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Politico
31-07-2025
- Business
- Politico
Fusion emerges, boosted by Big Tech
Is it finally fusion power's moment? Helion Energy, a startup partnering with Microsoft, has started construction on a fusion power reactor, joining the race to complete the country's first. It's planning to deliver energy to Microsoft data centers within three years. That timeline may be ambitious for a long-hyped technology, but a breakthrough would be significant, write Peter Behr and Christa Marshall. Fusion mimics the energy generation of stars and could produce massive amounts of power on demand without greenhouse gas emissions. It's the latest sign of how Big Tech's deep pockets are reshaping energy technology. Microsoft is working with Constellation Energy to reopen Three Mile Island, the nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania (that's fission, not fusion). Amazon has said it plans to deploy 5 gigawatts of small modular reactors by 2040, while Meta, Oracle, OpenAI, Google and Amazon have also made investments in advanced nuclear. Support from Google has helped geothermal startup Fervo bring commercial pilot projects online. Google has also committed to purchasing power from Commonwealth Fusion Systems' planned commercial fusion plant in Virginia. At an energy conference in March, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) talked up the announcement, saying fusion 'changes the whole game' in the race to unleash more power. Reality Check Helion's planned project in Malaga, Washington, is expected to produce at least 50 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 17,000 homes. Here's the grain of salt (really a heaping spoonful): Fusion energy has been hyped for decades but scientists have not reliably been able to generate more energy than it takes to create the initial reaction. Scientists reached by Peter and Christa are skeptical of Helion's timeline, with one saying they are still 'decades away' from competing with a conventional nuclear or natural gas plant. But the money is there. The Fusion Industry Association says Helion is one of three developers with at least $1 billion in investments, with global investments topping $9.7 billion. In part, that's because of the tech industry's unique needs. In the U.S. alone, the electricity needs from data centers could triple between 2023 and 2028, according to a 2024 federal study. An analysis this week from S&P Global found that the tech and web services sector accounts for a whopping 68 percent of the corporate clean energy market because of its 'unmatched combination of aggressive clean energy goals and unrivaled energy demand growth.' Whether that boom continues after the Republican megalaw — which phases out many clean energy tax incentives — remains to be seen. And Trump's cuts may even be coming for fusion: the administration's budget proposal would reduce federal research into the technology, despite recent breakthroughs at federal labs that could bring the energy to reality. It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Jason Plautz. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jplautz@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Ben Lefebvre breaks down the EU's massive energy deal that was part of its trade agreement with the U.S. Power Centers EPA axes researchThe Environmental Protection Agency's piecemeal dismemberment of its science initiatives is gathering steam, stoking fears over scientific independence, writes Sean Reilly. EPA has already axed many grant-funded projects midstream, on the grounds that they no longer mesh with administration priorities. Now it plans to dissolve the Office of Research and Development, which supporters and former officials describe as an irreplaceable engine of innovation in fields like chemical safety and the risks posed by pollution exposure. 'It is heartbreaking to see what's being proposed and the actions that are being taken,' said Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, who served as a top ORD career staffer before retiring in 2021. 'It's really putting American lives at risk.' The Trump threat to American gasThere are fears in Europe that the continent's energy alliance with the U.S. could be shattered if Trump offers concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, write Karl Mathiesen, Zack Colman, Gabriel Gavin, Ben Lefebvre and Hanne Cokelaere. U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe allowed countries to swap out Russian gas after the war started. They're committing to buy more of it now as part of trade deals with the U.S. to avoid tariffs. But it would be difficult to ignore cheaper Russian gas if it were to flow again because of any deals to end the war. 'The one thing that would derail the spectacular growth of the U.S. [LNG] industry is the reopening of flows from Russia. There's no question about that,' said Geoffrey Pyatt, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and energy official for former President Joe Biden. Wright's climate contrariansThe Department of Energy is reframing long-established climate science as a debate, with the help of five researchers who have spent years questioning climate change, Scott Waldman and Benjamin Storrow write. The agency released a climate report Tuesday to support the Trump administration's push to roll back greenhouse gas regulations. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Fox News that the report was meant to push back on the 'cancel culture Orwellian squelching of science.' Some of the report's assertions have been debunked for years, however, and multiple scientists said their work was misrepresented. In Other News New fear unlocked: DOE has reported the discovery of a radioactive wasp nest at a facility once involved in the production of parts for nuclear weapons. How it happened: China has become the leading seller of electric vehicles, solar panels and lithium-ion batteries — all invented in the U.S. — thanks to government policies and incentives. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Renewable energy is set to overtake coal at the top source of electricity globally by the end of next year, according to the International Energy Agency. Trump nominated Ho Nieh, the vice president of regulatory affairs at Southern Nuclear, to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A Trump administration official tasked with overhauling the Interior Department's budget and staffing is getting ready to leave the agency, raising questions about who will take over the reorganization. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
Politico
