Microsoft agrees to buy electricity generated from Sam Altman-backed fusion company Helion in 2028
A view of the end of Helion’s seventh generation prototype, the Polaris.
Photo courtesy Helion
Microsoft said Wednesday it has signed a power purchase agreement with nuclear fusion startup Helion Energy to buy electricity from it in 2028.
The deal is a notable vote of confidence for fusion, which is the way the sun makes power and holds promise of being able to generate nearly unlimited clean power, if it can be harnessed and commercialized on earth. For decades, fusion been lauded as the holy grail of clean energy — tantalizing because it’s limitless and clean, but always just out of reach.
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As responding to climate change has become an increasingly urgent goal for companies and countries around the globe, investors have poured $5 billion into private fusion companies looking to turn that holy grail into electrons flowing through wires.
Microsoft’s agreement to buy electricity from Helion is the first time a fusion company has inked a deal to sell electricity, according to Andrew Holland, the CEO of the Fusion Industry Association.
“This is the first time that I know of that a company has a power purchase agreement signed,” Holland told CNBC. “No one has delivered electricity, and Helion’s goal of 2028 is aggressive, but they have a strong plan for how to get there.”
Helion was founded in 2013 and currently has about 150 employees, with headquarters in Everett, Wash. One of the early and most significant investors in Helion, Sam Altman, is also a founder of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence organization that developed the chat platform ChatGPT, in which Microsoft has invested many billions of dollars. Altman believes the two deals are equally important and correlated components of the future he sees for humanity.
“My vision of the future and why I love these two companies is that if we can drive the cost intelligence and the cost of energy way, way down, the quality of life for all of us will increase incredibly,” Altman told CNBC. “If we can make AI systems more and more powerful for less and less money — same thing we are trying to do with energy at Helion — I view these two projects as spiritually very aligned.”
Samuel H. Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, speaks to media after meeting Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Prime Minister’s office in Tokyo on April 10, 2023.
The Yomiuri Shimbun | AP
If demand for and use of artificial intelligence continues to increase, then that will increase demand for energy, too.
The potential of fusion is “unbelievably huge,” Altman told CNBC. “If we can get this to work — if we can really deliver on the dream of abundant, cheap, safe, clean energy that will transform society. It’s why I’ve been so passionate about this project for so long.”
In 2021, Altman told CNBC he put $375 million into Helion. As of Tuesday, this is still his largest investment ever, Altman told CNBC. In total, Helion has raised raised $577 million.
Why Helion is announcing a 2028 goal now
As part of the power purchase agreement, Helion is expected to have its fusion generation device online by 2028 and to reach its target power generation of 50 megawatts or more within an agreed-upon one-year ramp up period. When the fusion device is fully up to speed producing 50 megawatts of energy, it will be able to power the equivalent of approximately 40,000 homes in Washington state.
While Helion’s deal with Microsoft is to get 50 megawatts online, the company eventually aims to produce a gigawatt of electricity, which is one billion watts, or 20 million times the 50 megawatts it is selling to Microsoft.
Microsoft will pay for the megawatt hours of electricity as Helion delivers them to the grid.
“This is a real PPA, so there’s financial penalties if Helion can’t deliver power. So we’ve really put our skin in the game on this too — that we believe we can deliver this power and are committed to it with our own financial incentives,” David Kirtley, CEO at Helion, told CNBC.
Helion’s co-founders. From left to right: Chris Pihl (CTO), David Kirtley (CEO), George Votroubek (Director of Research).
Photo courtesy Helion
Altman advocated for the two companies to work together, he told CNBC, but the deal is the result of work Helion has done independently. “It was not my doing,” he said.
Microsoft and Helion have been working together for years, Kirtley told CNBC. “The first visit we had from the Microsoft team was probably three of our prototypes ago, so many years ago. And then we’ve been working very closely with their data center technology team here in Redmond,” Kirtley said.
After all, Microsoft needs power and has aggressive climate goals. Microsoft has a goal to have 100% of its electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero-carbon energy purchases by 2030. Carbon-free energy includes hydro, nuclear and renewables for Microsoft, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC.
“We are optimistic that fusion energy can be an important technology to help the world transition to clean energy,” Brad Smith, president at Microsoft, said in a written statement. “Helion’s announcement supports our own long term clean energy goals and will advance the market to establish a new, efficient method for bringing more clean energy to the grid, faster.”
An electrical engineer preparing for a test at Helion.
Photo courtesy Helion
For Helion to be able to deliver electricity generated by fusion to customers requires years of advance planning on the transmission and regulatory fronts.
In that way, announcing a contract now to sell electricity in 2028 gives Helion time to plan and to pick a location in Washington State to put this new fusion device.
“One reason we’re doing the announcement today is that so we can be working with the communities involved, we can be working with regulators, and the power utility on citing this right now,” Kirtley told CNBC. “Even five years is a short amount of time to be hooked up to the grid. And we want to make sure that we can do that.”
