Latest
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Fusion
Fusion Energy Group Seeks PJM Connection for First Commercial Power Plant
A U.S.-based fusion energy company has become the first such group to apply to join a major power grid operator. Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) on April 28 said it has submitted a connection request to PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest wholesale electricity market, as part of its development plan for a commercial-scale fusion energy power plant.
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Nuclear
NRC Unveils Part 57: A Streamlined Path for High-Volume Microreactor Licensing
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed a sweeping new licensing framework designed to push microreactors out of the lab and onto the grid at unprecedented speed. The proposed rule, called Part 57, is paired with a broader agency overhaul that earlier this year created the Office of Advanced Reactors (OAR), headed by longtime […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Solving the Problem of Fuel for Nuclear Reactors
The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has spelled out several areas that present challenges to domestic and global development of nuclear power. Chief among those issues is building a process that enables fuel development on a repeatable, industrial scale, so that projects can move beyond the demonstration phase to commercial operation.
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Distributed Energy
Rethinking Utility Incentives and Business Models in the Age of Distributed Energy
Many utilities have been slow to embrace distributed energy resources (DERs) and, in some cases, have reshaped rate structures and compensation mechanisms to limit their growth. This is not simply resistance to change. It is a rational response to incentive structures that favor building infrastructure over technology advancement and energy optimization and efficiency.
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T&D
After the L.A. Wildfires: Why Vegetation Management Can’t Afford to Stay on a Fixed Cycle
The utilities best positioned to limit outages, liability, and regulatory scrutiny as they mitigate wildfire risk will manage vegetation as an integrated risk intelligence system, directly connected to their network model, enterprise data strategy, and field execution platforms.
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Commentary
Fusion Energy: The $50/MWh Target
Fusion’s first challenge is scientific: can we make it work at scale? Its second, far tougher test is economic: can we make it cheap enough to matter? Global private investment has passed $10 billion, governments are launching new programs, and regulators are beginning to streamline pathways for advanced fusion machines. But one question will determine whether […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: How the Oil and Gas Industry Is Advancing Geothermal
Lucy Darago, chief commercial officer with XGS Energy, shares her insight about the advancements in geothermal, including how new systems are being supported by technology from oil and gas exploration. XGS is utilizing those innovations to enhance its geothermal systems.
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Sustainability
How Corporate Energy Buyers Are Reshaping the U.S. Grid: CEBA CEO Rich Powell on Data Centers, Nuclear, and Permitting Reform
Corporate America has become one of the most consequential forces shaping the U.S. electricity system. Speaking as a guest on The POWER Podcast, Rich Powell, CEO of the Corporate Energy Buyers Association (CEBA), explained how the country’s largest energy buyers are responding to unprecedented demand growth, betting on a widening mix of clean technologies, and […]
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Nuclear
Duke Energy’s Robinson Nuclear Plant Gets NRC Approval to Operate Until 2050
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved a subsequent license renewal (SLR) for Duke Energy’s Robinson Nuclear Plant, clearing the 54-year-old reactor to continue generating electricity in the Pee Dee region through 2050. The decision, announced on Thursday, comes roughly a year after Duke Energy filed its renewal application in April 2025. It extends Robinson’s […]
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advanced nuclear
TerraPower’s Kemmerer 1 Enters Construction: Timeline of the Natrium Project’s Road to First Power
TerraPower’s Natrium reactor at Kemmerer, Wyoming, reached official construction start on April 23, 2026. Here’s a full timeline from ARDP selection to construction start. TerraPower on April 23, 2026, officially started construction on Kemmerer Unit 1, its flagship Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming—a milestone that marks the most consequential step yet in […]