Electric Utilities

Louisiana utility regulators deny a group of environmental lawyers' claims Request for Investigation Earthjustice, a law group, said on Wednesday that a $27 billion Meta Platforms Data Center 'deal was being negotiated. Earthjustice sent a request to the Louisiana Public Service Commission last month asking them to investigate project financing. The group argued that this could lead to unfair costs being passed on the utility customers. The motion focused on Meta's proposed Richland Parish data center project, where three new gas-fired energy plants would be built. Earthjustice's petition stated that Meta had signed a new financial agreement for the data...

Pinnacle West Capital announced a 'profit' in the fourth quarter on?Wednesday compared to a loss a year ago, as it benefited from a robust demand for electricity and higher rates of electricity. U.S. utilities are seeking to increase 'customer power bills' in 2026, to fund infrastructure improvements. The country's electrical grids are facing extreme weather conditions and a growing demand from industry electrification as well as data-center expansions. Rate case proceedings are used by regulated utilities to determine how much customers will have to pay for electricity, natural gas, steam, and private water. Pinnacle West also reported that it benefited...

NRG Energy beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter profit on Tuesday as increasing U.S. consumption of electricity has prompted the 'independent power producer' to essentially double its generating footprint. The U.S. power demand is expected to reach new highs by 2025 as major tech companies increase consumption in their rapidly expanding data centres. Some of these data centers use as much power as an entire town. NRG, along with a number of independent power producers, are looking to capitalize on the surge in data center demand by selling power from their existing generation and building brand new power...

Google, owned by Alphabet, has stepped up its efforts to ensure power for its data centers in the United States. On Tuesday, it signed separate agreements with AES Corp. and Xcel Energy. Big Tech firms have ?been scouring for new, ?reliable ?and cleaner energy sources to power their rapidly expanding data centers, which have been driven by increasing use of artificial-intelligence applications. Utilities have invested heavily in upgrading the grid to meet the surge in demand. However, this has led to concerns over the increasing cost of customer bills. Xcel has entered into an agreement with Google to power its...

Constellation Energy, a major U.S. energy company, beat Wall Street estimates for its fourth-quarter adjusted profits on Tuesday. The rise in electricity demand from data centers helped to send shares up by 4% during morning trading. The Energy Information Administration stated in its short-term energy outlook last month that the U.S. is expecting to increase power consumption through 2027, after having set a record for a second consecutive year in 2025. The rapid construction of AI and crypto data centers, as well as the shift by households and businesses to electric heating and transport, are driving much of the demand....

Xcel Energy announced on 'Tuesday that it had partnered with Google in order to 'power the tech giant’s new data centre in Pine Island, Minnesota. while contributing 1,900 Megawatts a new - clean energy to the grid. The U.S. is expecting its power consumption to rise rapidly in the coming years, mainly due to the rapid expansion of data centers, which are used for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Utility companies have invested billions of dollars to upgrade the electric grid in order to meet this demand. However, this has led some customers to worry about their?bills increasing. Xcel stated that...

NRG Energy's?fourth quarter profit surpassed Wall Street expectations on Tuesday as the utility was aided by rising?demand for power. This sent?its shares up 1.7% in premarket trading. The U.S. demand for power reached record levels in 2025, and it is expected to continue growing as major tech companies expand their data centers. Some of these use as much energy as an entire city. NRG will 'benefit from the surge of power demand in Texas. It is one of the largest data center markets across the country. CEO Larry 'Coben stated that the company has doubled its footprint in terms of...

AES Corp. announced on Tuesday that it had signed a?20-year agreement with Google to?supply energy to the U.S. technology giant's Wilbarger County data center. AES has said that it also signed deals with energy generators which will be located?co-located to the new data centers and allow?Google?to expand its operations in order to meet the demand for 'its core services. The shares of the utility rose by 1.2% during premarket trading. U.S. ?utilities are racing to sign supply ?deals with data-center operators ?as the artificial-intelligence boom sparks a surge in power demand. However, the demand has stoked fears about rising power...

