From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By David Blackmon

The U.S. power-generation sector has been hit in recent weeks with story after story about Big Tech firms entering into deals with power providers or developers to satisfy their electricity needs with nuclear generation.

Here are some examples:

—In mid-October, Google said it had entered into an agreement to purchase power for its data center needs from Kairos Power, a developer of small modular reactors (SMRs).

—A couple of weeks earlier, Microsoft and Constellation completed a deal that would involve the restart of Unit 1 at the Three Mile Island facility in Pennsylvania to power that company’s needs.

—On Dec. 3, Meta issued a request for proposals to nuclear developers to provide up to 4 gigawatts (GW) of electricity to power data centers and AI no later than the early 2030s.

—Perhaps the most extensive development of all came two days after Google’s announcement, when Amazon announced it has entered into deals to support the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) with three developers in three different regions of the country.

So, what’s going on here? Aren’t all these Big Tech companies supposed to be totally bought into the climate-alarm narrative, a narrative that claims wind and solar are the only real “clean” energy solutions for power generation? Aren’t we constantly bombarded by boosters of those non-solutions that they are able to reliably provide uninterrupted electricity if backed up by stationary batteries?

Certainly, that has been the case in the past — few corporations could hope to match the volume of virtue signaling about green energy we have seen from these tech companies in recent years. That was all fine until, apparently, the AI revolution came along.

AI is an enormous power hog, one that these and other Big Tech firms must now rapidly adopt to remain competitive.

The trouble with AI and the data centers needed to make it go is that it requires the reliable, constant injection of electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days every year. While these Big Tech firms would no doubt love to be able to virtue signal about sourcing their power from wind and solar backed up by enormous banks of batteries, each and every one of them has assessed that option and realized it cannot reliably fill their needs.

Thus, the recent rush to nuclear. After all, once they’ve been built and placed into service, nuclear reactors are a very real zero emissions power source. And unlike wind and solar, nuclear plants do not have to be backed up by an equal amount of generation capacity provided by another fuel, consisting most often of natural gas plants. Nuclear reactors are basically the Energizer Bunnies of power generation: They just keep going and going.

Another big advantage nuclear brings over renewables is the avoidance of the need to invest in massive new transmission networks. This is especially true of SMRs, which can be installed directly adjacent to the contracting data centers. By contrast, wind generation installations must be located in areas where the wind reliably blows. Such areas are often hundreds of miles away from big demand centers, as has been the case in Texas.

Where solar is concerned, the provision of multiple gigawatts (GWs) of generation capacity can require the condemnation of hundreds of acres of land, often thousands. The stationary battery centers for 1 GW of solar or wind would require another large swath of land to be condemned. By contrast, the land footprint for a pair of 500 megawatt (MW) SMRs would amount to no more than a few acres.

Where the deal between Microsoft and Constellation is concerned, sourcing power from an older generation nuclear plant like Three Mile Island will involve interconnecting into an already extant transmission system, though some upgrades and extensions will no doubt be required.

This sudden rush to nuclear by some of the largest companies in the country will benefit all Americans. The massive infusion of capital will accelerate development of SMRs and other advanced nuclear tech, pressure policymakers to modernize antiquated nuclear regulations, and to streamline Byzantine permitting processes that currently inhibit all forms of energy development.

It is a win-win situation for all of us.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Ireland Owens

South Korean companies are reconsidering investments into building electric vehicle (EV) battery plants in the United States, according to Bloomberg.

Some South Korean companies have slowed or halted the construction of some U.S. battery plants over concerns about slackening demand for EVs and President-elect Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House, according to Bloomberg. Trump’s proposed cuts to tax credits that have benefitted EV makers are causing some Korean companies to rethink their $54 billion U.S. investment plans.

The price of lithium, a key mineral used in EV batteries, dropped nearly 90% from their highs in 2022 due to slower-than-anticipated EV adoption, Bloomberg reported. Several South Korean companies announced plans for U.S. battery plants in 2022, promising the creation of thousands of jobs, following President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act being signed into law in August 2022, according to Bloomberg.

South Korea’s supply of batteries and battery materials has increased exponentially over the last few years, according to Aranca, a global research and analytics firm. South Korean-owned gigafactories will account for 43% of U.S. battery production growth over the next five years, according to Benchmark Source. Various Korean companies have been pumping billions of dollars into American manufacturing in recent years, with South Korean companies investing more in the U.S. than any other country in 2023.

Trump has long criticized EVs, and vowed to repeal the Biden administration’s EV measures in October 2023, calling them “insane.” The president-elect’s transition team is planning to undo the $7,500 consumer tax credit for EV purchases, Reuters reported last month.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to “revolutionize” the U.S. auto industry and vowed to make interest on car loans fully tax deductible in an attempt to boost domestic auto production. Trump has also proposed to offer tax breaks for purchasing vehicles manufactured in the U.S., emphasizing that it would boost domestic auto industry jobs and benefit American automakers, according to CBT News. The president-elect has proposed introducing tariffs on various imported goods, causing some American companies to speed up shifting production out of other countries, such as China and Mexico.

The Biden-Harris administration has led a push to increase the usage of EVs nationwide as part of President Joe Biden’s signature climate agenda. Biden introduced stringent tailpipe emissions  standards in March that would require about 67% of all light-duty vehicles sold after 2032 to be EVs or hybrids. The president also vowed to build 500,000 public EV chargers nationwide by 2030, although the charging network plans has thus far been significantly delayed.