Donna Collins lives about 20 miles from where Meta’s biggest data center is being built, in a house her family has lived in for five generations. Construction has thrown the small agricultural community in North Louisiana into the spotlight as a high-profile example of how the infrastructure behind generative AI could impact nearby residents. For […]
Microsoft wants to design more efficient data centers using materials that allow electricity to flow with zero resistance. If these new materials, called high-temperature superconductors, can make it to market, Microsoft thinks it could be a game changer for how data centers and the energy infrastructure they connect to are built. Tech companies are facing […]
The US is now leading a global surge in new gas power plants being built in large part to satisfy growing energy demand for data centers. And more gas means more planet-heating pollution. Gas-fired power generation in development globally rose by 31 percent in 2025. Almost a quarter of that added capacity is slated for […]
The colossal winter storm that swept across 34 states left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity. Bitterly cold temperatures lingering after Winter Storm Fern are still testing power grids, already under stress from a rush of new AI data centers. Over the weekend, wholesale electricity prices soared in Virginia, the state with the most […]
Security researchers have attributed the attempted use of destructive “wiper” malware across Poland’s energy infrastructure in late December to a Russian-backed hacking group known for causing power outages in neighboring Ukraine.
The Trump administration took the next step toward unilaterally jumpstarting deep-sea mining this week, announcing a “consolidated” permitting process for both searching for and commercially extracting minerals that have so far remained relatively untouched. These minerals are found so deep in the sea that they’re beyond any single nation’s national jurisdiction – which is why […]
The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the PJM Interconnection, the biggest electricity market in the US, to hold a power auction meant to spur a massive buildout of new power plants. Together, they’re “urging” PJM to hold an “emergency” auction for companies to procure electricity over 15-year contracts. The unusually […]
It looks like the wave of campaigns against data centers are getting under big tech companies’ skin – and Microsoft is the latest giant to promise to address frustrations on the ground in communities around their data centers. The company announced a five-point plan today that it calls “Community-First AI Infrastructure.” That includes paying more […]
Homeowners in search of grid independence have another option today with the launch of Anker’s Solix E10 big-ass battery system. It joins companies like Tesla and EcoFlow in offering whole-home backup solutions in the US market meant to counter blackouts and reduce monthly energy bills, or even eliminate them completely. The base $4,299 E10 system […]
Meta has forged agreements with three nuclear power providers in an effort to secure the vast amount of electricity it needs to power AI data centers. The agreements with TerraPower (which is backed by Bill Gates), Oklo (backed by Sam Altman), and Vistra are expected to deliver 6.6 gigawatts of energy for Meta’s projects by […]