29 August 2026

61 new posts across 4 climate and energy sources — 6 worth your time.

One week of Climate & Energy, 6 stories, as published.

Georgia PSC Approves Secret OpenAI Contract

The Georgia Public Service Commission staff approved a contract between Georgia Power and OpenAI to power a planned 3.2-gigawatt hyperscale data center in Effingham County. The approval bypassed a direct vote from the commission itself, drawing criticism from environmental groups over the secretive process.

Why it matters — Illustrates the massive scale of individual AI data center power demands (3.2 GW) and the regulatory shortcuts utilities are taking to secure these contracts.

CleanTechnica · 29 August 2026 · Read the original →

Data Centre Demand

Making data centers flexible so they can serve the grid rather than stress it out

Emerald AI has developed software to make AI data centers flexible grid assets by dynamically ramping down, delaying, or shifting computing workloads. This approach addresses the grid capacity constraints that typically delay data center interconnections.

Why it matters — Shifting computing workloads can transform data centers from rigid, massive baseloads into dispatchable demand-response assets for grid operators.

Volts · 29 August 2026 · Read the original →

Nuclear

How much of a threat do heat waves pose to nuclear plants?

Rising summer temperatures in Europe are forcing nuclear reactors to curtail power generation or shut down because the river water used for cooling becomes too warm. This drop in nuclear output occurs precisely when electricity demand spikes due to increased air conditioning usage.

Why it matters — Thermal limits on cooling water create a dangerous vulnerability where nuclear grid reliability degrades during peak summer heatwaves.

Canary Media · 29 August 2026 · Read the original →

Grid & Transmission

PJM has finally greenlit a lot of new clean power. Can it get built?

PJM Interconnection has approved a large volume of new clean energy projects in its queue to address rising electricity demand and high utility bills. However, significant hurdles remain in actually constructing these projects and connecting them to the grid.

Why it matters — Clearing the interconnection queue is only the first step; physical construction and grid integration bottlenecks continue to delay actual capacity deployment.

Canary Media · 29 August 2026 · Read the original →

Industry & Heat

Hydrogen Is Still A Tonnes Market, No Matter How Many MWh We Assign To It

Global hydrogen demand surpassed 100 million tonnes in 2025, with almost all consumption concentrated in traditional industrial applications like refining and ammonia production. The post argues that treating hydrogen primarily as an energy storage medium (measured in MWh) ignores its actual role as a physical chemical feedstock.

Why it matters — Decarbonizing hydrogen must focus on replacing fossil-based feedstocks in existing chemical and refining processes rather than chasing speculative power-to-gas energy storage markets.

CleanTechnica · 29 August 2026 · Read the original →

Policy & Subsidy

Could we use Trump's tricks to make good green policy?

This post discusses a collection of 17 essays from the Roosevelt Institute detailing how a future administration could use aggressive economic statecraft for decarbonization. It focuses on tools like taking federal equity stakes in private companies, utilizing new federal authorities, and establishing sovereign wealth funds.

Why it matters — It introduces the concept of using direct federal equity stakes and sovereign wealth funds as active tools for funding and scaling private decarbonization efforts.

Volts · 29 August 2026 · Read the original →

The grid does not care about the announcement.

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