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Is history repeating itself? The last time a technology boom drove a surge in gas generation, it didn’t turn out so well, but that’s not stopping investors from pouring billions into new and expanded thermal generation.
Here are the numbers that jumped out from some of the biggest stories of the week.
By the Numbers
$1.93 million/MW
The price gas power merger and acquisitions have reached in some markets, according to energy analytics firm Enverus. The artificial intelligence boom, along with expectations of increased manufacturing and electrification, is driving a surge in natural gas investment, but thermal generation remains risky, some analysts say, drawing parallels to the dot com bubble at the turn of the century.
26 GW
About how much generating capacity the U.S. added between January and August of this year, led by solar and wind, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s monthly infrastructure report. That figure does not include storage. In February, the Energy Information Administration said it expected the U.S. grid to add 63 GW of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity, including storage, up from 48.6 GW in 2024. China installed between 430 GW and 470 GW in 2024, 356 GW of which was from non-hydro renewables.
48.7%
The Institute for Supply Management’s latest Purchasing Managers’ Index for the month of October, a key metric for measuring the health of the manufacturing sector. A PMI index below 50% indicates an industry in contraction. Manufacturing, along with artificial intelligence and electrification, is one of the main drivers behind projections of surging load growth in some parts of the country. October marked the 8th consecutive month of contraction for the sector.
$84/MWh
How much Dominion now expects the levelized cost of electricity generated by its 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to be after the One Bill Beautiful Bill Act cut renewable energy tax credits. That estimate is within the $80/MWh to $90/MWh range Dominion envisioned in its 2021 initial filing and would support a net monthly customer bill savings of 63 cents, the utility says. The project is still scheduled to come online in late 2026 or early 2027, executives say.
949
Miles of new 765-kV lines included in an $8.6 billion transmission plan approved by the Southwest Power Pool board of directors this week. SPP says its planned 765-kV regional transmission “backbone” will be able to carry four times the power its existing 345 kV lines do, and do so more efficiently. 765 kV transmission lines are the highest operating voltages in the U.S. but are new in both SPP and in the neighboring Electric Reliability Council of Texas market.
