Tag: doe

Brookfield, NextEra To Build $100 Billion AI Hub On Cold War Nuclear Site

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has announced a landmark $100-billion private investment to turn the former uranium enrichment site in Western Kentucky into the new Paducah American Energy Hub, marking one of the largest economic development projects in Kentucky’s history.

Led by U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, the initiative will bring together a private-sector coalition to build a massive artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) innovation campus powered by new energy infrastructure. The phased buildout is targeted for 2032, and is expected to create roughly 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent operations jobs. Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) has been selected to build the 1.8-gigawatt (GW) AI and HPC data center campus while NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) will develop 2 GW of natural gas-fired generation coupled with 2.6 GW of battery energy storage. The project is designed to operate on dedicated power supplies capable of feeding excess energy back to the regional grid to avoid raising utility bills for local families and businesses. The campus will also deploy a modern closed-loop cooling system to continuously recirculate water and minimize external consumption. The project leaders emphasize that this design is vastly more resource-efficient compared to the site’s previous tenant, the Cold War-era Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which was originally designed to pull up to 30 million gallons of water per day from the Ohio River.

Still, the Paducah project comes at a time when the market is souring on heavy AI infrastructure spending.

Last year, Trump, alongside Oracle’s Larry Ellison, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, unveiled Stargate, a private-sector joint venture intended to invest up to $500 billion over four years to build hyper-scale AI data centers and energy infrastructure across the United States. Billed by Trump as the “largest AI infrastructure project in history,” Stargate is designed to secure American dominance in AI over foreign competitors like China. Oracle serves as the core cloud and infrastructure provider for the venture. Initial development of the project began in Abilene, Texas, consisting of multiple 500,000-square-foot data center buildings to house the immense computing power needed for next-generation AI models.

Unfortunately, the ambitious AI infrastructure project found itself on the ropes just months after its grand launch.

Back in January, Business Insider reported that JPMorgan Chase was having trouble syndicating the $38 billion in construction debt it underwrote for the Stargate AI data center initiative as institutional investors grow increasingly cautious regarding concentrated tech sector exposure. Banks spent more than six months attempting to distribute the multi-billion-dollar debt packages for the Stargate campuses located in Texas and Wisconsin; however, buyers appeared uninterested in taking on massive piles of debt tied heavily to single-tenant AI operations. Oracle leases the facilities, and S&P cut Oracle in July to BBB-, one notch above junk, over its data center spending. Investors demanded a higher return to hold the debt, and the banks had to sell it at a discount.

In April, OpenAI officially paused its Stargate UK data center project, citing high industrial electricity prices and regulatory uncertainty. Stargate UK was planned in partnership with hardware firms Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Nscale, aiming to deploy thousands of advanced AI chips (starting with 8,000 GPUs and scaling up to 31,000) across sites in North-East England, including Cobalt Park near Newcastle and Blyth.

Whereas OpenAI did not cancel the project outright, the AI giant says it will only resume development only when the “right conditions” allow for long-term infrastructure investment. The pause dealt a major blow to UK infrastructure partner Nscale (founded by Josh Payne), which had been scaling up operations and weighing a potential stock market IPO, as well as Britain’s push to emerge as a sovereign AI superpower.

The UK pause is the second blow to OpenAI’s planned capacity in a month.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Oracle’s pivotal $18-billion Project Jupiter, a massive 1,400-acre data center campus in New Mexico critical to supporting the broader AI infrastructure goals, has stalled. Oracle issued a force majeure notice to lender Blue Owl Capital regarding the 2.45-gigawatt hyperscale data center in southern New Mexico after the tech giant failed to secure vital state and federal land-use permits for a planned natural gas plant. Instead, Oracle announced plans to shift over to solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), an experimental stopgap that has never been deployed on a scale this large.

Public resistance to data centers has been growing rapidly across the United States, Europe and Asia as communities push back against the massive environmental and economic footprint of AI infrastructure. A recent Gallup poll shows that roughly 71% of Americans oppose the construction of AI data centers in their localities. Pushback in the U.S. has resulted in projects worth over $130 billion blocked or delayed, with reports indicating more than 500 active data center bans or moratoriums have popped up nationwide.

