London, July 9, 2026 — The UK’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) issued a rare summer Electricity Margin Notice on July 8, forecasting a shortfall of around 1.2 gigawatts (GW) in electricity margins during Thursday evening’s peak demand period. The warning, one of several issued during the ongoing heat wave affecting the UK and much […]
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This was originally posted on American Bazaar Online. By Phil Cruver As AI data centers face rising power demands, abandoned oil wells are being repurposed into long-duration energy storage systems that could stabilize electric grids and create new economic value. The recent analysis “The Borehole Battery: From Liability to Long Duration Storage Asset” by Gilles Chaspierre, […]
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The AI-driven data center boom is reshaping U.S. energy demand, with hyperscalers (Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and others) pouring hundreds of billions into new facilities that require massive, reliable, 24/7 power. Natural gas—via pipelines, turbines, onsite generation, and supporting equipment—is emerging as a critical bridge fuel due to its dispatchability, speed of deployment, and […]
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The era of ultra-cheap U.S. natural gas appears to be ending. A combination of explosive demand growth from LNG exports and AI-driven data centers, paired with maturing supply dynamics, is poised to push Henry Hub prices higher while potentially flattening the traditional seasonal price swings that have defined the market for decades. Traditional Seasonality Under […]
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The largest U.S. regional transmission organization, PJM Interconnection, escalated emergency measures on July 3, 2026, issuing a federal alert to cut electricity consumption across its vast territory amid generator outages, overloaded high-voltage transmission lines, and surging air-conditioning demand from a prolonged heatwave. PJM, which manages the electric grid for approximately 67 million people, activated demand-response […]
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Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are reshaping the nuclear energy landscape with their compact size (typically up to 300 MWe per unit, versus 1,000–1,400 MWe for traditional large reactors), factory-built modular designs, enhanced safety features, and faster deployment potential. These attributes make SMRs ideal for powering data centers, remote communities, industrial sites, and replacing retiring coal […]
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In a significant setback for one of the most ambitious AI infrastructure projects in the United States, Blackstone-backed QTS Realty Trust has decided to abandon its portion of the Prince William Digital Gateway (also known as the PW Digital Gateway) in Northern Virginia’s Prince William County. The move comes just days after Bloomberg reported the […]
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This article first ran yesterday on the Energy News Beat Substack. From the wood fires that warmed homes and fueled early industry in 1776 to the sophisticated mix powering AI data centers, electric vehicles, and global exports today, energy has been the invisible backbone of American prosperity, innovation, and geopolitical strength. The U.S. Energy Information […]
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In a landmark achievement for America’s nuclear renaissance, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Deployable Energy’s Unity demonstration reactor successfully achieved criticality on June 30, 2026 (late yesterday), at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This marks the third DOE-authorized advanced reactor to reach this milestone by the July 4, 2026, deadline set by President […]
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On June 22, 2026, Virginia’s General Assembly approved its two-year biennial budget (HB 30), which includes a first-of-its-kind electricity consumption tax on qualifying data centers. The tax took effect July 1, 2026, and runs through June 30, 2028. The measure levies $0.011 per kWh (1.1 cents) on all electricity consumed at covered data centers each […]
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