Energy Policy, Southwest Energy Efficiency, Utilities, Omaha Public Power, Sierra Club's, The Washington, Getty, Dominion Energy, Dominion, Blackstone, KKR, APS, Phoenix, Goodyear, NV Energy, Reno, Bay Area, Silver State, Western Resource Locations: Phoenix, Salt, Mesa , Arizona, City, Mesa, U.S, Arizona, Phoenix . Omaha , Nebraska, New York, Sierra Club's Nebraska, Woodbridge , Virginia, Virginia, Nebraska, OPPD, Eagle Mountain , Utah, Brookfield, Seattle, Goodyear, Bay, Nevada, Reno, Las Vegas, North

☆ Factbox: US offshore wind projects facing inflation headwinds
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

One megawatt (MW) can power about 1,000 U.S. homes but since wind is an intermittent resource - 1 MW of offshore wind can power about 500 U.S. homes, according to offshore wind developers. SOUTH FORKDenmark's Orsted (ORSTED.CO), the world's largest offshore wind power developer, is building the 132-MW project off Rhode Island and Massachusetts. COMMONWEALTH WINDThe 1,232-MW project off Massachusetts, which was formerly a part of the larger New England Wind project, is also facing potential delays. ATLANTIC SHORES OFFSHORE WIND SOUTHThe joint venture between Shell and French EDF is developing a large offshore wind park off New Jersey. MARWINMaryland's first offshore wind project is expected to start operations in 2025-2026.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin Lamarque, Joe Biden's, GW, Lazard, Vineyard, Orsted, Eversource, NYSERDA, Norway's Equinor, Avangrid, MARWIN, Nerijus Adomaitis, Nichola Groom, Scott DiSavino, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Federal, State, White, REUTERS, U.S, U.S . Department of Energy, Reuters, Washington , D.C, U.S . Energy Information Administration, Avangrid, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Public Service Enterprise, Orsted, Eversource Energy, Rhode Island Energy, Dominion Energy, Virginia Beach, Dominion, NYSERDA, COMMONWEALTH, Shell, EDF, US, Italy's Renexia SpA, US Wind, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington ,, Spanish, Copenhagen, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode, Connecticut, Orsted, VIRGINIA, Virginia, York, Long, Montauk, Massachusetts, French, ATLANTIC, Atlantic Shores, Italy's Renexia, Maryland

☆ Amazon built a data center empire in northern Virginia. Exclusive filings reveal it's using as much energy as a major city.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Amazon does not disclose how many data centers it occupies, where they are located, or how much electricity they consume. Many of Amazon's data centers listed in the permits have been built recently and some may still be under construction. "You cannot run a data center based on the variability of solar and wind," Boston said. Any producer of renewable energy can sell one REC for every megawatt hour of renewable energy it generates. Brady, the Cushman & Wakefield data center executive, said that data centers often match their backup generation to the capacity of a data center's power supply.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, David Ward, Abraham Silverman, Sean Brady, Glenn Youngkin, Steve Helber, Terry Boston, –, Ben Hertz, Wood Mackenzie, Andy Jassy Mike Blake, Amazon's, Priya Barua, We've, Barua, Blackstone, Weston Swenson, Brady, Swenson, Josh Levi Organizations: Amazon, Washington DC, Amazon Web Services, UC Riverside, Columbia University's Center, Global Energy, Cushman & Wakefield, Dominion Energy, France's, AP, Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Republican, State Corporation Commission, Boston, state's Department, Environmental, Reuters, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Clean Energy Buyers Association, Virginia's Department, Industry, Cushman &, Dominion, Data Center Coalition Locations: Virginia, New York City, Washington, Seattle, France, Ward, Northern Virginia, West Coast, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE

☆ US grid operator PJM declares level one emergency amid scorching heat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A general view of electric lines as demand for power surges during a period of hot weather in Houston, Texas, U.S. June 27, 2023. REUTERS/Callaghan O’HareCompanies PJM Interconnection LLC FollowJuly 27 (Reuters) - PJM Interconnection, the biggest U.S. electric grid operator, issued a level one emergency alert for Thursday as people crank up air conditioners to stave off the heat wave. The operator issued an Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 late on Wednesday for July 27, signaling that it had available resources to meet firm load and reserve commitments, and was concerned about sustaining its required Contingency Reserves. PJM oversees supply in a 13-state region, managing and paying on-call generators to keep power systems running. Demand is forecast to reach 153,286 MW as of 5:00 EPT on Thursday, and has approximately 186,000 MW of generating capacity.

Persons: Callaghan, Seher Dareen, Anushree Mukherjee, Kim Coghill Organizations: REUTERS, Callaghan O’Hare, U.S, PJM, Thomson Locations: Houston , Texas, U.S, Texas, Arizona, Bengaluru

☆ Why the U.S. Electric Grid Isn’t Ready for the Energy Transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Nadja Popovich | Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. That makes it hard to build the long-distance power lines needed to transport wind and solar nationwide. To make the plan work, the nation would need thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines — large power lines that would span multiple grid regions. Utilities are sometimes wary of long-distance transmission lines that might undercut their local monopolies. “The grid is already a critical element of our energy system,” said Matteo Muratori, an analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

☆ Wind and solar power generators wait in yearslong lines to put clean electricity on the grid, then face huge interconnection fees they can't afford
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

The local utility in charge of overseeing the interconnection process told Pine Gate it would be more than $30 million. Pine Gate had to terminate the project because it couldn't afford the new fees, its vice president of regulatory affairs, Brett White, told CNBC. "Those projects ended up withdrawing from the queue or terminating, because they don't pencil anymore," White told CNBC. "There is Texas, and then there's the rest of the country with respects to interconnection," White of Pine Gate told CNBC. And that means getting those engineers out of some of the rote manual data entry and into the actual analysis," White told CNBC.

☆ Why Blackouts, Power Outages Are Becoming More Common
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Taylor Dorrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Power outages have increased 64% from the early 2000s, and weather-related outages — many driven by the worsening climate crisis — have increased 78%. A record-breaking blizzard in Buffalo, New York, this winter caused power outages throughout the city, resulting in the deaths of 47 residents. In 2021, a heat wave led to power outages and the deaths of hundreds in the Pacific Northwest. While regional organizations might use fees to penalize companies for power outages, it's now much harder to pinpoint and hold a person or entity responsible. In the meantime, the climate crisis will continue to wreak havoc on an aging grid system that puts profits over reliability.

☆ Mid-Atlantic region could run out of power in 7 years: Report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMid-Atlantic region could run out of power in 7 years: ReportCNBC's Brian Sullivan joins 'Squawk on the Street' to report on a PJM Interconnection energy grid study that found the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. could run out of power in 7 years.

☆ S.O.S for the U.S. Electric Grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The warnings keep coming that the force-fed energy transition to renewable fuels is destabilizing the U.S. electric grid, but is anyone in government paying attention? Another S.O.S. came Friday in an ominous report from PJM Interconnection, one of the nation’s largest grid operators. The PJM report forecasts power supply and demand through 2030 across the 13 eastern states in its territory covering 65 million people. Its top-line conclusion: Fossil-fuel power plants are retiring much faster than renewable sources are getting developed, which could lead to energy “imbalances.” That’s a delicate way of saying that you can expect shortages and blackouts.

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