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Useless Without Transmission: DOE Backs $581 Million TVA Grid Expansion

On Tuesday, DOE said it plans to help the Tennessee Valley Authority fund 84 transmission and distribution projects across eight states to add about 2.5 gigawatts of grid capacity. The award totals roughly $581 million, with $250 million in federal money and $331 million from TVA.

“America’s electric grid cannot become a roadblock to economic growth,” said Katie Jereza, who heads DOE’s Office of Electricity.

Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly went further, blaming “years of misguided energy policies under the previous administration” for leaving the bulk power system “less robust than it should be.”

From $250 Million To $10.5 Billion

The announcement for TVA support from the DOE is alongside the ongoing SPARK program under the GRIP program… If the acronyms are starting to blur together, here is the simple version:

  • Tuesday’s award is for $250 million, written to TVA and its local power companies.
  • SPARK, DOE’s acronym for “Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades,” is the bigger, nationwide program. It puts $1.9 billion of federal money, plus $3.35 billion in cost share, into 31 projects in 26 states that will reconductor or rebuild more than 1,500 miles of existing lines and free up over 23 GW of capacity. TVA’s slice is about $80 million to upgrade roughly 125 miles of lines in Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina with advanced conductors, adding about 1,900 MW.
  • GRIP, the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, is the even bigger $10.5 billion pot created by the 2021 infrastructure law, and it pays for both SPARK and the new award announced Tuesday afternoon.

Add TVA’s two awards together and it has nearly $741 million in planned grid investment for more than 4,300 MW of added grid capacity.

The Real Bottleneck

As we just covered, the hyperscalers are fighting over how much of the grid’s bill is theirs, with one telling Senate staff that shared upgrades provide a “system benefit which should be shared among all ratepayers.”

Tuesday’s award is that argument in practice, with taxpayers and utility customers splitting the cost of wires everyone uses, on a national grid where, by the senators’ own count, about a third of transmission and half of distribution infrastructure is “near or beyond its useful life.”

You can build all the combined-cycle gas plants, reactors and geothermal wells you want, and line up every data center and electrified factory in the country to buy their output. If the grid can’t carry the power from one to the other, none of it matters.

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Department of Energy employee arrested for allegedly trying to provide material support to Houthis

Federal authorities arrested a Department of Energy employee Thursday in Washington state for allegedly trying to provide material support to the foreign terrorist organization, the Houthis.

Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy has been charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to the Houthis after he allegedly purchased precursor chemicals for homemade explosive devices and provided guidance to an undercover FBI source.

Court records alleged Ellaboudy traveled to Oman in 2024, before crossing the border into Houthi-occupied Yemen. He allegedly told U.S. officials upon his return that he traveled to the Middle East on official government business, but Ellaboudy’s supervisor said he did not have authorized official government travel to that region. 

“A U.S. government employee traveled overseas and used his specialized expertise in an attempt to aid the Houthis, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization backed by Iran,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said. 

“Additionally, Ellaboudy acquired materials for the construction of explosive material and drones capable of delivering these explosives,” he continued. “These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination.”

The Justice Department claimed that an investigation found Ellaboudy communicated with an FBI confidential human source who claimed to work for a Houthi “Colonel” to acquire communications equipment that would be sent to Yemen for use in a mobile communications center. 

Ellaboudy provided expert advice and assistance to the individual, based upon his background in electrical engineering, by helping them test and modify solar power generators and communication equipment.

He also provided guidance on how the power and communication systems integrated, provided schematics and diagrams for the proper setup of the systems and provided information on other equipment that could enhance the communication equipment of the Houthis.

Ellaboudy has not entered a plea yet and is expected to appear before a federal magistrate judge on Friday. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

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Department of Energy employee arrested in Washington for allegedly trying to aid Iran-backed Houthis

A Department of Energy employee in Washington state was arrested Thursday for allegedly attempting to support the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist organization, with federal prosecutors accusing him of using his electrical engineering expertise to help improve the group’s communications capabilities.

