Generation
-
Getty Images
Transmission drives Exelon’s capital spending plan to $41.3B
Exelon has a “line of sight” on $12 billion to $17 billion of transmission buildout over the next 10 years that isn’t included in its current capital plan, a company official said.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 13, 2026 -
Ron Jenkins via Getty Images
AEP contracted large load pipeline doubles to 56 GW
American Electric Power’s data center pipeline in Texas surged to 36 GW by the end of December, from 13 GW in the third quarter.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 13, 2026 -
Getty Images
300-MW Ameren fast-track project hits snag on DOE transmission funding uncertainty
It’s unclear if the U.S. Department of Energy will help fund a set of 345-kV projects in the Great Plains region, leaving Ameren Missouri in doubt about potential interconnection costs for its project.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 12, 2026 -
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
TVA board, remade by Trump, votes to keep coal plants open
There has been a “significant change in the regulatory outlook, particularly for coal, and that creates both the opportunity and the need for us to revisit these decisions,” said TVA CFO Tom Rice.
By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 12, 2026 -
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
OpinionElectrification is outpacing investment. A federal trust fund could close the gap.
A federal trust fund for energy infrastructure could facilitate grid expansion and maintenance, writes Zane Kinsky, a Clean Energy Leadership Institute 2025 Fellow.
By Zane Kinsky • Feb. 11, 2026 -
Getty Images
Growing demand will be met mainly by solar: EIA
The Energy Information Administration expects solar generation to jump 17% this year and an additional 23% in 2027.
By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 11, 2026 -
Retrieved from Janet Butler/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
FERC rejects AEP request to sell capacity in upcoming auction
Critics argued AEP utilities were trying to offload capacity they acquired to serve data centers that didn’t materialize. FERC appeared to echo that rationale, saying AEP’s “problem” is simply excess capacity resulting from “its own business decisions.”
By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 11, 2026 -
Opinion
The coming age of compact fusion: local power for a data-hungry world
The question now is not whether fusion will matter, but how we build it small, fast and local, writes Itay Gissis, vice president of R&D for nT-Tao: “The goal is not to build a bigger star, but to bring the power of the stars within reach.”
By Itay Gissis • Feb. 10, 2026 -
EPA extends coal ash landfill monitoring, cleanup deadlines
The Environmental Protection Agency’s action is part of a broad push by the Trump administration to support fossil-fueled power plants.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 10, 2026 -
The image by chaddavis.photography is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Natural gas installations more than doubled in 2025: FERC
The U.S. installed around 4.2 GW of natural gas capacity last year from January through November, more than double the 1.9 GW installed in the same period in 2024.
By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 9, 2026 -
Getty Images
OpinionCongressional ‘grid reliability’ bill is like duct tape on a cracked dam
Propping up expensive, dirty power plants threatens consumers with higher prices while punting systemic solutions further into the future, write colleagues from Energy Innovation.
By Mike O’Boyle and Silvio Marcacci • Feb. 9, 2026 -
Courtesy of Basin Electric
Basin Electric Power Cooperative awards contract for $4B North Dakota gas plant
PCL Construction says it expects to finish the first unit of the power plant in early 2029 and the second unit about one year later in 2030.
By Sebastian Obando • Feb. 6, 2026 -
Permission granted by Consumers Energy
Consumers Energy plans over $17B in capital spending in next 5 years
Executives did not provide a substantive update on the DOE’s “emergency” orders to continue running a 1.6-GW coal plant the company had planned to retire, but they hinted that they would eventually shut it down to “drive cost savings.”
By Brian Martucci • Feb. 6, 2026 -
Getty Images
EPA reconsiders Good Neighbor Plan that limited power plant emissions
The agency seeks to roll back the Biden-era program to cut ozone-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides from power plants and industrial facilities. This pollution often affects downwind states’s ability to meet Clean Air Act requirements.
By Jeffrey Kinney • Feb. 6, 2026 -
Nathan Howard via Getty Images
Manufacturers say AEP Ohio still inflating data center demand after halving forecast
AEP cut its large load forecast by more than 50% after regulators approved a new large load tariff. But the trade group said it does not reflect PJM’s load forecast methodology.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 6, 2026 -
Tasos Katopodis via Getty Images
Xcel Energy pursuing large load tariffs in 4 states amid data center growth
The company expects to sign contracts on 6 GW of data centers by the end of 2027, CEO Bob Frenzel said. Xcel is partnering with NextEra Energy and GE Vernova to speed its development of new generation.
By Emma Penrod • Feb. 6, 2026 -
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
Utilities face cost-recovery risk as infrastructure costs, demand rise: Morningstar
With metal costs soaring, utilities will pay more for key grid parts such as transmission lines, distribution feeders and transformers, analysts with the ratings agency said.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 5, 2026 -
Retrieved from House Energy and Commerce Committee.
House lawmakers press FERC on affordability, reliability and gas
Commissioners cited inadequate transmission infrastructure as a major concern. A gas-fired project in the PJM Interconnection needs $1 billion in grid upgrades to come online, said Commissioner David Rosner.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 4, 2026 -
Brett Carlsen via Getty Images
TVA pursues 6.2 GW of new generation, citing data centers, population growth
Data center demand “climbed to 18% of our industrial load in 2025, and we are projecting data center growth to double in our region by 2030,” said CEO Don Moul.
By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 4, 2026 -
Alex Wong/Getty Images via Getty Images
Tariffs lifted nonresidential construction costs 3.2% in 2025
Trade policy will “continue to put upward pressure on certain materials” in 2026, said the chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors. In December, copper wire and cable jumped 22% year over year. Iron and steel were up 12%.
By Sebastian Obando • Feb. 3, 2026 -
Joe Raedle via Getty Images
Gas, electricity prices spiked year over year in November: EIA
The residential price of electricity rose 5.5% in November compared with November 2024, while the price of gas rose 88.5%, according to the Energy Information Administration.
By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 2, 2026 -
Courtesy of Google
OpinionThe AI boom needs power. Tariffs can make it fair.
Large load tariffs can be used to deliver community benefits, lock in clean, reliable power and strengthen energy resilience, writes Ava Community Energy’s Olivia Vasquez.
By Olivia Vasquez • Feb. 2, 2026 -
Coal plant owners say DOE ‘emergency’ order to run it violates Constitution
By mandating the generator’s availability to operate, the order “constitutes both a physical taking and a regulatory taking” of property by the government without just compensation or due process, they said in a request for rehearing.
By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 2, 2026 -
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
2026 US power sector outlook
Read Utility Dive's road map to the year ahead for FERC, affordability, renewable energy, distributed energy resources and more.
By Meris Lutz • Jan. 30, 2026 -
Getty Images
Deep DiveCustomers, don’t expect electric bill relief in 2026: ‘The cake is baked.’
Energy affordability has long been a problem for the poorest Americans, but now middle-income families are starting to feel the squeeze.
By Robert Walton • Jan. 30, 2026
