AI and the Energy Sector

A onprofit electricity research and development organization, EPRI, https://www.epri.com/, announced a collaboration with Microsoft to develop and deploy AI solutions for the energy sector. 

The OpenPower AI consortium will collaborate with energy companies globally in an effort to enhance grid reliability, improve workforce safety, advance forecasting and planning models and achieve real-time grid intelligence by using artificial intelligence. EPRI announced the launch of the OpenPower AI consortium at Nividia's GTC conference https://msites.epri.com/opai  last month, stating that the effort hopes to drive the development and deployment of an OpenAI model tailored to the power sector.

The consortium will focus on three primary areas. 

The first is to develop and maintain open-source AI models, data sets, libraries, as well as optimizing power sector specific challenges.

Second, create an environment to develop AI applications in collaboration with startups, academia, national testing labs, utilities and other technology companies.  

Third, to accelerate innovation and reduce the risk of deploying AI within the energy sector.

Texas Restrains Renewable Energy Growth

Last Wednesday, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 388, which sets a target of 50% of all new power plant capacity to be, “sourced from dispatchable generation (natural gas) other than battery energy storage (renewable generation).”

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/energy-markets/texas-bill-gas-over-renewables

Dispatchable generation is interpreted as code words for natural gas. An earlier version of the bill said that these plants must use natural gas. The new words could theoretically incorporate coal and nuclear.

Most analysts anticipate that the legislation is simply an attempt to promote natural gas over all other forms of electrical generation.

Power plant owners and utilities that don't invest their money according to this new political directive would have to buy credits to comply with the regulatory bureaucracy. It is anticipated to  raise the costs of generating power within Texas unless it's produced with natural gas. 

If passed by the House and signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, the bill effectively would penalize anyone using renewable energy and reward utilities that use natural gas to power their turbines.

Texas'  transition away from natural gas to renewables has been dramatic. Over the last four years, 95 percent of all new electrical generation has come from wind, solar, and batteries, while only 5 percent of new generating sources use natural gas. 

Indiana Defines Clean Energy

In Indiana, a bill that defines natural gas and propane as clean energy is awaiting the governor's signature.

House lawmakers passed Senate Bill 178 last Monday. The author of the bill said that it's intended to allow Indiana to use federal clean energy grants to fund natural gas and propane projects. 

Ohio Passed Similar Legislation in 2022 

A coalition of environmental groups is currently challenging House Bill 507, Ohio’s 2022 law that labeled natural gas as “green energy,” arguing in court that the manner in which it was passed violated the state constitution. 

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/enn/declaring-natural-gas-green-energy-in-chicken-bill-violated-ohio-constitution-groups-argue

Ohio 2024 Law defines Nuclear as “Green”

Ohio passed similar legislation last year classifying nuclear and natural gas as “green”.  Signed by Republican Governor Mike DeWine December 19, 2025, HB 308 redefined energy generated by nuclear reaction as green energy.

“HB 308 will enable the manipulation of public funds into private, corporate hands,” said Pat Marida, a coordinator for the Ohio Nuclear-Free Network, in her December 13th testimony.

Opponents fear that costs for existing or proposed nuclear plants in Ohio could be bailed out by the state, thereby the Ohio taxpayer. 

Growth of Renewable Energy Surges

Renewable energy capacity around the world surged last year, particularly in the US and China, according to a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency or ARENA.

https://www.irena.org/News/pressreleases/2025/Mar/Record-Breaking-Annual-Growth-in-Renewable-Power-Capacity

The data shows that renewables such as wind, solar, and battery capacity are growing at a much faster rate than traditional fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.

In 2012, renewable energy surpassed fossil fuels as the major source of energy globally. Since that date, renewables have continued to expand their capacity while fossil fuel sources have declined. 

Wind and solar dominated the expansion rate last year, with solar increasing by a little over 32 percent globally, and wind energy by a little over 11 percent.

An energy abundance development corporation has unveiled plans for what they're calling Data City, Texas. It's five gigawatt behind the meter data center hub to be built on 50,000 acres of land near the city of Laredo, powered by 100 percent 24-7 green power. 

https://fuelcellsworks.com/2025/03/24/green-technology/energy-abundance-unveils-data-city-texas-world-s-largest-24-7-green-powered-data-center-hub-with-future-hydrogen-integration

Data City will be built in phases.

The first 300 megawatts and 1 million square feet of data center is set to be launched in 2026. The project is designed to host large AI workloads with power dense racking and a centralized district cooling system optimized for direct-to-chip liquid cooling. 

Fully islanded from ERCOT, https://www.ercot.com/, the project combines wind, solar batteries, as well as hydrogen power by locating the energy sources behind the meter so that the data center essentially owns and operates its own grid on its side of the connection to the utility.

The project can avoid interconnection costs and delays that can add as much as five years to the construction process.