According to the Justice Department, Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, is charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to the Houthis, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Investigators also allegedly uncovered purchases of chemicals used to make explosives and components for building drones.

“As alleged, a U.S. government employee traveled overseas and used his specialized expertise in an attempt to aid the Houthis, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization backed by Iran,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Additionally, Ellaboudy acquired materials for the construction of explosive material and drones capable of delivering these explosives. These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination.”

According to the Justice Department’s account of court records, the FBI began investigating Ellaboudy after receiving information that he had purchased precursor chemicals, components, and other materials commonly used to construct homemade explosive devices. Investigators subsequently found that he had also purchased parts used to build drones and remotely operated aerial systems.

The complaint alleges that in December 2024, the FBI learned Ellaboudy had taken sick leave from work, claiming exposure to highly concentrated nitric acid, a chemical commonly used in making explosive materials.

In September 2025, Ellaboudy allegedly traveled from Richland to Oman using an official passport previously issued to him while he worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers. Prosecutors say he used the same passport to cross into Yemen, intending to travel to the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa.

When he returned to the United States, Ellaboudy allegedly told Customs and Border Protection officers that the trip had been official government business. His Department of Energy supervisor subsequently told investigators that Ellaboudy had no authorized official travel to that region.

During the investigation, Ellaboudy communicated with an FBI confidential source who claimed to be acquiring communications equipment for a Houthi “Colonel,” according to the release. The equipment was supposedly destined for a mobile communications center in Yemen.

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Energy Secretary Announces $2 Billion For Improving Electric Grid With Smart Technology

The U.S. Department of Energy has committed $2 billion for smart technology improvements to the nation’s electric grid, aiming to address concerns about artificial intelligence power usage, blackouts, and higher utility bills heading into the colder seasons.

During a press conference on Sept. 24, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the investment would affect around 100 million Americans. Nationally, the spending would be distributed across 31 projects in 26 states and is expected to produce more than 23 gigawatts of electricity annually, enough to power about 16 million homes.

“This is a quick way to lower electricity prices and increase reliability: using fibers that are already in the transmission lines to analyze what’s the temperature out, what’s the wind out, how can we use this transmission line to distribute more power, but safely and only in the right conditions,” Wright said, speaking at a PPL Corp. facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

As Jeremy Lott reports further for The Epoch Times, PPL owns one of those projects at the local level. It’s a $71.5 million effort to modernize an existing high-voltage transmission line across roughly 30 miles in northern Pennsylvania.

The state has a few data centers now online and a half-dozen more under construction, with grid improvements that could help facilitate them.

Future data center construction in the state has been slowed by an executive order issued by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in August, which affects the construction of all data centers that will use 25 megawatts or more, or enough energy to power about 18,000 homes.

Shapiro said the order was about “implementing the strictest standards in the nation for AI data centers – because I will not allow Pennsylvanians to be bullied by greedy developers and bulldozed by the lawyers working for these big tech companies.”

Manufacturing Grid Components

AI has been in the spotlight in much of the recent electricity news, from the latest grid upgrades to a recent executive order by President Donald Trump.

The “bulk-power system” executive order, issued in late August, aimed to ensure that key components of the grid are not manufactured in nations under arms embargoes or other U.S. sanctions, particularly China, but are instead manufactured domestically whenever possible.

The text of the order said that the new restrictions were necessary because AI and AI-related production, including defense technology, has increased America’s “dependence on abundant, reliable electricity.”

Smart technology improvements to the grid can help reduce electricity waste and thereby free up more supply, but those improvements also increase vulnerability to hackers.

America’s energy needs have heightened the consequences of a “successful attack or supply disruption on the bulk-power system,” the order warned.

The concern is that components manufactured in regimes hostile to certain U.S. interests might contain “backdoors” or other features that make it easier to sabotage the grid, the order stated.

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MASSIVE VICTORY AGAINST THE CLIMATE CULT! Fifth Circuit SHUTS DOWN Illegal Biden-Era Energy Efficiency Standards for Stoves and Cooktops – Slams DOE for Trying to Bypass the Law!

ANOTHER MAJOR BLOW TO THE RADICAL GREEN AGENDA!

