Category: Electric Light and Power

Data Centers’ Hunger for Energy Could Raise All Electric Bills

Individuals and small businesses may end up bearing some of the cost of grid upgrades needed for large electricity users, a new report found.
Trump Wants to Reverse Coal’s Long Decline. It Won’t be Easy.

Coal has been displaced by cheap and plentiful natural gas and the rapid growth of wind and solar energy — forces that President Trump will struggle to do away with.
Rewiring Britain for an Era of Clean Energy

National Grid, which owns the high-voltage electricity grid in England and Wales, is rebuilding it in a government-backed drive to attract investment and tackle climate change.
How U.S. Airports Like Pittsburgh’s Generate Electricity On Site to Avoid Heathrow-Like Outages

Pittsburgh International Airport avoids power outages and reduces its energy costs by generating electricity on site using natural gas and solar panels.
Edison’s Power Lines Were Under Strain 14 Hours Before Eaton Fire

New data suggests there were faults on Southern California Edison’s transmission lines early on Jan. 7 before the fire started that evening.
How A.I. Companies Are Turning Into Energy Companies

The race to build the best artificial intelligence products is resulting in a worldwide search for new energy sources to power tech giants’ data centers. Karen Weise, a technology correspondent for The New York Times, describes how these A.I.-specific data centers are more power-intensive and how tech companies are investing in new ways to bring more electricity to the grid.
Solar Energy, Criticized by Trump, Claims Big U.S. Gain in 2024

The added capacity for the year was the most from any single source in more than two decades.
How a Classic French Dish Is Squeezed by Lingering Inflation

Businesses across Europe, including restaurants in Paris that make the dish, are being squeezed by sticky inflation.
L.A. County Sues Southern California Edison over Eaton Fire

The county says electrical equipment owned by the electric utility is to blame for the blaze that killed 17 people and destroyed 9,400 buildings.
California’s Push for Electric Trucks Sputters Under Trump

The state will no longer require some truckers to shift away from diesel semis but hopes that subsidies can keep dreams of pollution-free big rigs alive.
Natural Gas Could Get Priority Over Renewable Energy in Largest U.S. Grid

Federal regulators approved a proposal from the nation’s largest grid operator that will give primacy to 50 new power plants, a decision to help meet the country’s growing electricity demand.
Chevron Wants to Tap Into A.I. Boom by Selling Electricity to Data Centers

The oil company plans to build natural gas power plants that will be directly connected to data centers used by technology companies for artificial intelligence and other services.