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Utility-scale generation, storage, transmission, and the markets that run them.
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PG&E launches Google-funded SHARE virtual power plant in the Bay Area
Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced SHARE (Smart Home Assets for Reliability and Efficiency) on September 3, 2026, a virtual power plant proof of concept it says will enroll nearly 21,000 existing home energy devices through Tesla, Sunrun, and Renew Home and deploy new Carrier battery-enabled heat pumps in Alameda and Santa Clara counties, with Google funding customer incentives, technology deployment, and program delivery. PG&E expects the resource to begin supporting the grid as early as fall 2026 and the program to run through 2027; no capacity or dollar figure was disclosed.
Studsvik picks GE Vernova Hitachi, Samsung C&T for four Swedish BWRX-300s
Studsvik AB announced on September 3, 2026 an exclusive agreement with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Samsung C&T, GE Vernova Financial Services, and DS Investment Partners to advance an initial four-unit BWRX-300 project of approximately 1,200 MWe at either its Nyköping site or the Målma site in Valdemarsvik, Sweden, with the first unit expected in operation in the mid-2030s. The agreement is not a final investment decision or an authorization to construct; both sites await Swedish government approval, and Studsvik applied for state financing support on June 12, 2026.
Fervo and Google sign 396 MW geothermal PPA for possible Utah data center
Fervo Energy subsidiary Cape Generating Station 6 LLC signed a 15-year, 396 MW power purchase agreement with Google Energy LLC on August 26, 2026, announced September 1, for enhanced geothermal output from Cape Station in Beaver County, Utah, delivered in four 99 MW sub-tranches with target commercial operation dates beginning in the third quarter of 2028. Fervo has agreed to offer Google an expansion of approximately 600 MW, for total contracted capacity of not less than approximately 950 MW with a guaranteed commercial operation date no later than June 2030, and says the project is intended to use delivery pathways under Utah's S.B. 132, subject to regulatory approvals.
MGE Energy buys into Realta Fusion to explore 200-MWe Wisconsin plant
Realta Fusion and Madison Gas and Electric announced a strategic partnership on September 2, 2026 to explore joint development of a 200-MWe fusion power plant in Wisconsin. MGE Energy made a direct equity investment of undisclosed size in the first phase, and the utility agreed to provide equipment, engineering, and technical support plus help with siting, permitting, interconnection, and financing; Realta CEO Kieran Furlong told Wisconsin Public Radio the mid-2030s is a reasonable target.
Holtec begins loading fuel into the Palisades reactor
Holtec announced on August 31, 2026 that fuel loading has begun at the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Michigan: a core of 204 new and partially used assemblies designed, per the company, to support an 805-MW electric output (ANS Nuclear Newswire describes the unit as 777 MWe; neither figure is labeled gross or net). Holtec says Palisades is advancing toward becoming the first US commercial nuclear plant to return to service after entering decommissioning; the NRC reauthorized power operations by letter dated July 24, 2025.
Duke Energy Florida turns a second grid battery into a community microgrid
Duke Energy Florida announced on August 31, 2026 that its 11 MW Trenton battery site in Gilchrist County was upgraded in the summer of 2026 to island from the grid and back up approximately 1,500 customers for up to four hours during outages. It is the second of the utility's six Florida battery sites with the capability, after Micanopy; in February 2025 Duke said its goal was for most of them to be able to island by 2026.
Oklo asks FERC to reinstate its 750-MW project in PJM's queue
Oklo filed an emergency complaint at FERC on August 28, 2026 (docket EL26-101-000) asking the commission to order PJM to reinstate a 750-MW mixed-technology generation project, combining advanced nuclear, natural gas, and fuel cells, that PJM withdrew from the first cycle of its reformed interconnection study. Oklo says the withdrawal was unlawful and would delay the project by at least 14 months; it wants PJM to answer by September 4, 2026.
Tennessee issues Type One Energy a fusion-specific license
Tennessee regulators announced on August 31, 2026 what the state calls the nation's first license issued under a fusion-specific regulatory framework: a byproduct material license for Type One Energy's Project Infinity at TVA's retired Bull Run coal site in Clinton. The company says it intends to break ground in 2026 and expects a full startup by 2034.
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SK On to supply 9 GWh of US-made LFP cells to NeoVolta Power
SK On signed a long-term agreement, announced August 31, 2026, to supply 9 GWh of US-produced LFP pouch battery cells to NeoVolta Power from 2027 through 2031 for storage products the release describes as aimed at utility-scale and commercial-and-industrial applications. The release discloses no value; Yonhap reports market estimates of about 1.5 trillion won (US$1.09 billion). A framework for a further 9 GWh of cells plus pack purchases by SK On would bring the partnership to 18 GWh.
