In this week’s Energy Update, I take a look at some of the biggest developments shaping the global energy landscape — from a nuclear revival in South Carolina to solar and battery breakthroughs overseas.

South Carolina’s Santee Cooper has selected Brookfield as its partner to restart the long-abandoned 2.3 GW V.C. Summer nuclear plant, signaling renewed U.S. interest in large-scale baseload power. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates has begun building a $6 billion, 5.2 GW solar + 19 GWh battery hybrid project — the largest of its kind — designed to deliver a full gigawatt of continuous renewable energy.

Back in New York, The Mobility House and Itron are teaming up to support fleet electrification using smart-charging systems that respond to grid capacity in real time. Redwood Materials has raised $350 million to grow its energy-storage and recycling operations, and in China, CATL now operates more than 700 battery-swap stations while Mingyang Smart Energy unveils a twin-rotor 50 MW floating wind turbine.

I wrap up this week’s update with news that the BP / JERA joint venture has canceled its 2.4 GW Beacon Wind project off Massachusetts — a reminder of the challenges still facing U.S. offshore wind.

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Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

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Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World with Peter Kelly-Detwiler explores the forces reshaping the global energy landscape — from grid reliability in the U.S. to renewable breakthroughs in Europe and Asia. Each episode dives into the week’s most important developments across clean energy, power markets, EVs, nuclear innovation, hydrogen, and sustainability policy.

As a leading energy expert and industry analyst, Peter brings clarity and context to complex stories about how technology, policy, and investment are driving the energy transition. Whether it’s the rise of small modular reactors, advances in fusion energy, or how utilities are modernizing the grid, you’ll get trusted insights grounded in real-world experience.

Tune in weekly for concise, data-driven commentary and actionable takeaways about the future of power — how it’s generated, stored, delivered, and consumed.

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🎙️ About Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World

Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

💡 Stay Connected
Subscribe wherever you listen — including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

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Visit peterkellydetwiler.com
for weekly market insights, in-depth articles, and energy analysis.

The rapidly evolving energy landscape of 2025 is bringing remarkable innovations across multiple sectors, from affordable electric vehicles to creative renewable energy solutions and unexpected comebacks in nuclear power.

Ford's announcement of a $30,000 electric pickup truck represents what CEO Jim Farley calls a "Model T moment" for the company. Using revolutionary manufacturing techniques including unicasting and parallel assembly, this vehicle will contain 4,000 fewer feet of wiring than conventional models. Despite having a smaller battery than the current Lightning, it's engineered to power a home for up to six days during outages – positioning it as both transportation and energy resilience infrastructure. In a competitive jab, Ford claims this new vehicle will have lower five-year ownership costs than a three-year-old Tesla Model Y.

The energy storage revolution continues gaining momentum with Tesla securing a massive $2.7 billion battery order from Georgia Power for 3,022 megawatts of capacity across eight sites. Meanwhile, California successfully demonstrated the power of distributed energy resources when thousands of residential Tesla Powerwalls and Sunrun batteries simultaneously discharged 535 megawatts to the grid during a coordinated two-hour test event. This virtual power plant experiment shows how household batteries can collectively function as significant grid assets.

Perhaps most surprising is nuclear power's unexpected resurgence. NextEra Energy is working to recommission Iowa's Duane Arnold nuclear plant – shut down in 2020 for economic reasons – as surging data center electricity demand creates new economic justification for existing nuclear facilities. In New York, state officials propose extending zero-emission credits for upstate nuclear plants for an additional 20 years beyond 2029, recognizing their value for carbon-free electricity. These developments, alongside innovative projects like Ohio's six-megawatt floating solar array, demonstrate how rapidly our energy systems are transforming to meet the challenges of climate change and growing electricity demand.

Subscribe to our weekly energy updates to stay informed about the latest breakthroughs and market shifts shaping our clean energy future!

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🎙️ About Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World

Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

💡 Stay Connected
Subscribe wherever you listen — including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

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Visit peterkellydetwiler.com
for weekly market insights, in-depth articles, and energy analysis.

The digital revolution is fundamentally reshaping America's electrical grid, with data centers emerging as the dominant force driving unprecedented demand growth. American Electric Power's staggering forecast of 24 gigawatts of new load by 2030—18 gigawatts from data centers alone—signals a transformation that utilities across the country are scrambling to address. Their system, currently at 37 gigawatts, has received requests totaling a mind-boggling 190 gigawatts, highlighting the scale of potential growth.