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday delivered another stinging rebuke to the Biden-era Department of Energy’s war on American appliances, setting aside energy efficiency standards for stoves and cooktops.

The court ruled on Tuesday that the Department of Energy (DOE) acted completely illegally when it refused to withdraw a controversial “Direct Final Rule” after multiple red states raised damning objections.

The radical green zealots in Washington have been waging a non-stop war on everyday household appliances. From dishwashers to ceiling fans, bureaucrats inside the Biden regime spent years pushing stringent rules designed to make basic home appliances more expensive, less efficient, and far less reliable.

When CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. let the cat out of the bag in 2023 by suggesting a total federal ban on gas stoves, the public pushback was immediate and fierce.

Unable to pass their radical climate tyranny through normal transparent channels, DOE bureaucrats tried an illegal end-run around the American public.

Rather than facing the public in standard notice-and-comment rulemaking, the DOE tried to quietly lock in new efficiency standards using a backdoor mechanism known as a “Direct Final Rule” (DFR).

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Bill Gates Held A Top Secret ‘Q’ Clearance For Seven Years – And The DOE Won’t Say Why

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held a top-tier “Q” security clearance at the Department of Energy from 2014 to 2021 – though the DOE didn’t grant it. Another federal agency vetted him first, and the letter confirming the clearance doesn’t say which one.

The detail comes from a DOE letter entered into the Congressional record by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). The letter emerged as Fauci faced fierce Republican blowback during his Senate hearing last week, where the longtime face of COVID policy pleaded the Fifth more than 100 times.

A “Q” clearance is the Energy Department’s highest classification level, the kind normally reserved for people working on nuclear weapons design, national labs, critical energy infrastructure, and highly classified scientific research. Gates kept that clearance for seven years, starting under President Obama and running through the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One explanation as to why; Gates founded and chairs TerraPower, the advanced nuclear reactor company that has spent years working alongside DOE national laboratories and won Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction approval in March. A nuclear executive holding a nuclear clearance is not, on its own, a scandal.

But the letter doesn’t mention TerraPower – or why he had it at all. What it does say is that the clearance was granted reciprocally on June 11, 2014 – meaning it originated at another federal agency, and DOE simply honored it – before terminating on December 6, 2021. The letter does not name the agency that vetted him in the first place.

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Energy Department Issues Emergency Order To Secure Power Grid In 17 US States

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an order to tackle an energy emergency situation across 17 U.S. states triggered by hot weather conditions.

The July 26 emergency order was issued by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to Southwest Power Pool Inc. (SPP), the regional grid operator for the 17 states.

According to the order, SPP is expecting hot weather conditions through Aug. 3. The operator requested the department to allow specific power generation units to run beyond their operating limits in order to ensure grid reliability. It also sought authority to unlock and deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other industrial and commercial customer sites to counter any risk to the bulk power system.

Wright determined that statutory emergency situations exist in certain regions, serviced by the SPP, owing to sudden increases in demand, “a shortage of electric energy, a shortage of facilities for the generation and transmission of electric energy, and other causes,” the order said. Homes and local businesses in the affected areas could lose power, presenting a risk to public safety and health.

The energy secretary allowed SPP to dispatch power-generating units “as needed to maintain reliability,” according to the order. In addition, SPP is authorized to use backup resources to operate as a last resort before issuing an Energy Emergency Alert 3 – the highest level of energy emergency action.

The emergency order applies from July 26 to Aug. 3.

In a July 26 statement, DOE said the order would stabilize the power grid and mitigate blackout risks, highlighting that outages cost American people around $44 billion annually.

“The Trump Administration is tapping into an abundant supply of unused backup generation to maintain affordable, reliable, and secure power for hardworking American families and businesses,” Wright said in the statement.

The department estimated the total nationwide unused power generation to be at over 35 gigawatts.

The emergency order comes as the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted in a July 28 post on X that “dangerous and extreme” heat would remain across portions of the central United States this week.