Ballard closes GeoPura acquisition, takes over hydrogen power rentals
Ballard Power Systems closed its acquisition of UK hydrogen power provider GeoPura on August 28, 2026, for £275 million upfront in cash and stock, adding green hydrogen production, a distribution fleet, and rentable Hydrogen Power Units to become what it calls an energy-as-a-service provider.
Ember: 2026 battery additions could shift over a third of new solar output
Ember's August 12, 2026 report finds solar met a record 10% of global electricity in H1 2026, over a quarter of demand at midday on the average day but near zero at night. Expected 2026 battery additions of 459 GWh, up 50% year over year, could shift up to 34% of new daily solar generation into non-sunny hours, based on H1 2026 solar growth.
California sues Interior to undo Morro Bay offshore wind lease buyout
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission sued the US Interior Department on August 28, 2026, asking a federal court to void the agreement that reimburses Golden State Wind up to $120,240,000 from the Judgment Fund for abandoning its approximately 1.5 to 2 GW Morro Bay offshore wind lease once matching investments are made in Gulf Coast fossil fuel projects. The complaint tallies nearly $4 billion directed from the fund toward cancelling twelve offshore wind projects.
Five US microreactor designs went critical in the summer of 2026
Five US microreactor designs completed first zero-power criticality tests between June and August 2026, all under DOE authorization rather than NRC licenses: Antares Nuclear's Mark-0, Valar Atomics' Ward 250, Deployable Energy's Unity, Aalo Atomics' Critical Test Reactor, and Westinghouse's eVinci. Four went critical at DOE-complex sites and Valar's at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, with the Valar details per POWER magazine's account. Radiant shipped its 1 MWe Kaleidos to Idaho National Laboratory's DOME test bed in August 2026 for the field's first full-power test campaign, targeted for completion in the third quarter of 2026, per Radiant's announcement, and BWXT plans formal testing of the Army's Project Pele prototype as early as 2027. Deployment money so far is federal: the Army's Janus program totals up to $2.2 billion across five vendors, with a first reactor targeted to operate by September 30, 2028; no nuclear microreactor supplies power to a US commercial grid today, per AP.
US uranium output more than tripled in 2025 as enrichment plants line up
US uranium concentrate production more than tripled in 2025 to 2.1 million pounds of U3O8, the most since 2017, according to EIA data published August 28, 2026. The same day, the NRC published an order aligning hearing procedures for two pending uranium enrichment plant applications: Global Laser Enrichment's Paducah, Kentucky facility and Orano's Project IKE in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
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Canadian Solar storage beats guidance, modules fall 60% year over year
Canadian Solar reported second-quarter 2026 results on August 27, 2026: battery storage shipments of 3.7 GWh exceeded guidance of 2.8 to 3.2 GWh and rose 73% year over year, while solar module shipments of 3.1 GW rose 25% from the first quarter but fell 60% year over year. Revenue was $1.2 billion, gross margin of 13.9% was within guidance but down sequentially, the net loss was $77 million, and Phase I of the company's HJT cell factory in Jeffersonville, Indiana held its ribbon-cutting in July 2026.
Trump declares bulk-power emergency, targets foreign grid equipment
President Trump signed Executive Order 14420 on August 26, 2026, declaring a national emergency over the US bulk-power system under IEEPA and authorizing the Energy Department to bar acquisition, import, or installation of foreign-produced grid equipment, including substation transformers, grid-connected inverters, and battery energy storage systems, when it finds both a tie to a Covered Foreign Entity and an undue security risk. The order directs implementing rules as needed within 120 days and also covers equipment already installed.
US Army awards up to $2.2 billion for microreactors at five bases
The US Army selected five vendors on August 26, 2026 under its Janus Program: Antares Nuclear at Fort Bragg, BWXT at Fort Campbell, General Atomics at Fort Hood, Radiant Industries at Fort Benning, and Westinghouse Government Services at Fort Drum, with up to a combined $2.2 billion in milestone-based funding across fiscal 2027 through 2031. The Army expects more than 20 microreactors across installations and targets a first reactor operating by September 30, 2028; the reactors will be licensed by the Army rather than the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, per AP.
