Environment

Tech companies want nuclear power. Some utilities are throwing up roadblocks

Published

9 months ago

August 10, 2024

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A cooling tower at the Constellation Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station in Scriba, New York, US, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

Lauren Petracca | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Tech companies are increasingly looking to directly connect data centers to nuclear plants as they race to secure clean energy to power artificial intelligence, sparking resistance from some utilities over the potential impact on the electric grid.

Data centers, the computer warehouses that run the Internet, in some cases now require a gigawatt or more of power, comparable to the average capacity of a nuclear reactor in the U.S.

The data centers are essential to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security as the country competes with adversaries such as China for supremacy in the race to develop AI, said Joe Dominguez, the CEO of Constellation Energy, which operates the largest nuclear fleet in the U.S.

“When you’re talking about large [demand] load that also wants to use zero-emission energy, you’re going to bring it very close to nuclear power plants,” Dominguez said on Constellation’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday. Constellation, headquartered in Baltimore, operates 21 of the 93 reactors in the U.S.

Constellation’s shares have surged 62% this year, the sixth-best stock in the S&P 500, as investors attach a higher value to the company’s nuclear power capacity to meet the growth in data centers. Shares of Vistra Corp., based outside Dallas and owner of six reactors, have doubled this year, the second-best performing stock in the S&P after AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Tech companies are building out data centers just as power supply is increasingly constrained due to the retirement of coal plants and as demand is climbing from the expansion of domestic manufacturing and the electrification of vehicles.

The largest grid operator in the U.S., PJM Interconnection, warned in late July that power supply and demand is tightening as construction of new generation lags demand. PJM covers 13 states primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region, including the world’s largest data center hub in northern Virginia.

Constellation’s Dominguez argued that connecting data centers directly to nuclear plants, called co-location by the industry, is the fastest and most cost-effective way to support the buildout of data centers, without burdening consumers with the costs of building new transmission lines.

“The notion that you could accumulate enough power somewhere on the grid to power a gigawatt data center is frankly laughable to me — that you could do that in anywhere that doesn’t start with decades of time,” Dominguez said. “This is an enormous amount of power to go out and try to concentrate.”

Amazon’s nuclear agreement

But co-locating data centers next to nuclear plants already faces controversy.

In March, Amazon Web Services bought a data center powered by the 41-year-old Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania from Talen Energy for $650 million . But the agreement to directly sell power to the AWS data center from the nuclear plant already faces opposition from utilities American Electric Power and Exelon, who have filed complaints at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

AEP and Exelon argue that the deal between Amazon and Talen sets a precedent that will result in less available power in the PJM grid area as resources “flee to serve load that uses and benefits from — but does not pay for — the transmission system”

“This will harm existing customers,” the utilities told FERC in a filing in June. Talen Energy has dismissed the objections as “demonstrably false,” accusing the utilities of stifling innovation.

“The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence and data centers has fundamentally changed the demand for power and leads to an inflection point for the power industry,” Talen said in a June statement. “Talen’s co-location arrangement with AWS brings one solution to this new demand, on a timeline that serves the customer quickly.”

FERC has requested more information on the service agreement between Talen and AWS. The regulator is holding a conference in the fall to discuss issues associated with connecting large electricity loads directly to power plants.

“It really is a great opportunity for there to be interaction between stakeholders and the commissioners in an informal setting like a conference, as opposed to doing so in litigation,” Kathleen Barrón, chief strategy officer at Constellation, said on the power company’s recent earnings call, referring to the fall FERC meeting.

Shopping for nuclear power

Constellation and Vistra have backed the AWS-Talen agreement in filings to FERC, with each of their CEOs saying on their earnings calls this week that co-location and traditional grid connection will be needed to meet demand.

Barrón told CNBC that Constellation has “seen interest from many” tech companies in potentially co-locating a data center at one of its sites.

Vistra is having numerous conversations with customers about co-location and is “in due diligence for a number of sites,” CEO Jim Burke said Thursday. With the dispute in the PJM region over co-location, data center developers may take a closer look at Texas, which operates its own grid called ERCOT, Burke said.

“We’re seeing some interest in Comanche Peak,” Burke told analysts on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, referring to one of Vistra’s nuclear plants. Comanche Peak, about 50 miles outside Fort Worth, Texas, has two reactors with 2.4 gigawatts of capacity, enough to power 1.2 million homes in typical conditions and 480,000 homes in peak periods, according to Vistra.

And Dominion Energy has indicated it is open to connecting a data center to the Millstone nuclear plant in Connecticut. The Dominion service region includes northern Virginia, the epicenter of the data center boom.

“We continue to explore that option,” CEO Robert Blue said on Dominion’s second-quarter earnings call. “We do clearly realize any co-location option is going to have to make sense for us, our potential counterparty and stakeholders in Connecticut.”

Kelly Trice, president of Holtec International, a privately held nuclear company headquartered in Florida, said the U.S. needs to start thinking more about balancing the power needs of data centers with those of all consumers. Holtec is working to restart the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan and has also had conversations with tech companies about nuclear energy.

“Essentially, the hyperscalers and the data centers can take all the power and the consumer not get any of that if we’re not careful,” Trice told CNBC. “So the balance there, where the consumers actually get what is rightfully theirs too, is a factor.”

“The United States hasn’t really started wrestling [with] that yet,” Trice said. “But I think we’re getting close.”

Environment

Honda really wants to sell you a hydrogen fuel cell, today [part 5]

Published

5 hours ago

May 3, 2025

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Honda really wants to sell you a hydrogen fuel cell, today [part 5]

Honda to debut new hydrogen fuel cell module at ACT Expo

Honda came to this year’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California with the perfect follow-up to the jaw-dropping hydrogen fuel cell-powered semi truck they showed off last year. This year, the company’s fuel cell is in series production – and available now.