05-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
AI is piling risks onto already-shaky power grids
From OpenAI founder Sam Altman on down, U.S. tech industry goliaths couldn't be clearer that they plan to build huge data farms to dominate China in the race to control artificial intelligence. That's raising anxiety levels for the regional power executives whose systems would need to handle those data centers' voracious demands for electricity — and who are already coping with extreme weather shocks and the nation's deep divides on energy and climate policy. And it means that the risks of outages across the United States are hitting new highs, power market leaders told federal regulators this week, Peter Behr writes. Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Google's parent company Alphabet, chip maker Nvidia, and the army of financiers supporting OpenAI's ambitions are driving record forecasts for electricity demand, just as President Donald Trump is promising an era of unrestrained growth for AI. As a result, state officials and power industry execs have been huddling with members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to try to get a handle on a future that likely sees old coal and nuclear plants restarting at a high cost and more natural gas-fueled power stations built from scratch. 'AI is going to change our world,' said Manu Asthana, CEO of the PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for 67 million customers in all or parts of 13 Eastern states and the District of Columbia. 'In our forecast between 2024 and 2030, currently we have a 32-gigawatt increase in demand, of which 30 is from data centers,' Asthana said. 'We need to stabilize market rules and find that intersection between reliability and affordability that works both for consumers and suppliers, and that intersection is getting harder and harder to find.' Too much, too fast? Politics is compounding the problems. So is the fact that electricity infrastructure is expensive and in place for decades. Regional grids in the Northeast, such as the one that serves New York state, have invested in a gradual transition to low- to zero-carbon energy technology. But under Trump, that is no longer and offshore wind projects that the Northeastern corridor had counted on are being canceled or fighting for their lives. Extreme weather resulting from climate change is also putting immense pressure on grids. The power grid that serves the Plains states had so little demand growth until about 2017 that it lowered the amount of extra power it had in reserve. Extreme weather threats increased the chance of power outages, said Lanny Nickell, head of a regional electric grid called the Southwest Power Pool. 'As if this wasn't challenging enough,' Nickell said. 'We are now projecting our peak demand to be as much as 75 percent higher 10 years from now, and that's largely driven by electrification and data center growth.' It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Joel Kirkland. Arianna will be back soon! Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jkirkland@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Matt Daily breaks down the fight between the White House and the Government Accountability Office over Trump's funding pause for electric vehicle chargers. Power Centers Get out the popcornThe alliance between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is blowing up in spectacularly public fashion. The two have spent the day attacking each other, including with a barrage of posts on their respective social media networks, days after Musk came out against the GOP megabill. The spending bill would add trillions of dollars to the national debt to pay for tax cuts and boosts to military spending, among other Trump priorities — while cutting funding to a slew of climate, health care and safety net programs. Trump told reporters that Musk is 'upset' because the bill would end electric vehicle tax cuts. Musk's clapback: 'Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.' It's only gone downhill from there. As of publication, Trump had threatened to terminate Musk's 'Billions and Billions of Dollars' in government contracts, Musk had accused Trump of being in the 'Epstein files' and coined the term 'Big Ugly Bill,' and Tesla stock had plummeted 14 percent. That's quite a turnaround from last week, when Musk was still Trump's special adviser and the two were celebrating their government-slashing efforts. Republicans — who are working to corral enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill — have begun to ascribe Musk's attacks to his displeasure over how the bill would affect his bottom line. 'I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' Trump wrote today on Truth Social. Another CO2 milestone fallsThe level of climate-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere broke another record in May, reaching a concentration never before seen in recorded history, writes Chelsea Harvey. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gathered the data and announced the findings on social media but declined to put out a press release, breaking with precedent. The atmospheric concentration breached 430 parts per million last month, 50 percent higher than preindustrial levels, as the world continues to burn fossil fuels that emit planet-warming pollution. The last time CO2 concentration was that high was likely 30 million years ago, when the climate was vastly different. EPA v. its own AIA new generative AI tool the Environmental Protection Agency is using says climate change is real and dangerous, putting it at odds with the Trump administration as the agency aims to repeal regulations and sideline climate science, Jean Chemnick writes. The internal tool was rolled out to staff May 22, along with instructions to staff to check the tool's answers for 'accuracy and bias.' While the tool was introduced under Trump, a memo to EPA staff noted it has 'been in the works for some time.' In Other News Green business: Boston Metal is finding success using a novel process to make steel that creates no carbon dioxide emissions. Gassed up: Data center developers in Texas are building their own gas-fired generation in their rush to get online. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Federal scientists and companies are embracing AI to find new sources of oil, gas and minerals. Forest preservation could worsen climate change because of the prevalence of wildfires, a United Nations-affiliated report says. EPA is preparing to let oil and gas operations miss compliance deadlines under a Biden-era methane rule. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