In a July 28 forecast, the Weather Prediction Center said the southern United States is expected to see above-normal temperatures for the next few days, with afternoon highs reaching upper 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

High heat combined with high humidity can result in widespread “Major to Extreme HeatRisk levels,” with people lacking adequate cooling or hydration at risk of heat-related illnesses, according to the center. By the end of this week, the “dangerous heat” is forecast to expand into the Southwest and Intermountain West, the center said.

Strengthening Power Grid

Amid high heat conditions, other major power grid operators have also issued operational alerts.

On July 28, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which serves 15 states, released a hot weather alert update as temperatures in the region are expected to hit 103 degrees Fahrenheit. The alert is effective till the end of this month.

On July 15, PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest electric grid operator that serves 13 states, had declared a hot weather alert that remained in effect through July 17. Such an alert is issued to prepare power generation facilities and personnel to meet a jump in electricity demand.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, the DOE announced $1.9 billion in funding opportunities to strengthen the U.S. power grid, with the funds coming from a five-year grid resilience program.

The funding will prioritize projects that expand grid capacity, replace existing power lines with higher-capacity conductors, improve overall system security and reliability, and lower prices for consumers.

According to Katie Jereza, assistant secretary at the DOE’s Office of Electricity, the funding will stabilize and optimize America’s grid operations, strengthening it for rapid growth.

Wright said in the statement that for too long, “important grid modernization and energy addition efforts were not prioritized by past leaders.”

“Thanks to President [Donald] Trump, we are doing the important work of modernizing our grid so electricity costs will be lowered for American families and businesses,” Wright said.

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Trump DOE Removes Highly Enriched Uranium From Venezuela in Major Nuclear Security Win!

The Trump administration has completed the removal of all remaining enriched uranium from a legacy research reactor in Venezuela, marking a major nuclear security victory for the United States, South America, and the world.

According to a post from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, the DOE/NNSA worked with international partners to remove all enriched uranium from Venezuela’s RV-1 research reactor.

The agency described the operation as a major nonproliferation success that reduced risk to both South America and the U.S. homeland.

“The safe removal of all enriched uranium from Venezuela sends another signal to the world of a restored and renewed Venezuela,” NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams said, according to the Department of Energy post. 

“Thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership, the dedicated teams on the ground completed in months what would have normally taken years.”

The uranium came from the RV-1 reactor, which had supported physics and nuclear research for decades. According to DOE/NNSA, once that work ended in 1991, the uranium became surplus material. 

The material was enriched above the crucial 20% threshold, making its removal a serious national security matter.

The operation moved quickly after Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Venezuela in February. 

In the weeks that followed, NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation worked with State Department personnel in Washington and Caracas, experts from the United Kingdom, the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology, and the International Atomic Energy Agency to prepare the removal.

Less than six weeks after the initial site visit, the team safely removed 13.5 kilograms, or roughly 30 pounds, of uranium from the RV-1 reactor.

The material was securely packaged into a spent fuel cask before being escorted about 100 miles overland to a Venezuelan port. From there, the cargo was transferred to a specialized carrier supplied by the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Transport Solutions.

The vessel then transported the uranium to the United States, where it arrived on U.S. shores in early May.

Upon arrival, American teams unloaded the casks and transported the material to the Savannah River Site for processing and reuse.

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DOE Announces $171 Million For Geothermal Expansion

The DOE released a Notice of Funding Opportunity offering up to $171.5 million for next-generation geothermal field tests and resource exploration.

The program targets field-scale demonstrations of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) for electricity generation, along with drilling to characterize and confirm hydrothermal and next-gen prospects nationwide.

The funding splits into two initial open topics: up to $100 million for EGS field tests and $71.5 million for exploratory drilling. Letters of intent are due March 27, with full applications due April 30. The move directly supports President Trump’s Executive Order “Unleashing American Energy,” according to the agency.

Geothermal currently supplies roughly 4 GW of U.S. capacity, but represents only about 0.3% of total power generation. DOE estimates the resource base could support 300 GW or more by 2050 with technology improvements, delivering firm, 24/7 baseload power that complements intermittent renewables and meets rising demand from data centers and AI infrastructure.

Recent studies show that some of the best locations in the United States for new geothermal sites are in the western part of the country and some of the southern states.

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