A ray of hope emerges from Google's groundbreaking agreements with Indiana Michigan Power and Tennessee Valley Authority to curtail power consumption during peak demand periods. These first-of-their-kind commitments suggest AI loads might be more flexible than previously assumed, potentially reducing the massive infrastructure build-out otherwise required. As one executive aptly put it, utilities can either "raise the bridge" with new generation and transmission or "lower the river" by managing demand more intelligently.

Meanwhile, the energy innovation landscape continues evolving rapidly. Fusion startup Helion has broken ground on a facility to power Microsoft data centers by 2028, potentially delivering on fusion's long-deferred promise. In contrast, the current administration has rescinded all offshore wind energy areas, affecting over 3.5 million acres of federal waters. On the storage front, Peak Energy has deployed the first grid-scale sodium-ion battery system in the US, signaling potential diversification beyond lithium-ion technology. Together, these developments paint a picture of an energy sector in profound transition, balancing explosive demand growth with emerging technologies and evolving policy landscapes.

Curious about how these massive shifts in energy demand will affect your electricity bills and reliability? Subscribe now to stay informed on the technologies and policies shaping our energy future!

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🎙️ About Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World

Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

💡 Stay Connected
Subscribe wherever you listen — including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

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Visit peterkellydetwiler.com
for weekly market insights, in-depth articles, and energy analysis.

The energy landscape is transforming rapidly, with remarkable developments across multiple sectors reshaping how we generate, distribute, and consume power.

Oregon leads the charge in grid modernization with groundbreaking bipartisan legislation that will enable both private and community microgrids, creating designated zones where these localized energy systems can flourish. Meanwhile, Native Hawaiians on Oahu are gaining access to affordable clean energy through innovative microgrids combining solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers at just 18 cents per kilowatt-hour—less than half the standard utility rate.

On the global stage, China has begun construction on a mammoth $167 billion hydropower project in Tibet that will generate an astounding 70,000 megawatts, nearly matching the entire peak demand of Texas. Electric vehicle adoption continues accelerating, with NIO completing 80 million battery swaps in China and major automakers collaborating through ChargeScape to implement smart charging programs that reduce grid strain during peak periods.

Energy storage innovations are gathering momentum as Google partners with Energy Dome to deploy liquid carbon dioxide batteries capable of providing power for up to 24 hours. These long-duration storage systems will support multiple projects across three continents. Meanwhile, the explosive growth of data centers is dramatically reshaping electricity markets, particularly in PJM where capacity prices have skyrocketed to record highs. With consumers facing rising costs and more data load on the horizon, expect intense debate about who should bear the financial burden of our increasingly digital economy.

Subscribe to stay informed about these rapidly evolving energy transitions that affect us all. How do you think these developments will impact your energy costs and options in the coming years?

Support the show

🎙️ About Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World

Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

💡 Stay Connected
Subscribe wherever you listen — including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

🌎 Learn More
Visit peterkellydetwiler.com
for weekly market insights, in-depth articles, and energy analysis.

A potential nuclear revival emerges as Santee Cooper selects top contenders from fourteen proposals to complete the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear reactors in South Carolina. After $9 billion spent and construction halted in 2017, the site remains in "mostly excellent condition" according to recent inspections, breathing new life into nuclear energy's prospects. Meanwhile, Constellation Energy eyes new nuclear development in upstate New York, capitalizing on Governor Hochul's directive for at least one gigawatt of new nuclear power in the state.

The battle over critical energy infrastructure intensifies with the $11 billion Grain Belt Express transmission project caught in political crossfire. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley claims to have secured commitments to halt the project, while developer Invenergy pushes back against what they call "unfounded noise" threatening America's ability to build necessary energy infrastructure. This 4,000-megawatt project would transport renewable energy across four Midwestern states, highlighting the tension between clean energy goals and political opposition.

