Best of POWER

Welcome to the mid-July issue of the Best of POWER, a bi-monthly e-newsletter from POWER magazine that provides important news and information that many in our audience have found to be must-reads.

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A Transformative Dawn: South Fork Wind Leads America’s Offshore Reboot | Winning POWER’s highest honor, South Fork Wind—the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in U.S. federal waters—stands as a beacon for the power sector’s ambition to forge new industries in the face of adversity. Commissioned in July 2024 as offshore wind projects faltered nationwide, South Fork proved that labor, permitting, engineering, and grid integration can align to deliver complex infrastructure at scale. While the project lays out new bedrock for the nation’s carbon-free prospects, it offers the entire industry a proof point for resilience, technical rigor, and what it takes to build the next generation of power.

Google Signs Deal to Buy Fusion Energy from Future Virginia Plant | Tech giant Google has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) to buy at least 200 MW of electricity from CFS’splanned fusion-based power plantin Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Missouri Utility Plans New 800-MW Gas-Fired Plant, Will Include Energy Storage | A utility that serves customers in Missouri announced it plans to build an 800-MW natural gas-fired power plant, along with the company’s first large-scale battery energy storage facility, at a site near St. Louis.

Understanding TerraPower’s Natrium Reactor Design and Demonstration Project Progress | In the proverbial shadow of the Naughton Power Plant, a station in Kemmerer, Wyoming, that will stop burning coal at the end of this year, TerraPower is constructing what it calls “the only advanced, non-light-water reactor in the Western Hemisphere being built today.” The project represents more than just a new power source—it’s a symbolic passing of the torch from fossil fuels to next-generation nuclear technology.

Regulator Approves AEP Ohio’s Landmark Data Center Tariff | The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has approved a landmark tariff structure requiring large new data center customers to pay for a minimum of 85% of their subscribed electricity usage—regardless of actual consumption—for up to 12 years. The measure marks a pivotal step in Ohio’s efforts to address surging demand from hyperscale data centers and protect other ratepayers from the cost of grid expansion.

In Case You Missed It: Hydrogen’s Power Play: What Comes After the Hype | As hydrogen production scales up, power professionals must weigh where—and when—it fits into a decarbonized grid. For now, experts say real progress may depend on addressing structural bottlenecks: project bankability, policy clarity, and demand certainty.

GE Vernova, IHI Launch Test Hub to Enable 100% Ammonia Combustion in F-Class Gas Turbines by 2030 | Japanese integrated heavy industry group IHI Corp. and GE Vernova have inaugurated a new Large-Scale Combustion Test (LCT) facility at IHI’s Aioi Works in Hyogo, Japan, marking a pivotal step in their joint effort to commercialize gas turbine combustors capable of burning up to 100% ammonia by 2030. The facility will accelerate full-scale prototype testing starting in summer 2025, the partners said.

North Dakota’s Largest Coal Plant Could Power Data Centers, Industrial Complex | County commissioners in North Dakota have signed off on a rezoning request from a local energy provider, a move that means a large coal-fired power plant could be used to supply electricity to a new industrial park.

Chile Focuses on Solar and Storage as Generation Capacity Expands | Chile is rapidly moving to build more power generation capacity, with much of that effort focused on renewable energy resources and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The country as part of that ambition has a goal of producing at least 70% of its electricity from renewable energy by the end of the decade, a level it already reached in the past year. Chile’s current energy mix includes solar power, wind power, and hydropower, which all have more than a 20% share of annual generation. Ember, an energy think-tank, said renewables provided 70% of Chile’s electricity in 2024, with fossil fuel-based generation accounting for 30%. That compares to a 53% share for fossil fuels in 2020, when renewables accounted for about 47% of Chile’s power. Government officials have said they expect solar power will account for 46% of the country’s total installed generation capacity by 2060, with most of that solar located in the north of Chile, particularly in the Antofagasta region. That area is known for high irradiance and a more-favorable cost structure for renewable energy development, with the mining industry in particular dependent on solar power for much of its operations.

Westinghouse, Radiant Selected for First Fueled Nuclear Microreactor Tests at INL’s DOME Facility | Nuclear microreactors developed separately by Westinghouse and Radiant are poised to become the first fueled designs tested at the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility—the world’s first dedicated microreactor test bed slated to open at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in early 2026. The first fueled experiment is expected to begin as early as spring 2026.

Renewable Energy Surges, but Grid Crisis Looms as Demand Grows and Policies Shift | The U.S. electric power sector is experiencing a surge in renewable energy deployment, yet the grid faces mounting pressure from skyrocketing demand and shifting federal policies. As data centers and electrification drive consumption to new highs, aging infrastructure and regulatory uncertainty threaten to push the system toward a reliability crisis.