The U.S. solar industry installed 43.1 gigawatts-direct current (GWdc) of capacity in 2025, down 14% from 2024. GWdc is the nameplate rating of projects before they connect to the grid through inverters, which convert direct current (DC) to the alternating current (AC) our grid uses.

Two elements lower DC ratings to AC ratings. First, inverter losses account for around 4%.

More importantly, solar panels have specific output duration curves; there’s only a very small period when they produce maximum output, or even 80–90%. It’s uneconomical to buy an inverter that rarely hits full MW ratings, so developers resort to “solar clipping.” A 100 MWdc solar array might use inverters delivering a maximum of 80 MW of AC power to the grid. Typical DC/AC ratios are 1.1 to 1.25. You lose only a bit of energy on an MWh basis, but with significantly lower inverter costs. Therefore, MWdc numbers must be translated to the real-world MWac of the grid.

However, all capacity is not the same: a MW of solar capacity has two factors differentiating it from, say, a MW of gas-fired generation.

First, solar operates at a different capacity factor (a resource operating at 100% output all year would have a 100% capacity factor). An average panel capacity factor is 25%, compared to 60% for a combined-cycle gas plant. Because of this, it’s best to think in terms of energy generated. Location also matters; the capacity factor in Massachusetts is 16.5%, while in Arizona it is 29%.

One way to compare these is by energy output. Solar is now approaching 10% of total energy contributed to the grid. Additionally, solar arrays can be deployed faster than new turbines. With rising data center demand, we need all the electricity we can get.

(Source: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=67005)

Furthermore, solar is not dispatchable. It only generates power when the sun shines, while a gas plant can be called upon at any time, except during certain extreme weather events. In 2024, the mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM down-rated combined-cycle turbines from 96% to 79% in terms of their ability to meet peak demand during the worst hour of the worst day, and recently lowered that rating further to 74%. By comparison, PJM rates solar at only 7%.

When you hear about solar in terms of MWdc, it helps to reframe those values using the information above. Nonetheless, solar has grown considerably. In 2009, about 1 GW (1,000 MW) of solar was added in the U.S. That cumulative total is now 279 GWdc, and analyst Wood Mackenzie forecasts an increase of 490 GWdc over the next decade.

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Xcel Energy and Google recently announced a monumental clean energy agreement to power a new data center in Minnesota. While the deal includes massive wind and solar additions, the real game-changer is the energy storage component: 300 MW of iron-air batteries manufactured by Form Energy, boasting an unprecedented 100 hours of duration.

To put the scale into perspective, this single 30,000 MWh (30 GWh) project represents over 50% of the entire battery energy storage installed across the U.S. last year.

In our latest update, we unpack the details of this historic deal, including:

• The Iron-Air Technology: How the simple process of oxidizing (or rusting) cheap, abundant iron is being harnessed for grid-scale power.
• The Efficiency Trade-off: Why the market might be willing to accept a remarkably low 40% round-trip efficiency in exchange for the firm, dispatchable capacity required to balance variable wind and solar.
• Manufacturing Scale: How this single Google project will consume 60% of the 500 MW annual capacity at Form Energy's rehabilitated West Virginia steel mill.

Check out the full breakdown to explore whether this 100-hour battery is the key to solving the grid's resource adequacy challenges amid the booming, insatiable power demands of modern data centers.

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I have spell-checked and fixed the grammar in the document's content. I've focused on corrections that maintain the original meaning and structure of the text.-----The last few weeks have seen numerous announcements by U.S. fusion energy companies.

First, let’s briefly explain fusion. With fission, you take a heavy and unstable nucleus and split it into two smaller nuclei, releasing energy and creating a chain reaction.

With fusion, you cause two light nuclei (usually hydrogen isotopes) to collide and merge into a heavier nucleus (such as helium), releasing energy. The sun is an enormous fusion reactor.

For commercial fusion, you need three things: 1) temperatures high enough (around 50 to 150 million °C) so nuclei move fast and fuse frequently; 2) sufficient density creating more opportunities for nuclei to collide, fuse, and release energy; 3) the ability to confine the reaction, keeping the plasma dense and hot enough to yield a net energy output.

Plasma itself is a state of matter in which a gas is highly energized so its atoms have lost one or more electrons, creating a mix of free electrons and ions.

Confinement of plasma can be achieved with the inertia of a compressed pellet or by using magnetic fields.

The pellet confinement approach - inertial confinement fusion, or ICF – is achieved by compressing a small fuel pellet (typically hydrogen) rapidly and with high density so it fuses before it can break apart.

With magnetic confinement, two main technologies exist: 1) tokomaks – donut shaped devices combining magnets with electric currents in plasma to construct a sort of magnetic cage; and 2) stellerators – machines employing magnetic coils that yield twisted magnetic fields requiring less currents in the plasma. Companies are pursuing approaches along these two main lines, with the majority using the magnetic approach.

The major recent technical achievement was Helion’s announcement that it had achieved plasma temperatures of close to 150 million degrees C.

On the commercial front, Type One Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority are advancing licensing and construction plans for a 350 MW stellerator fusion plant, with groundbreaking as early as 2028.

Regarding licensing, Thea Energy received the first Department of Energy certification for its pilot stellerator design.

In financing, Avalanche Energy received $29 million in new investor funding, following significant breakthroughs in plasma physics, to support licensing, commercial-scale operations, and a test program. Avalanche is developing a tiny fusion reactor between 1 and 100 kW, “small enough to sit on your desk.”

Inertia Enterprises also raised almost $450 million to construct powerful lasers, as well as a power pla

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Let’s explore the complexity associated with keeping the lights, using New England as an example. The region is a bit of an outlier because of its proverbial end-of-the-pipeline location. Most days, its two pipelines are sufficient to heat homes and generate power. But late January to early February was unusually cold and there was not enough gas for both.

We’ll look at both energy and capacity issues. Capacity is the instantaneous amount of electricity produced or consumed. Energy is a function of capacity times the duration.

The hottest and coldest days are the ones in which we stress the grid the most – because of heating and cooling demands.

Annual grid peaks typically occur in summer, around 5:00 or 6:00 PM. So grids need enough generation to meet the peak demand, plus a back-up reserve margin, in case we lose a big power plant or transmission line.

Until recently, ISO-NE only paid attention to summer peaks, when the system maxed out. But recently, it began to shift its attention to the winter as well. First, because new loads, especially EVs and heat pumps, have higher winter demand. Second, there’s not enough gas to go around.

Fortunately, from a reliability perspective, the region’s dual fuel turbines can burn fuel oil or kerosene, and even jet fuel. So the focus shifts to energy, because the amount of stored liquid fuels is limited, though it can be replenished – especially if weather cooperates. During the frigid cold snap in 2017/2018, New England started with 5 million barrels of oil and ended with only one, in one case burning a million gallons in a single day.

During the extreme cold this January, fuel oil was the leading source of generation for several days, constituting over one-third of operating generation.

One new resource just commissioned was the 1200 MW New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission line, bringing hydropower from Quebec to Massachusetts with a contract for an annual 9,555,000 MWh. The NECEC line was expected to help address winter capacity and energy issues.

But last week, no power was flowing into New England over that line on the coldest days. On the frigid Sunday before the storm, power flowed for only a single hour, with the line operating at about half its capacity. The following day, at around 6:00 in the evening, electricity started flowing again at about 25% - this despite penalties for non-delivery.

However, the contract does provide a measure of relief to those oil supplies in the long run. Today, January 3rd, the temps are in the mid-20s. The region continues to burn oil, at 23%.

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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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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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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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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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