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Faster-than-Expected Data Center Load Growth May Cause Increased Regional Short-term Fossil Fuel Generation and Wholesale Electricity Prices

LCG, March 18, 2026--The EIA released a new "In-depth Analysis" of the potential impact of faster-than-expected near-term growth in data center power demand on power generation and wholesale prices on March 12. The analysis models the lower 48 states through 2027 and compares results to its base case scenario. Key takeaway from this sensitivity analysis is the potential increase in fossil fuels in some regions and potentially a significant increase in wholesale prices in ERCOT.

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Oklo Announces DOE Approval for Nuclear Safety Design Agreement of Aurora Powerhouse at Idaho National Lab

LCG, March 17, 2026--Oklo Inc. (Oklo) today announced that it has signed a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) to support the design, construction, and operation of Oklo’s first reactor, the Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) under DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program (RPP). The DOE Idaho Operations Office subsequently approved the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement (NSDA) for the fast-fission power plant, and Oklo immediately requested DOE commence review of its Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA).

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Industry News

Connections of Wind Farms to Irish Grid Blocked

LCG, Dec. 4, 2003--The intermittent nature of wind power production and the significant amount of planned growth of wind installations in Ireland has led a top regulator to halt further connections in order to insure reliable operations.

The decision was prompted in part by a letter to the regulator, Tom Reeves, from the managing director of ESB National Grid, Kieran O'Brien, in which O'Brien asked for emergency steps to be taken. "While these issues could be ignored with low levels of wind generation on the system, now that definitive plans are in place to significantly and rapidly increase the proportion of wind generation on the system, a number of complex technical issues relating to wind generation must be resolved," the letter stated.

Reeves said that he knew the decision would not be received well by executives of wind power production firms. He stated that he was "naturally reluctant to approve emergency type measures of this nature without any prior warning to the industry," but that a higher priority lay in "overall system reliability."

O'Brien asked that the technical issues should be fully researched before any new connections are approved. He wrote that the amount of currently connected facilities and approved wind connection agreements "pose an increased risk to the security and stability of the power system which the transmission system operator feels exceeds the level normally likely to be accepted by a prudent system operator."
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