The "Power Game" is shifting. Here’s what you need to know from this week’s Energy Story:

• Courts 3, White House 0: Three different federal judges have now lifted the "stop-work" orders on massive offshore wind projects, ruling that the administration failed to prove any urgent "national security" risk.
• A "Social Good" vs. A Commodity: PJM took the rare step of siding against the administration, arguing that stopping these projects causes "irreparable harm" to the reliability of the grid for 67 million people.
• The 15-Year Hook: A new bipartisan proposal suggests an "Emergency Capacity Auction" specifically for data centers. It would offer developers 15-year guaranteed revenue—a massive shift from the current (and often "useless") 1-year auction cycles.
• The "Parallel Grid" Risk: We explore the danger of creating two markets: a highly lucrative one for AI developers and a "starved" one for existing ratepayers.
• The 2028 Bottleneck: Even with guaranteed money, the world is running out of hardware. GE reports gas turbine availability is limited until late 2028, and new transmission capacity is essentially non-existent.

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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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Is a Nuclear Renaissance finally here? In our latest update, we look at how the insatiable energy appetite of AI is catalyzing a new era of fusion and fission.

• Fusion Hits the Gas: From Commonwealth Fusion’s massive magnet breakthrough to Google’s $1 billion commitment, the "future" of energy is arriving faster than expected.
• Big Tech as a Utility: We break down Meta’s massive new deals with Oklo and TerraPower, and why Amazon is targeting 5,000 MW of nuclear capacity by 2039.
• The Reality of Scale: It’s not all smooth sailing. We examine the four massive hurdles—from NRC regulatory bottlenecks to "NIMBY" pushback—that could still relegate these technologies to a niche market.

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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.

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Offshore wind was targeted by the Trump Administration in 2025, with multiple rationales offered to cripple the industry.

On January 20th 2025, President Trump issued an executive memorandum to suspend issuance of any approvals required to develop and operate wind energy projects, pending wide-ranging federal assessment.

Seventeen states and DC filed suit, and won, with a Circuit Court judge ruling the executive order was “arbitrary and capricious.”

The Department of Interior also went after Orsted’s Revolution Wind project with a stop work order in August 2025, citing unclear national security concerns, though DOI Secretary Burgum cited underwater drones, that could be launched in a swarm attack through a wind farm without detection. A federal judge rejected that order.

In December, the DOI issued new stop work orders impacting five major East Coast offshore wind farms, again citing national security risks.

As a result, Massachusetts – on December 30th – again delayed finalizing offtake contracts for two projects totaling 2,078 MW of capacity.

Last week, the 700 MW Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island and the 810 MW Empire Wind 1 project off New York went to court requesting an injunction against the stop work order.

Revolution Wind argued that it had undergone extensive reviews with federal agencies and agreed to a mitigation plan addressing any national security risks.

Empire Wind also argued that the terms of its lease specify that advance notice “will normally be given before requiring a suspension or evacuation.”

That’s what’s really at stake here. This precedent allows future presidents to take similar actions against other investments they don’t like. Some oil co execs say this type of zigzag is “detrimental to business” because one cannot make long term plans.

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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.

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Is the "AI butterfly effect" about to send electricity prices through the roof? In this video, we break down the critical PJM Base Residual Auction taking place between December 4th and December 10th, 2025. While grid auctions usually sound arcane and boring, this one is deciding the capacity and cost of power for June 2027—and the stakes have never been higher.

Here is what we cover in this episode:
• The AI Boom & Power Demand: How the launch of ChatGPT and the manufacturing of energy-hungry Nvidia chips kicked off a massive spike in data center load, specifically in states like Ohio and Virginia.

• The Supply Crunch: Why the grid’s supply side hasn't kept up. We discuss the fallout from Winter Storm Elliot in 2022, where nearly 40 gigawatts of gas generation failed to show up, forcing PJM to derate its assets and tighten the supply curve.

• Skyrocketing Prices: We look at the numbers. Capacity prices soared from a three-year average of roughly $37 to over $269 in previous auctions.

• The Price Cap Strategy: How Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro negotiated a temporary price cap (a "collar" between ~175and 325) to protect consumers."

• The Coming "Gloves Off" Moment: This current auction is the last one protected by the price cap. Future auctions scheduled for 2026 will have no floor or ceiling, potentially leading to even more volatile pricing.

• Political Fallout: With data center loads costing the market over $16.6 billion in the last two auctions alone, state governors and the Department of Energy are now fighting over how to fix the interconnection queue and manage the grid’s future.

The results of this auction will be released on December 17th, and they could signal a boiling point for the US electrical grid

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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.

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AI is hungry for power, but the grid’s most precious resource isn’t just generation—it’s time. We dig into a headline‑grabbing plan to build a 1,500‑megawatt nuclear‑powered data campus in South Texas and unpack why the near‑term reality starts with on‑site gas, not fission. From regulatory approvals and factory build‑outs to fuel and financing, modular nuclear still has miles to go. Meanwhile, data center builders face a thicket of interconnection queues, uneven utility processes, and hardware lead times that stretch to 2030.

We trace the practical playbook emerging across the industry: bridge with co‑located turbines or fuel cells, pursue grid interconnection in parallel, and design for redundancy because machines fail and maintenance windows are inevitable. Even markets famous for speed are hitting constraints. Transmission megaprojects take decades, demand requests are swallowing remaining capacity, and rate pressures are pulling energy costs into the political spotlight. Against that backdrop, the smartest lever may be operational, not infrastructural.

Here’s the pivot: flexible data center loads. With better workload orchestration, curtailment commitments, and virtual power plant contracts, large campuses can shed up to 25% for multi‑hour windows, buy capacity from aggregators, or island temporarily using their own generators. Grid operators are responding in kind, offering accelerated interconnection paths for customers willing to flex, while policy signals in places like Texas clarify that curtailment is part of the deal. The payoff is systemwide—higher load factors, more megawatt hours across the same wires, and a faster route to growth than waiting for the next 765‑kV line.

If you care about how AI, cloud infrastructure, and energy policy collide, this conversation connects the dots between nuclear timelines, gas‑first strategies, interconnection reform, and the rise of demand flexibility and VPPs. Subscribe, share with a colleague who builds data infrastructure, and leave a review with your take on the best path: build more generation, or bend the load?

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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.

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In this Week 5 – October 2025 Energy Update, I take a look at another eventful week in U.S. energy — one defined by offshore wind setbacks, renewed nuclear ambitions, and AI-driven grid innovation.

I start with Shell’s withdrawal from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, which leaves EDF Renewables as the sole developer after a key EPA permit was pulled. I then discuss the Trump administration’s $80 billion nuclear partnership with Brookfield and Westinghouse, signaling a strong policy shift toward new reactor development.

I also cover FERC’s efforts to streamline large-load interconnections, Nvidia and Emerald AI’s new Aurora data center that demonstrates flexible energy use, and WattCarbon’s Repowering California initiative focused on virtual power plants.

To wrap up, I share updates on Ford’s production pause, Corning’s new wafer plant, and Form Energy’s first 100-hour iron-air battery deployment.

It’s a week that highlights both the challenges and the momentum driving America’s evolving energy transition.

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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.

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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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🎙️ 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.

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.

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.