Indeed, the transmission system in the United States, meaning the series of wires that carry electricity from where it is generated to where it is used, is largely tapped out. Getting new power generation connected to the grid can take years. Helion is working with Constellation to secure its transmission needs.
‘We’re not here to build systems in a lab’
The best-known pathway to commercializing fusion is with a donut-shaped device called a tokamak. The international fusion project under construction in Southern France called ITER is building a tokamak, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a fusion start-up spun out of MIT which has raised more than $2 billion in funding, is using tokamak technology. For comparison, CFS plans to have its first power plant on the grid and selling electricity in the early 2030s.
Helion is not building a tokamak. It is building a long narrow device called a Field Reversed Configuration.
An infographic showing how Helion’s fusion technology works.
Infographic from Helion
Broadly speaking, Helion’s approach involves shooting plasma (the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid and gas) from both ends of the device at a velocity greater than one million miles per hour. The two streams smash into each other, creating a superhot dense plasma, where fusion occurs.
Helion is currently building its seventh-generation fusion machine, named Polaris, which it aims to produce electricity with by next year, Kirtley told CNBC.
“We’re not here to build systems in a lab. We’re here to sell electricity. This is always been the dream,” Altman told CNBC.
So far, Helion has been able to generate energy with its fusion prototypes, but it has not yet built a device that creates more electricity than it uses to run the fusion device. So the firm has a lot of work ahead.
To that, Altman says: “There were a lot of people that were doubting A.I. six months ago, too.”
“Either the technology here is going to work or not. There’s a lot of huge challenges still to figure out — how are we going to get the cost super-low, how are we going to manufacture at scale — but on the ability to actually do the physics, we feel very confident,” Altman told CNBC. “And I think it’s fine for people to doubt it. But also the way that you eventually reduced that doubt is to show to show people it actually works in the commercial setting, like delivering on this deal.”
Helion has been making progress on some key hurdles.
For example, the company has started making its own capacitors, which are sort of like super-efficient batteries and one of Helion’s very significant capital costs.
It has also started to make the very rare fuel it uses, helium three, which is a very rare type of helium with one extra neutron. It used used to get helium-three from the U.S. government strategic reserves.
Next up, Helion has to demonstrate that its devices can work reliably for long periods of time, and Kirtley has a team working on durability of the components used in the device.
If Helion can be successful, it’s going to be a landmark for the entire fusion industry.
“This really signals that a fusion era is coming. And we’re all very excited about it,” Kirtley told CNBC.
Elon Musk implies that he’ll quit his part-time job as CEO of Tesla (TSLA) if he doesn’t get his $1 trillion pay package. On today’s episode of Quick Charge, I suggest GM’s Mary Barra should replace him, and explore some of the compelling EV deals out there looking to take a bite out of Elon’s market share.
In addition to my take on what the TSLA board should or shouldn’t decide, we’ve got a pile of EV lease deals, some hot, upcoming new electric Jeep models, and a look at some of the ways the end of the Federal EV tax credit isn’t the end at all.
Quick Charge is brought to you by Climate XChange, a nonpartisan nonprofit working to help states pass effective, equitable climate policies. The nonprofit just kicked off its 10th annual EV raffle, where participants have multiple opportunities to win their dream model. Visit CarbonRaffle.org/Electrek to learn more.
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The US added more than 4,000 new DC fast-charging ports in Q3 2025, pushing the total past 64,000. The country’s EV infrastructure keeps maturing, despite new station openings slowing slightly this summer.
US DC fast-charging ports expand past 64,000
According to EV charging data platform Paren’s latest “State of the US Fast EV Charging Industry Report,” the number of public DC fast-charging ports climbed to 64,486 across 12,375 charging stations nationwide in Q3 2025. That’s despite a modest slowdown in new openings: Operators added 699 new stations, down 12% from Q2, and 4,061 new ports, down 7.7%.
Paren says the dip mirrors seasonal trends seen in 2024 and expects growth to rebound in Q4, with early October data already coming in strong. The company still projects the US to add around 16,700 new ports by the end of 2025. Notably, larger charging stations are becoming the norm: 27% of all stations now have eight or more stalls, up from 23% last quarter.
Tesla dominates new ports, and the market widens
Tesla led Q3 deployments with 1,820 new ports – nearly 45% of all added nationwide. ChargePoint (300), Red E (215), Electrify America (164), and EV Connect (146) rounded out the top five. But Paren notes that smaller and regional operators collectively accounted for 21% of new ports, demonstrating how the market is diversifying.
Every state added at least one new fast-charging station this quarter. California again led the pack with 108 new sites, followed by Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois. Upstart network Ionna, formed earlier this year by seven automakers, opened 12 new stations with 132 ports. At the same time, Michigan-based Red E jumped to third place after expanding across 18 states, including new sites at Aldi supermarkets.
