Dive Brief: Utility regulators on Tuesday approved Georgia Power’s 2025 integrated resource plan, which calls for keeping coal plants online to serve anticipated data center demand. It also includes up to 4,000 MW of renewable energy, 1,500 MW of battery storage and a smaller amount of new gas capacity. Georgia Power said it anticipates approximately 8,500 MW of load growth over the next six years. The IRP allows for the Public Service Commission to monitor that growth, with the utility updating its load forecast and making quarterly filings regarding large load developments. Clean energy and consumer advocates were critical of the plan’s reliance on coal and gas, and an energy savings target that has not been updated in years. Positive aspects of the IRP around solar, storage and customer programs “are sadly blunted by the continued investment in fossil fuel infrastructure,” said Heather Pohnan, senior energy policy manager with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, in a statement.  Dive Insight: The Atlanta metropolitan area is one of the hottest data center markets in the country right now, and Georgia Power’s long-term plan aims to meet the growing demand. But growth projections remain uncertain and critics of the IRP say it could leave customers on the hook for higher bills if the demand doesn’t materialize. Approval of the plan “locks in major investments based on uncertain assumptions about future data center demand, while failing to deliver meaningful benefits or cost relief to existing residential and small business customers,” said Patrick King, Georgia policy advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council, in a statement. “The plan prioritizes speculative growth.” Data centers are driving U.S. electricity demand rapidly higher, but observers say final construction of new facilities is likely to be a fraction of what has been proposed.  Astrid Atkinson, a former Google senior director of

Linda Margison is technical advisor, Emerging Energy Resources at Hoosier Energy. Ryan Henderson is senior manager, Emerging Energy Resources at Hoosier Energy. Linda Stevens is chief strategy officer, Smart Grid and Smart City at OATI. School buses are the backbone of public transportation in the United States, with about 500,000 carrying half the nation’s children to and from school daily. In 2024, the number of those buses being converted to electric school buses (ESBs) grew to about 12,000 — or 2.5% of the total fleet — including those funded, ordered, delivered or in operation. Early adopters of ESBs in rural areas have identified five actions or insights that would have drastically improved their experience. Whether you are exploring fleet electrification or are ready to move forward, this article aims to inform your decisions about where to start, what equipment and software are necessary, and whether selling stored energy back to the electric grid is feasible. Getting the utility involved early Before considering the adoption of electric school buses, engage with the local utility early to assess the readiness of the bus depot’s electrical infrastructure. A key factor is whether the existing transformers can support the increased electrical load required to charge the buses. Charging large-capacity batteries imposes significant demands on the grid, and in many instances, the infrastructure may only be adequate with upgrades. Collaborating with the utility from the onset helps prevent unplanned expenses and aids in strategic planning for a clearer understanding of total project costs, necessary permits and timelines. Insight #1. Partner with your local utility provider as early as possible. Having the utility identify your infrastructure capacity and any improvements needed is the basis for purchasing appropriate equipment and budgeting the project cost. The utility also may offer rebates or incentive programs. Insight #2. Consider using

As the eastern half of the United States baked under record heat late last month and electricity demand reached multi-year peaks, it looked like the grid might succumb.  Grid operators and public officials scrambled to avoid a disaster, ordering generators to defer maintenance and customers to conserve energy. The PJM Interconnection served about 161 GW of load on June 24, its highest demand since 2011 and not far off its all-time high of 165.6 GW. But aside from scattered outages caused by heat-damaged electrical delivery equipment in parts of the New York City area, Eastern U.S. grids largely weathered the heatwave.  Grid experts — and at least one grid operator — say at least some of the credit goes to distributed energy resource aggregations and flexible loads dispatching at higher rates than ever before. Those “virtual” or distributed power plants helped keep the lights on as generator reserve margins plummeted. “PJM said that demand response was essential,” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Mark Christie said in a June 30 press conference focused on the need for resource adequacy amid rising load forecasts. “That 161-GW peak would have been higher without DR, so DR is an important part of the mix too.” Major virtual power plant operators matched near-record peak loads with unprecedented dispatch activity. Sunrun dispatched more than 340 MW from customer-sited batteries on the evening of June 24. The same day, EnergyHub shed 900 MW of peak load and shifted 3.5 GWh of energy away from the highest-demand periods. Uplight managed about 350 MW of flexible load in 45 dispatch events across 16 utility programs over the course of the heat dome week.  Supportive state policy, expectations for rising power demand and simple economics are pushing once-skeptical utilities to embrace VPPs, said Hannah Bascom, chief growth officer at Uplight.

