Best of POWER

Welcome to the mid-June 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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New 200-MW Gas-Fired Plant in Ohio Will Power Meta Data Center | Ohio regulators have approved construction of a 200-MW natural gas-fired power plant in Licking County, a project designed to provide electricity for an affiliate of tech company Meta.

Russia Has Deal to Build Eight Nuclear Power Plants in Iran | The president of Iran’s nuclear energy agency said officials in that country have signed an agreement with Russia for construction of at least eight nuclear power plants in Iran. Mohammad Eslami, president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), confirmed the deal on June 9 during a visit by members of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee to the AEOI headquarters in Tehran, and to the Tehran Research Reactor.

Trump Administration Issues Third Emergency Order to Prevent PJM Power Shortfall | The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its third Section 202(c) emergency order in the past two weeks, this time to bolster reliability in PJM Interconnection by compelling Constellation Energy to keep Units 3 and 4 of its dual-fuel Eddystone Generating Station in Pennsylvania open beyond their scheduled retirement date of May 31, 2025.

DOE Scraps $3.7B in OCED Projects, Upending Carbon Capture Progress at Power Plants | The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) abrupt termination of 24 previously awarded projects—including four prominent power-related carbon capture projects— will rescind $3.7 billion in financial assistance from its Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED).

Duke Energy Advances New 1.4-GW Gas-Hydrogen Power Plant in South Carolina Under New Energy Security Mandate | Duke Energy intends to submit an application to South Carolina’s Public Service Commission (PSC) for approval to build a 1.4-GW gas-fired combined cycle plant with hydrogen capability in Anderson County. If approved, the project, which could come online in 2031, will mark the company’s first new generation proposal in the state in a decade.

In Case You Missed It: How PG&E Is Supporting EV Growth Without Expensive Grid and Home Upgrades | As electric vehicles (EVs) surge in popularity, many American homeowners are discovering a hidden obstacle to the EV transition: the aging electrical infrastructure of the nation’s housing stock. While modern homes are often built with 200-amp service panels, houses built before 1990 often have just 100 amps or less—creating an unexpected barrier to convenient home charging. It’s not uncommon for a Level-2 EV charger, which delivers electricity at a higher voltage (240V) than a Level-1 charger (120V) and enables significantly faster charging times, to be rated up to 48 amps and require a 60-amp breaker. That’s a huge deal for an older home’s owner.

Meta Deal with Constellation Will Keep Illinois Nuclear Plant Open First Paragraph: Technology group Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation Energy to purchase about 1.1 GW of electricity from Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois.

Natural Gas, Energy Storage at Heart of New Group's Data Center Power Concept | A startup company led by former executives with major technology and energy groups is betting on the use of natural gas and battery energy storage to provide data centers with on-site power, freeing those sites from reliance on the traditional power grid.

Grid Enhancing Technologies Do Exactly What They Say | The world’s electricity grids are facing unprecedented strain as demand surges from electrification, data centers, and renewable energy integration, while aging infrastructure struggles to keep pace. Traditional approaches to grid expansion—building new transmission lines and substations—face mounting challenges including sometimes decade-long permitting processes, escalating costs that can reach billions per project, and growing public resistance to new infrastructure. This mounting pressure has created an urgent need for innovative solutions that can unlock the hidden capacity already embedded within existing transmission networks.

Talen, Amazon Launch $18B Nuclear PPA—A Grid-Connected IPP Model for the Data Center Era | Talen Energy has restructured and significantly expanded its nuclear energy agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), finalizing a 17-year, $18 billion power purchase agreement (PPA) that will supply up to 1,920 MW of carbon-free electricity from the 2.5-GW Susquehanna nuclear plant to Amazon’s data centers across Pennsylvania.