NRDC projects US loses up to 540 GW of renewables under Trump policies
The Natural Resources Defense Council projects that Trump administration energy policies could cost the US between 390 GW and 540 GW of new wind, solar, and storage capacity over the next decade, according to trade-press accounts of a report announced August 25, 2026, with at most 9 GW of new gas capacity added in its place and average household electricity rates rising an additional 4.2% to 5.5% by 2035, all relative to the group's January 2025 baseline.
Maine selects Clearway's 800 MW wind project and a 1,200 MW Avangrid line
The Maine Public Utilities Commission selected Clearway Energy Group's 800 MW onshore wind project and named Avangrid Networks' 1,200 MW transmission line its preferred proposal on August 25, 2026, under the Northern Maine Renewable Energy Development Program (Docket No. 2026-00033). Maine will contract for about 600 MW of the output, with Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island sharing the line's costs and Maine paying less than 11 percent.
Sunrun will supply home battery capacity to Voltus's AI hyperscaler deals
Sunrun announced an agreement on August 17, 2026 to supply capacity from a portion of its residential solar-plus-storage systems in PJM and MISO to Voltus's Bring Your Own Capacity programs for AI hyperscalers. Voltus's first disclosed BYOC buyer was Google, under a June 2026 agreement covering up to 100 MW of distributed resources a year in PJM.
FERC approves SPP plan to reroute power around grid congestion
FERC accepted Southwest Power Pool's economic topology optimization tariff on August 19, 2026 in docket ER26-2592, letting market participants and SPP propose reconfigurations of the transmission network to relieve congestion, effective October 1, 2026. Commissioner David Rosner's concurrence puts SPP's average congestion costs above $1.6 billion a year; MISO has run a similar process since 2023.
GridLab: V2G could supply 30% of California's utility-scale storage target
A GridLab, Kevala, and E3 report released in August 2026 and announced on August 18 finds that enrolling 10 percent of the 9.7 million light-duty EVs California projects for 2036 in vehicle-to-grid programs could supply 30 percent of the state's cumulative utility-scale storage procurement target, if V2G resources are accredited on a comparable basis with grid-scale storage. The report recommends replacing California's fragmented demand-flexibility programs with standardized products that pay only for measured performance, below verified avoided costs.
Saudi Arabia signs 2 GW of battery storage deals in its first BESS tender
The Saudi Power Procurement Company signed storage service agreements on August 20, 2026 for the first group of four battery storage projects: 2,000 MW of four-hour storage (8,000 MWh) representing more than SAR 4.35 billion (about $1.16 billion) in investment. Three plants went to a consortium of Saudi Energy, ACWA Power, and Al Sharif Contracting; the fourth to a consortium of Engie and Haji Abdullah Alireza & Co.
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11 GW-plus Northwest plan, Austria's storage pivot, Walmart's 100th charger
Three developments from August 13 to 21, 2026: the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's draft Ninth Power Plan calls for more than 11 GW of new generation and more than 5 GW of storage by 2032; Austria plans to redirect residential solar subsidies toward battery storage from 2027, guided by a ministry-commissioned study that finds up to 8 GW of market-oriented battery capacity economically useful by 2030; and Walmart's company-owned fast-charging network, delivering up to 400 kW, reached 100 stores across 20 states.
Sage Geosystems puts its 3 MW Texas geothermal plant in service
Sage Geosystems placed its SMECI enhanced geothermal facility in Christine, Texas in service on August 19, 2026, after more than 120 days of grid-connected operation. The company says the 3 MW plant held water losses below 10 percent across cycles and matched its reservoir model's predictions, results it is now applying to a planned commercial project at an Ormat site in Nevada.
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US grid batteries near 52 GW after three years of 70% annual growth
US utility-scale battery storage reached nearly 52 GW of nameplate capacity by mid-2026, after ending 2025 at 43.6 GW and adding 8.3 GW in the first half of 2026, according to EIA inventory data published August 7, 2026. Growth averaged 70% a year over the last three years, and operators report plans for another 54 GW by the end of 2028.
FCC redraws its foreign inverter ban around the 45X tax credit
The FCC modified its Covered List entry for foreign-produced power inverters on August 20, 2026: the ban now covers only UL 1741 utility-interactive inverters but extends to wired connectivity, and inverters eligible for the Section 45X manufacturing credit are no longer treated as foreign-produced.
Anthro Energy breaks ground on 12,000-ton electrolyte plant in Louisville
Anthro Energy broke ground on a polymer electrolyte plant in Louisville, Kentucky, the company announced on August 19, 2026. The $42 million facility is expected to produce about 12,000 metric tons a year, enough to support up to 25 GWh of lithium-ion battery production, with operation targeted for late 2027.