Innovation continues reshaping grid operations as California's CAISO pilots AI technology for outage management, potentially automating critical grid decisions. Google invests over $3 billion in hydroelectric power to achieve 24/7 carbon-free energy for its data centers, while nine governors from PJM states warn of an "unprecedented crisis of confidence" in the regional grid operator over electricity costs and reliability concerns. As Chinese company Envision Energy begins constructing what aims to be the world's largest green hydrogen plant and Uber invests $300 million in electric and autonomous vehicles, the energy landscape continues its dramatic transformation across multiple sectors.

Curious about how these developments will impact energy prices and grid reliability in your region? Subscribe to our weekly energy updates and join the conversation about America's energy future.

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🎙️ About Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World

Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

💡 Stay Connected
Subscribe wherever you listen — including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

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for weekly market insights, in-depth articles, and energy analysis.

The energy landscape is experiencing a seismic shift with the passage of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" into law. This dramatic policy reversal dismantles much of the Biden-era renewable energy initiatives, triggering the cancellation of tens of gigawatts of renewable projects and creating what promises to be persistently tight power markets for years to come.

The ripple effects are already visible throughout the energy sector. Major turbine manufacturers like GE Vernova, Mitsubishi, and Siemens face overwhelming demand with wait times stretching up to seven years and prices jumping by 50% in less than a year. With natural gas rig counts dropping and the EIA forecasting higher gas prices, we're witnessing the perfect storm for power sector inflation. Energy buyers are anxiously awaiting PJM's capacity auction results, which will provide our first glimpse into the new market reality.

Despite these headwinds, innovation continues. Texas's Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative is pioneering a virtual power plant with distributed residential batteries, while California's Turtelock School District is charging new electric buses with solar canopies. New Jersey has unanimously passed smart solar permitting legislation that follows Germany's successful model of streamlining residential installations. Meanwhile, China's renewable deployment continues at a staggering pace – installing 93,000 megawatts of solar in May alone (that's 100 panels every second), dwarfing America's quarterly installations. These contrasting stories highlight the complex, rapidly evolving energy transition playing out across markets, technologies, and geopolitics.

Want to stay ahead of these critical energy developments? Subscribe to our weekly updates and never miss the market-moving trends reshaping our energy future.

Support the show

🎙️ About Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World

Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

💡 Stay Connected
Subscribe wherever you listen — including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

🌎 Learn More
Visit peterkellydetwiler.com
for weekly market insights, in-depth articles, and energy analysis.

The clean energy landscape is transforming rapidly as major tech companies stake their claims in next-generation power sources. Google has made a significant move by signing a power purchase agreement with Commonwealth Fusion Systems for 200 megawatts from their planned Virginia facility, showing serious confidence in fusion technology's commercial potential by the early 2030s.

Advanced nuclear energy continues to gain momentum with Bill Gates-backed TerraPower securing a massive $650 million in funding, with NVIDIA's venture arm among the investors. Their innovative sodium-cooled reactor design paired with molten salt storage promises flexible power output of up to 500 megawatts. Meanwhile, X-Energy is advancing through the regulatory process, potentially receiving NRC approval for its first commercial modular nuclear plant by late 2026, which would serve Dow's petrochemical operations in Texas.

The explosive growth of data centers is reshaping utility planning, with Arizona's Salt River Project reporting that these facilities now drive 60% of peak load growth and could potentially demand more power than the utility's entire current capacity. This trend is creating tensions globally, as evidenced by Norway considering restrictions on cryptocurrency mining operations to preserve electricity for other industries.

Energy storage is emerging as a critical solution, with New Jersey launching an ambitious initiative to deploy two gigawatts by 2030 through phased auctions. Simultaneously, the renewable industry is beginning to address end-of-life challenges, with Engie North America pioneering a pre-cycling agreement to eventually recycle a million solar panels, though questions remain about how to scale such efforts for the hundreds of millions of panels already deployed worldwide.

Subscribe to our weekly energy updates to stay informed about the fascinating technologies and policies shaping our energy future as we navigate the complex transition to cleaner, more sustainable power systems.

Support the show

🎙️ About Energy Future: Powering Tomorrow’s Cleaner World

Hosted by Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Energy Future explores the trends, technologies, and policies driving the global clean-energy transition — from the U.S. grid and renewable markets to advanced nuclear, fusion, and EV innovation.

💡 Stay Connected
Subscribe wherever you listen — including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

🌎 Learn More
Visit peterkellydetwiler.com
for weekly market insights, in-depth articles, and energy analysis.