Constellation Energy, a major U.S. energy company, beat Wall Street expectations for its fourth-quarter adjusted profit on Tuesday. This was due to the rising demand for electricity from data centers. In premarket trading, shares of the company increased by 1.4%. The Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook said that the U.S. is likely to increase its power consumption this year and next after setting a new record in 2025. The rapid expansion of data centers to support artificial intelligence services and cryptocurrency is a major factor in the surge of demand. Other factors include a move by businesses and homes...

Keidanren has postponed a meeting with activist investor, Elliott Investment Management, scheduled for next month, a spokesman from the lobby group announced?on Tuesday. Last month, it was reported that the meeting planned for March 5 would be an opportunity to have an Elliott portfolio manager responsible for Japanese equity investments outline their investment strategy and how they engage with companies. This would then be followed by a "frank exchange" of views. Keidanren's official declined to elaborate on the reasons for postponing the meeting. Elliott didn't respond to our request for comment. Elliott is a major player in Japan. It has...

Dominion Energy's annual profit forecast was below Wall Street expectations on Monday. However, the utility increased its capital spending plan for five years by almost 30% to meet a soaring electricity demand. U.S. utilities are adding billions to their capital budgets due to extreme weather conditions, and the demand for more power from data centers that use artificial intelligence?and cryptocurrency. Dominion Energy, based in Richmond, Virginia, said that it had contracted for nearly 48,5?gigawatts (GW) of data center capacities as of December. This is an increase of 1.4 GW since September. Customers include Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Equinix as well...

The U.S. Ambassador to Portugal has called on Lisbon to replace its F-16 fighter planes with Lockheed Martin's F-35. He said that the stealth aircraft would allow for interoperability between Europe's "top-tier" air forces. John Arrigo, the U.S. ambassador to Portugal, told CNN Portugal on Sunday evening that he would use his business expertise to help Portugal increase its defence spending from 2% to NATO's target 5% by 2035. Arrigo said, "F-35 fighters are the best - they're fifth-generation stealth aircraft that will get them (the Portuguese Air Force), into the Champions League in the EU," Nuno Melo, the Portuguese...

Is this the Art of the Deal, Gregor Stuart Hunter? U.S. president Donald Trump warned that trade partners should not "play games" and back out of recently agreed trade agreements after the Supreme Court ruled against his 'emergency tariffs. Some foreign governments want to check if they still have the same terms that were originally negotiated. Trump will "come out smokin'" in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, after the tariff setback. He may even take aim at the Supreme Court Justices who are seated there. However, governments in Asia still have concerns. Japan wants to know if...

Prices for two rare earths that are crucial to making super-strong magnets used in EVs or defence equipment have risen on the back of a?firm supply and a?firm demand. This is above an unprecedented price floor set by the U.S. As long as the price of MP Materials' neodymium & praseodymium remains above $110 per kilogram, the U.S. Government will not be required to subsidise the company. The price increase to $123 per kg, which is the highest level since July 2022 will also help other rare earth companies that Western governments are hoping will be able reduce their reliance...

A Trump administration official who is familiar with the plan revealed that President Donald Trump will launch a?strategic critical minerals stockpile? with $12 billion of seed money from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The investment is a 'last ditch effort by Washington to counter what they perceive as Chinese price manipulation for minerals such as lithium, nickel, and rare earths, which are vital to items like electric vehicles, high-tech weapons, and many other products. Bloomberg News reported that the project, Project Vault will combine private financing with a $10 Billion loan from the EXIM Bank in order to stockpile minerals for...

Tokyo Electric -Power announced on Thursday that its subsidiary TEPCO Power grid will "sell" up to 26 million shares of its Kandenko affiliate as part restructuring efforts to improve the financial health of its company and pursue growth. The sale of shares, which is valued at approximately 150 billion yen (979 million dollars) based on Kandenko’s closing price on Thursday, forms part of Tepco’s plan, announced on Monday, to raise?about?200 billion yen by selling assets over the next three-year period. Tepco stated that the proceeds will be used to?capital invest in order to maintain a stable supply of electricity and...

