Public Power Current

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations on Oct. 3 opened applications for up to $400 million “to spur innovative, community-focused, clean energy solutions for rural and remote communities across the United States.”

After years of stagnant growth, U.S. electricity demand recently surged, with the increase driven in part by the commercial sector, particularly the rapid expansion of data centers and the adoption of artificial intelligence, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said in a Sept. 25 Economic Bulletin

Florida public power utility KEYS Energy Services relaunched its popular rebate program for energy efficient appliances and equipment on October 1.

Talen Energy, an independent power producer, has completed a transaction with TeraWulf Inc. to purchase TeraWulf’s interest in Nautilus Cryptomine, a 200-megawatt bitcoin mining facility in Berwick, Pa.

The Village of Bergen, N.Y., has received $1.26 million from Empire State Development for a project that will support electrical infrastructure upgrades.

Impacted investor-owned electric companies, electric cooperatives, and public power utilities continue to work around the clock to restore power safely and as quickly as possible to customers and communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage across 10 states, impacting nearly 6 million electricity customers in total, the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council said on Oct. 1.

The U.S. energy storage market experienced significant growth in the second quarter, with the grid-scale segment leading the way at 2,773 MW and 9,982 MWh deployed.

In a new study assessing how climate change might alter hydropower generation across the continental U.S., researchers show that except for some parts of the Southwest, hydropower generation is expected to rise in the future.