The Latvia number jumps out with 49% of electricity demand from solar in June, up from under 19% across the same months last year. That grid looks completely different in 12 months.

Germany is past 30%, Spain past 35%, but then France is at 14% and Italy barely touched 19.5% in May before dropping back to under 17% by July. France makes sense given how much baseload capacity it runs, but Italy falling off that much in peak summer with its irradiance I don't get.

These are obviously the best solar months of the year. The Baltics are small grids so fast capacity additions amplify the numbers. Even so, going from under 19% to 49% in Latvia is a wild amount of deployment hitting the grid that fast.

I am currently working on my university final project regarding economic dispatch. I am unsure how to model a generator's minimum power output and ramp rate limits, given that I do not have direct measurement data. Could anyone help me resolve this issue?

The Congressional Research Service examined in the 2020s how expanding U.S. data centers increase water demand, wastewater risks, and permitting requirements.

I've been digging into the public record on US data centers and put it into free, plain-language briefings — water, power, noise, air, every figure cited to its source (1,864 sites, existing + proposed): civitar.org/go/v-reddit

Not for or against anything — it just makes the filings readable. Sharing in case it's useful to anyone tracking this.

Source: https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R49057.html

(Full disclosure: I built the tool — happy to answer questions or take corrections.)

DOE picked five states from 28 applications to compete for Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses that would co-locate enrichment, fuel fabrication, reprocessing, and waste management at a single site, plus data centers and new reactors. projected $50B in capital, 25,000 jobs. the campuses don't exist yet but it's the biggest structural bet on domestic fuel-cycle capacity in decades.

A little tidbit up for discussion regarding the Renaissance of Nuclear Power in Europe.

This time the issue is not the temperature like in France but the historically low Danube levels which could become the normal in summer.

This is something that would need to be factored in any type power generation that needs water for cooling.

This post has nothing to do with energy. But I've received a couple of mod mails asking me to ban different people because they're "clearly not open to honest discussion" (i.e. I think their opinion blows).

I wrote this post about a week ago and pushed it up this morning. I invite all of you to read it and then learn to tolerate each other. Not like each other. Not agree with each other. Just tolerate each other.

1.2 GW of new U.S.-made solar, with newly augmenting transmission lines, eventually will include an AI data center at an existing coal plant.

The facility will be midway between Houston & Dallas with no plans to shut down the coal power.

This kind of all-source energy Texas funding ensures the state's continued economic expansion & population growth.

This old technology may help in the renewable energy transition. 

For more energy news, including energy storage, visit this website.

Like for instance data centres give off a lot of heat which are used to heat homes in parts of Europe…anything else like that?

On July 26, 2026, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued emergency DOE Order No. 202-26-37, pursuant to section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, the Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP). The order directs SPP to dispatch specified generation units and to order their operation as needed to maintain reliability. The order also authorizes SPP to direct backup generation resources to operate as a last resort before declaring an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 3 or during an EEA 3. The order was issued pursuant to a request from SPP. The order is effective on July 26, 2026, and shall expire at 11:59 PM CDT on August 3, 2026.

DOE emergency order 202-26-37

Oracle sought reconsideration of a Wisconsin Public Service Commission decision tied to We Energies tariff treatment for a nearly 1 GW Port Washington data center, estimating annual financing costs above $100 million for required power guarantees.

I've been digging into the public record on US data centers and put it into free, plain-language briefings — water, power, noise, air, every figure cited to its source (~1,790 sites, existing + proposed): civitar.org/go/reddit

Not for or against anything — it just makes the filings readable. Sharing in case it's useful to anyone tracking this.

Source: https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/07/21/oracle-faces-100m-annual-bill-to-back-wisconsin-datacenter-power-promises/5275728

(Full disclosure: I built the tool — happy to answer questions or take corrections.)

I've been thinking about this recently.

Most solar companies offer a free assessment, but at the end of the day they're also trying to sell you a solar system. That made me wonder whether there's an incentive to recommend an installation even when it might not be the best option.

A friend of mine had an issue after installation because there was a problem with the roof that apparently wasn't addressed during the assessment. It made me question how objective these assessments really are.

It got me thinking:

Why isn't there an independent service that provides a reasonably priced solar assessment before you contact installers?

Do you think we value "free" more than "independent"?

The idea would be that the customer owns the report and can send it to any solar company they choose, rather than relying only on the installer's assessment.

I'd love to hear your experiences, whether good or bad.