On Saturday, almost 4,000 flights in the U.S. were cancelled ahead of a monster storm that already has?cut off power to thousands utility customers as far as Texas? and threatens to paralyze east states with heavy snowfall. Forecasters predicted that a monster winter storm, which has already 'cut power to thousands of utility customers as far west as Texas,' and threatened to paralyze eastern states with heavy snowfall, will sweep across the eastern two thirds of the country on Sunday, and continue into next week. Donald Trump, who called the storms historic, approved federal disaster declarations on Saturday in South...

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), after completing inspections, will restart a reactor on Wednesday at the?Kashiwazaki - Kariwa?nuclear plant. This is its first move of this kind since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. TEPCO announced that it would bring online the 1,36 gigawatt reactor (GW) No. 6 after 7 pm (1000 GMT). The reactor No. 6, which is one of seven in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa's nuclear power plant, can produce 8.2 GW at full capacity. TEPCO investigated an alarm malfunction. TEPCO reported that the equipment was working normally as of early Wednesday morning. Reactor No. Reactor No. Reactor No. Reactor No. 7...

NHK, the public broadcaster, reported Monday that Tokyo Electric Power has delayed its'restart of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa nuclear power plants, which was originally scheduled for 'January 20th. TEPCO would have had to restart its reactors for the first time since Fukushima Daiichi was struck by a powerful tsunami in 2011. The company planned to restart Unit No.6 in Kashiwazaki Kariwa on January 20th and Unit No. The company had planned to restart Unit No.6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa on Jan 20 and Unit?No. NHK, citing its sources, stated that the delay was caused by an alarm malfunction which occurred during equipment tests...

The nuclear watchdog in Japan said that it will order Chubu Electric Power on Wednesday to submit a report detailing?falsified data? and pause the review of its utility's application?to restart?its only atomic power plant. The Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan (NRA) warned that it would take a harsh action against Chubu Electric after discovering the utility had manipulated data used for the reviews of its No. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan had?previously?warned against a severe response towards Chubu Electric, including scrapping the review altogether after it was revealed that data used in the reviews of reactors No. Hamaoka,...

Experts say that the Japanese plan to grant authorities the authority to order foreign investors retroactively to divest acquisitions aims to protect major companies and supply chains. However, it is unlikely to curb increased M&A activity, they add. Japan proposed Wednesday amendments to its foreign investment screening laws that would give authorities the option to force foreigners into selling investments they deem to be a risk to national or economic security. The proposals are part of a push by the Japanese government to reduce risks associated with a?an?inflow?of foreign money into Japan's economy and to maintain control over its key...

The European Commission announced on Monday that it had opened an investigation to determine whether the public support that Czech Republic plans to provide for?the construction and operation of two new nucleonic units is in compliance with EU State Aid rules. After EDF France's appeals were rejected, the Czech Republic's Competition Authority in April cleared the path for the signing of contracts with South Korea for two units in Dukovany worth at least $400 billion Czech crowns ($19.30billion) after they?rejected their appeals. In a press release, the Commission stated that it had "doubts" about the 'appropriateness' and 'proportionality? of the...

An official from the China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC) research arm said that China would begin commercial operation of the Linglong One small modular reactor in the first half of 2026. The APC100 reactor, also known as APC100 was the first SMR approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2016. The first project to use the Linglong One technology, CNNC's project on China's island of Hainan began in 2021. Wang Zhenqing of the China Institute for 'Nuclear Industrial Strategy', spoke at an international energy conference in Beijing. SMRs can be built faster and smaller than traditional reactors, and...

Swakop Uranium is a subsidiary owned by the China General Nuclear Power Group. It has entered into a joint venture agreement with Namibia’s water utility, NamWater to build Namibia's second desalination plant near Swakopmund. The plant is only the second one of its kind in Africa. It will help to bolster water supply to the country's biggest uranium mining operation, Husab. In a joint statement released on Tuesday, partners of the joint venture said that negotiations had ended successfully. The project implementation phase will now begin. Swakop Uranium holds 70% of the stake, and NamWater has the rest. According to...