CCS generation projects are coming. New ways to track and claim their emissions must follow.

Clean energy buyers need a mechanism to claim the low-carbon attributes of carbon capture and storage to advance this method of reducing CO2 emissions from electric generation, NorthBridge Group experts write.

By Iain Kaplan and Gustaf Michaelsen • Dec. 12, 2025

The week in 5 numbers: DOJ ramps up antitrust action, Texas’ grid growth may slow

Plus, the turbine backlog that isn’t going away.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 12, 2025

Explore the Trendline➔

Electricity Supply and Demand

After nearly two decades of flat demand, U.S. electricity consumption reached an all-time high in 2024 and is expected to continue rising. This trendline brings together the best of Utility Dive’s coverage of emerging trends in supply and demand and the decisions being made today that will impact the power system for years to come. 

By Utility Dive staff

FERC poised to issue decision on colocating large loads in PJM

The agency’s plan to issue an order at its Dec. 18 open meeting is likely a boon for nuclear and gas-fired power plant owners that want to sell electricity to colocated data centers, analysts said.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 12, 2025

GE Vernova expects to end 2025 with an 80-GW gas turbine backlog that stretches into 2029

CEO Scott Strazik said he expects gas turbine reservations to be sold out through 2030 by the end of 2026. Wind remains the weakest of the company’s three business lines.

By Brian Martucci • Dec. 11, 2025

EIA cuts 2026 power generation forecast by more than a percentage point

The Energy Information Administration revised down its projection based on how much large load electricity demand has come online so far this year, particularly in Texas, “and its implications for near-term growth.”

By Diana DiGangi • Dec. 10, 2025

NextEra aims to build up to 30 GW in data center power supply hubs by 2035

As part of that effort, NextEra Energy Resources and Basin Electric Power Cooperative are working on a 1.5-GW gas-fired project to serve data centers in North Dakota.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 9, 2025

Corporate buyers have contracted for 20.4 GW of ‘clean’ energy so far this year: CEBA

Clean Energy Buyers Association members are willing to pay their “fair share” to get connected to the grid and have, in many cases, embraced a new class of large load tariffs, CEO Rich Powell said.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 9, 2025

PJM, others challenge large load interconnection filings at FERC

Power producer and data center trade groups, the PJM Interconnection and utilities urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject calls for action on the grid operator’s large load rules.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 9, 2025

With antitrust settlement, Constellation set to become largest US wholesale power provider

The agreement is the first settlement consent decree the DOJ’s antitrust division has filed in an electricity merger in 14 years. It came days after the U.S. solicitor general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a separate antitrust case against Duke Energy to proceed.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 8, 2025

US Energy Department offers $134M to boost rare earth recovery projects

Rare earths, a specific critical mineral group of metals, are vital components in advanced manufacturing, defense systems and high-performance magnets used in power generation and electric motors.

By Antone Gonsalves • Dec. 8, 2025

The SPEED Act is an opportunity to align permitting policy with grid reality

Reform is overdue, and the House deserves credit for pushing it forward. But Congress should apply it to multistate transmission in its entirety, not in bits and pieces, says Christina Hayes, Grid Action executive director.

By Christina Hayes • Dec. 5, 2025

Rein in CWIP to protect ratepayers from bloated infrastructure costs: report

When utilities use “construction work in progress” accounting, “cost overruns become profit opportunities rather than financial penalties,” the authors of a Manhattan Institute brief said. They pointed to Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion as a prime example.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 5, 2025

The week in 5 numbers: Wind and solar are what’s for dinner

In other news, the Trump administration has fired shots at “established monopolist” Duke Energy as officials test antitrust tools in power markets, and a fight over capacity auctions highlights the risk of phantom data centers.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 5, 2025

US added 2 GW of solar in September, putting 2025 ahead of 2024 for new solar generation

Solar accounted for three-quarters of new generation installed so far this year, followed by wind at 13% and gas at 11%.

By Meris Lutz • Dec. 4, 2025

Google just backed carbon capture tech for data center energy providers. Will other tech giants follow?

The fast-growing electricity demands of data centers could be a game-changer for carbon capture technology in the U.S. power sector, say experts from the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines.

By Anna Littlefield, Simon Lomax and Morgan Bazilian • Dec. 4, 2025

US solicitor general tells Supreme Court to reject Duke Energy antitrust appeal

“This appeal arises out of a campaign by an established monopolist to stop a more efficient rival from disturbing its long-dominant hold over a regional energy market,” U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer said.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 4, 2025

Construction costs continue to climb as prices rise for steel, copper and switchgear

Price volatility is keeping procurement unpredictable for contractors, said Macrina Wilkins, senior research analyst at Associated General Contractors of America.

By Sebastian Obando • Dec. 3, 2025

FERC urged to reject AEP waiver request for PJM capacity sale

It appears American Electric Power’s utilities want to offload capacity they acquired to serve data centers that didn’t materialize, Monitoring Analytics and the PJM Power Providers Group said.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 2, 2025

MISO begins reviewing 6.1 GW — 70% of it gas — in fast-track interconnection study

The grid operator’s Expedited Resource Addition Study process has grown to 11.2 GW, with an additional 18 GW seeking to join the initiative.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 2, 2025

Utilities, regulators look to accelerate pilots to achieve speed-to-innovation

Stakeholders say clear cost limits, timelines and parameters for scaling can overcome the inertia of a traditionally risk-averse industry.

By Herman K. Trabish • Dec. 1, 2025

Power plants in SPP can expand up to 20% under new FERC-approved fast-track review

Developers must show that the necessary financing and equipment has been secured and that the project can be online within five years.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 1, 2025

Tariffs continue to weigh on manufacturing as PMI index shows contraction

“We do not see anything on the horizon that’s going to turn the ship until there is more certainty ... with the legality of the tariffs,” said Susan Spence, chair of the ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

By Sara Samora • Dec. 1, 2025

Residential electricity prices continue rise, up 7.4% in September: EIA

Some industry sources say the rise in prices is a function of generation capacity constraints, while others cite transmission and fuel costs. No one sees a near-term solution. 

By Meris Lutz • Nov. 26, 2025

No more PJM data centers unless they can be reliably served: market monitor

The PJM Interconnection’s market monitor urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to rule that large data centers can only come online if the grid operator can still meet reliability metrics.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 26, 2025

FERC urged to reject 370-MW NorthWestern Colstrip PPA

The Montana Environmental Information Center contends the power purchase agreement with Mercuria could harm NorthWestern Energy’s ratepayers.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 25, 2025