Three oil fields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq were attacked by drones on Wednesday, adding to a spate of hits on energy installations in the area this week. Two drones attacked the DNO ASA-operated Peshkabir field around 6am local time, the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism in Kurdistan said in a statement. Another drone hit the Tawke project about an hour later, it said. A third attack was reported at a field in Ain Sifni in the north, the Kurdistan Ministry of Natural Resources said, adding the strikes caused significant damage to infrastructure. DNO suspended output at its projects, and would restart once an assessment is completed, the company said. Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd., which operates the Shaikan field that produced a little over 40,000 barrels a day last year, shut operations as a precaution even though the assets haven’t been hit, the company said. The Kurdistan region hasn’t been shipping any crude to global markets since an export pipeline to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast was shut over two years ago following a payments dispute. The vast majority of Iraq’s oil production comes from the country’s south.  Attacks on energy infrastructure aren’t uncommon in the north, which the Kurdistan administration often links on Iran-affiliated groups. No one has claimed responsibility for the latest spree. On Tuesday, the Sarsang field operated by US firm HKN Energy was shut after a strike caused an explosion and fire, while another project called Khurmala was targeted by two drones earlier.  The US embassy in Iraq condemned the attacks in a statement on Tuesday. The Tawke field produced 29,153 barrels a day last year and Peshkabir’s output was 49,462 a day, according to DNO’s website.  The Sarsang field pumped about 30,000 barrels a day of oil on average in the first quarter, according

Global oil inventories have swollen at a rapid clip in recent months, but given the bulk of the increase has been in the Asia-Pacific, prices have been able to hold their ground for now, according to Morgan Stanley. While total stockpiles surged by about 235 million barrels in the five months to the end of June, just 10% of that has been in the OECD, the region that’s “critical for price formation,” analysts including Martijn Rats said in a July 15 note, which posed the question “Is the oil market actually tight? Or not?” Global benchmark Brent has gained ground so far this month, after advances in May and June, despite the drag from the US-led trade war and a major unwind of OPEC+ supply curbs. Although there are widespread expectations for a global glut in the coming quarters, crude’s near-term structure — with prompt prices above those further out — suggests current market tightness. “What bridges this apparent contradiction is the uneven regional distribution of global inventory builds,” the analysts said. “Most of the inventory builds have taken place in locations that have less impact on prices, whilst inventories in key pricing centers have remained unusually tight – the builds have been in the Pacific, but Brent is priced in the Atlantic.” Morgan Stanley cautioned that once the peak summer-demand season ends, a sizable surplus would be on the horizon again, although the bank still expected that only a “modest share” would show up in OECD stockpiles. These were seen rising by no more than 165 million barrels over 12 months, returning holdings to 2017 levels, when Brent fluctuated around $65 a barrel, the analysts said. Brent price forecasts were retained at $65 a barrel in the fourth quarter, and $60 for each of the four quarters in 2026.

WASHINGTON— The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the start of a new pilot program to accelerate the development of advanced nuclear reactors and strengthen domestic supply chains for nuclear fuel. The Department issued a Request for Application (RFA) and is seeking qualified U.S. companies to build and operate nuclear fuel production lines using the DOE authorization process. This initiative will help end America’s reliance on foreign sources of enriched uranium and critical materials, while opening the door for private sector investment in America’s nuclear renaissance. Today’s action directly supports President Trump’s executive orders to reform nuclear reactor testing at the Department and deploy nuclear reactor technologies for national security, and establishes a domestic nuclear fuel supply chain for testing new reactors. “America has the resources and the expertise to lead the world in nuclear energy development, but we need secure domestic supply chains to fuel this rapidly growing energy source and achieve a true nuclear energy renaissance,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “The Trump Administration is accelerating innovation, not regulation, and leveraging partnerships with the private sector to safely fuel and test new reactor designs that will unleash more reliable and affordable energy for American consumers.” Background: DOE launched a new reactor pilot program in June 2025 to expedite the testing of advanced reactor designs that will be authorized by the Department at sites located outside of the National Laboratories. DOE is currently reviewing potential applicants and anticipates selecting at least three advanced reactor designs later this summer that have the potential to achieve criticality by July 4, 2026. The United States currently lacks the sufficient domestic nuclear fuel resources to meet projected demand. DOE is relying on the same authority used to expedite testing to jumpstart fuel line development and rebuild America’s nuclear fuel production base. Applicants