Summer travel lifted fast charging demand
The summer travel season drove EV charging activity higher across almost the entire US. Fast charger use increased in 45 states, stayed flat in one, and dipped in five. Maine saw the biggest bump (+1.9 in utilization growth), followed by Montana (+1.8), New York (+1.8), and Oregon (+1.8), all reflecting busier tourism routes and expanding highway and corridor buildouts.
Paren also found signs that Tesla’s opening its Supercharger network to non-Tesla EV drivers is shifting behavior. Some non-Tesla charging stations saw slight utilization declines, suggesting a growing number of drivers are switching to Tesla’s network for convenience.
It’s all about reliability and upkeep
Paren’s “reliability index” measures charger reliability, taking into account recent successful charge sessions with and without retries, failed charge attempts, and station downtime over a specific time period.
Reliability based on Paren’s definition inched up again, from 92.1% to 92.3%. Thirty-two states improved their reliability scores this quarter, while 15 declined and four held steady. Oklahoma showed the biggest improvement (+4.4), though it still ranks last overall at 73.3%. Mississippi (91.1, +2.6) and Idaho (92.1, +2) also made solid gains, while Rhode Island (88.2, -2.7) and Alaska (96.3, -1.9) saw declines.
Paren says reliability now depends less on geography and more on operator performance, site age, and proactive maintenance. With more federally and state-funded chargers coming online, the focus is shifting from buildout to upkeep. Operators investing in preventive maintenance, faster outage response, and top-quality software integration will be best positioned to keep drivers happy.
Average fast-charging prices rose by a penny
Nationwide average pricing rose by a penny in Q3 to $0.49 per kilowatt-hour, with most states falling between $0.48 and $0.54. Hawaii remains the priciest at $0.85/kWh, while Nebraska is the cheapest at $0.42/kWh. Several charge point operators offered summer discounts and promotional rates, but Paren found no clear link between lower prices and higher use.
A few states saw notable price swings: Alaska jumped $0.04, while Arkansas dropped $0.05 and Hawaii fell $0.07. The jury’s still out on whether rates continue rising post-summer; that will depend on wholesale electricity costs, demand trends, and competition among networks.
Electrek’s Take
Paren’s Q3 snapshot shows a maturing charging market: slightly slower but steady growth, improving reliability, and broader competition. Tesla’s Superchargers are still leading the pack when it comes to the volume of new ports being rolled out. Still, the fast charging landscape is expanding with more regional players and multi-port hubs with both NACS and CCS capability across the map. A big priority now is to keep those chargers working and affordable as more people switch to EVs.
Read more: The US added 4,200 new DC fast charging ports, and that’s just Q2
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Is it electric? A hybrid? A new Toyota crossover SUV was spotted testing out in public rocking a unique look.
New Toyota EV crossover and SUVs are coming soon
Toyota is gearing up to launch a series of new battery electric (BEV), hybrid, and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles over the next few years in nearly every market.
In the US, Toyota currently offers just one fully electric vehicle (excluding the Lexus RZ), the bZ (formerly the bZ4X), but that will soon change.
Toyota plans to offer seven fully electric vehicles by mid-2027, including under its luxury Lexus brand. Joining the updated bZ and Lexus RZ next year will be the smaller C-HR crossover and more rugged bZ Woodland SUVs.
Shortly after, it will introduce two electric SUVs that Toyota will build at its plant in Kentucky. Although Toyota has yet to announce it publicly, the new electric SUVs are expected to be based on the RAV4 and Land Cruisers. They will replace the Lexus ES in Kentucky, while the next-gen EV version will be exported to the US from Japan.
In Europe, Toyota will launch the updated bZ4X, CH-R+, and Urban Cruisers by the end of the year. Three additional crossovers and SUVs are set to follow in 2026.
While we already know what most of those will looks like, the new crossover SUV doesn’t appear to be any of them. The spy photos from SH Proshots (via Autoevolution) show what looks to be the next-gen Toyota Venza, or the Harrier for those outside of the US.
You can tell it’s a bit taller and less aerodynamic than the electric crossover SUVs that Toyota showcased earlier this year.
The Venza was a bit of a step up from your average Toyota SUV with a more premium feel, but it was discontinued after the 2024 model year to make way for the Crown Signia.
Although Toyota has yet to reveal anything about the next-gen Venza, rumors suggest it will be built on the TNGA-K platform, which underpins the new RAV4. The platform is designed to open up interior space with a lower center of gravity.
Inside, you can expect to see Toyota’s latest Audio Multimedia system, which also debuted in the new RAV4. The setup includes a standard 10.5″ smartphone-like touchscreen infotainment or you can upgrade to the larger 12.9″ screen.
Given Toyota has yet to publicly announced the next-gen Venza, powertrain options is still up in the air. The report speculates it will arrive as a self-charging hybrid or plug-in hybrid (PHEV), or both.
Since it’s still in its early stages, the new model isn’t expected to launch until 2027. It could arrive as a 2028 model year in the US.
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