“Honda hydrogen is open for business,” says David Perzynski, assistant manager of hydrogen solutions development at American Honda. “(We have) the fuel cell technology, the expertise, and the supply chain to power a variety of zero-emissions products, including commercial trucking and stationary power generation.”

The company arrived with a more developed version of its Peterbilt 579EV-based HFC semi concept, which is based on one of that brand’s existing BEVs and uses the Honda fuel cell as a range-extending generator for its 120 kWh battery … or, rather, it would – if it was ever plugged into a charger.

On battery power alone, the big Pete is good for up to 150 miles of fully loaded range. With the fuel cell along for the piggyback ride, however, the truck’s range climbs to more than 500 miles at an 82,000 lb. combined vehicle weight.

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More than just a range-extender

Honda envisions a world where its hydrogen fuel cell is used in much more than transportation and logistics applications. At the ACT Expo, Honda had a scale mock-up of what a hospital-sized hydrogen backup generator could look like – and hinted that such an installation might soon become a reality.

This is all very normal for Honda

Honda FCX hydrogen fuel cell concept; via Honda.

If it seems weird that Honda is pushing hydrogen so hard these days, it shouldn’t. Honda’s been developing hydrogen fuel cells for nearly forty years, and put its first hydrogen fuel cell car (the FCX concept, above) all the way back in 1999.

Since then, it’s put a number of hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles into series production, including the innovative Honda CR-V HFC hybrid that lets you fill the car’s 17.7 kWh battery with electrons at home for up to 29 miles of all-electric driving, then fill up the hydrogen tank for another 241 miles of driving … and they’re not stopping there.

We had a chance to chat with David Perzynski on Quick Charge last year, where he talked us through some of Honda’s hydrogen plans in more detail. You can check it out, below.

Hydrogen had a wild ride last year

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Original content from Electrek.

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Environment

ID. Buzz recall: VW’s third-row bench is too big for its own good

Published

7 hours ago

May 2, 2025

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ID. Buzz recall: VW’s third-row bench is too big for its own good

ID. Buzz recall — VW ID.Buzz Dune interior

Volkswagen of America is recalling nearly 5,700 2025 VW ID. Buzz vans because the NHTSA says the third-row bench seat is too spacious. (For real.)

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the third-row bench is physically wide enough for three people, but it’s only designed to hold two, so it’s only equipped with two seat belts. That mismatch violates Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, which covers occupant crash protection. A bench that invites three passengers but only protects two isn’t just awkward – it’s a safety risk. It simply makes it too easy to squeeze that third person in the back “just that once” without a seatbelt, and that’s inviting trouble.

Volkswagen will fix the ID. Buzz issue by having dealers install “fixed unpadded trim parts” that adjust the seat’s usable width, and they’ll do it for free, because recall repairs are always free. It’ll probably be hard plastic on the seat to ensure a third person can’t squeeze in. Owner notification letters are expected to go out starting June 20, 2025.

Volkswagen has reported that, to date, there have been “no field claims known” of safety issues caused by the extra-wide third row bench seat.

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Environment

Zenobē arrives in North America with a 500 unit EV deal in Canada [part 4]

Published

7 hours ago

May 2, 2025

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Zenobē arrives in North America with a 500 unit EV deal in Canada [part 4]

Zenobē expands its North American fleet financing platform with CA$48M debt financing for Canada’s 7Gen

Electric vehicle charging and battery storage specialists Zenobē have inked a deal with Canadian leasing company 7Gen to fund more than 500 commercial EVs and their associated charging infrastructure.

Last week, Zenobē agreed to provide up to $48 million (Canadian) in debt financing to 7Gen to help expand its vehicle-as-a-service electric truck leasing program across Canada.

7Gen supports fleet operators with a comprehensive set of vehicle leasing and financing solutions that cover EV charger deployment, energy management systems, and ongoing operational support for Canadian fleet customers operating electric trucks, vans, and school buses.

Zenobē secured $1.6 billion in equity from its joint majority shareholders KKR and M&G Infracapital to fuel its global expansion into EVs and grid-scale batteries back in 2023. Since then, it’s grown to support more than 2,000 EVs and 120 charging depots across markets in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

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“We’re bringing our innovative funding approach to Canada and specifically to 7Gen,” says Steven Meersman, Co-Founder and Director of Zenobē. “We see momentum behind decarbonization in Canada’s supportive government policies and the clean, affordable power that will ensure a lower total cost of ownership for zero-emissions vehicles. We look forward to sharing our global experience electrifying over 120 depots to benefit 7Gen, its fleet customers and the wider electric fleet market in Canada.”

That innovative funding strategy is something Steven and I had a chance to discuss this week at the ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. “We’re being very careful in the way we approach the North American market,” he said (paraphrasing). “The market is fairly littered with the graves of other UK EV companies that have tried to find a foothold here and failed, so we’re being very careful about our partners.”

Despite living just a few minutes from his Chicago HQ, I’d never met Steven before this week. He’s a super-interesting guy and you will definitely learn a thing or two about how to build a multimillion dollar energy management company like Zenobē from our upcoming podcast (stay tuned for that). But the news here is 7Gen.

“Zenobē’s debt financing supports 7Gen’s next growth step and allows us to help our customers step up the pace of their EV adoption and benefit immediately from operational cost savings,” says Frans Tjallingii, CEO, 7Gen. “Zenobē’s team is well aligned with ours and we are thrilled to partner to scale our impact in Canada together.”

The company will begin rolling out its Zenobē-funded electric trucks in the coming weeks, with new partners and projects set to be announced shortly.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Zenobē.

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