For utility executives managing the data center surge, the energy equation is increasingly coming down to one word: firmness.
My latest Forbes piece explores the growing divide between regions with operating nuclear assets and those without. Recent mega-deals—such as Google securing 890 megawatts through uprates across 11 existing Constellation reactors—highlight how utilities and tech giants are fast-tracking carbon-free power by retrofitting licensed, staffed, and grid-connected infrastructure.
For regions like the interior West, the operational challenges are starker. Without nuclear options to uprate, and with advanced nuclear and SMR deployment timelines lagging behind immediate load growth, grid operators must lean on aging fossil units—such as keeping older coal assets online past their scheduled retirement.
As NERC warns of potential capacity shortfalls, the strategic question for utility leadership and regulators is clear: How can non-nuclear states build out the financing and regulatory pathways needed to secure carbon-free firm power before the resource gap widens further? https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2026/10/08/the-ai-power-race-favors-states-that-already-have-nuclear-plants/?ss=energy