Who's got gas?

Hi there,

Hope all those in the path of the big nor’easter are staying safe. I’m sitting this one out in California but am with you in spirit. We’ll have some more original analysis and opinion this week from myself and others; for now, here’s a brisk run-down of news from the week past.

ONE STORY IN A SENTENCE AND A CHART

• While the data center buildout hogs headlines, it’s worth noting that many developers have as-of-yet not specified where they’re purchasing gas turbines from and the indicated totals likely far outstrip near and medium-term total supply. Link.

NEWS, DATA, AND HEADLINES

Geothermal

• Google signed a 150MW geothermal Power Purchase Agreement with Ormat Technologies in Nevada, its second geothermal deal made via NV Energy's Clean Transition Tariff. The portfolio PPA will support Google's data center operations, with projects expected to come online between 2028 and 2030. Link. Link.

• The EIA published an overview showing a double-digit number of next-generation enhanced geothermal projects are now underway in the U.S. Unlike traditional geothermal, which relies on naturally occurring underground hot water reservoirs, enhanced projects use modern drilling techniques to harness heat from dry rocks. Fervo’s upcoming IPO is another bellwether of tailwinds for the space. Link.

Nuclear fission

• X-energy received a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to begin commercial production of HALEU reactor fuel, making its facility the first Category II site in operation in the U.S. and the first new commercial fuel producer licensed by the NRC in more than half a century. Link.

• The U.S. government helped airlift a nuclear reactor for the first time, as the Department of Defense transported a Valar Atomics 5MW microreactor via a C-17 from California to Utah for testing. The company is among several startups hoping to take a small modular reactor critical before or on July 4th this year. Link.

• Lockheed Martin is joining microreactor startup Radiant's $350 million-plus Series D round, amid growing Pentagon and DOE interest in nuclear tech for both civilian and defense power uses. Radiant plans to begin testing its 1MW Kaleidos unit this summer at Idaho National Laboratory and is targeting 2028 for initial customer deployments. Link.

Elsewhere in power and grid things

• Battery storage prices dropped more than 25% last year to a record low, according to a new BloombergNEF report. BNEF also projects another 25% price decline for BESS between now and 2035, and many past projections have proven too conservative. Link.

• Heron Power, based out of Scotts Valley, CA, closed a $140 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism Fund and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The company has already lined up 50GW of orders and plans to build a factory capable of producing 40GW of power-conversion gear annually. Link.

• DG Matrix, based out of Raleigh, NC, raised a $60 million Series A for its solid-state transformer systems that route and manage power for data centers. Engine Ventures led the round, with participation from ABB, Cerberus Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and others. Link.

• According to the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) February 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook, Trump's "drill, baby, drill" isn't moving American oil extractors, whose output is set to contract this year amid a global glut keeping prices low. However, natural gas production is still expected to hit another record high in 2026 at 120.8 billion cubic feet per day. Much of that gas is flowing to LNG exports, which won’t dampen domestic prices. Link.

• SB Energy, a subsidiary of Japan's SoftBank, announced plans for a 9.2GW gas-fired power plant in Ohio, which would make it among the largest in the world. Details remain sparse, and whether the project actually comes to fruition is an open question given the scramble among developers to procure turbines (see above for more on that in the ‘story in a sentence and a chart’ section). Link.

Policy

• A coalition of environmental and public health groups filed suit against the EPA over its repeal of the "endangerment finding," which undergirds much of U.S. climate regulation by designating greenhouse gasses as pollutants. More on that this week. Meanwhile, the EPA is also planning to scrap restrictions on mercury and other toxic air pollutant emissions from coal-fired power plants. Numerous Democrat-led states are accelerating plans to replace federal regulations with their own. Link. Link.

• Colorado River negotiations collapsed as seven states and the federal government disbanded without a plan to supply the 40 million people who depend on the river's waters. Upper-basin and lower-basin states remain at an impasse over water usage cuts. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said his agency would step in to provide guidelines by October. Link.

Other fundraising 

• Utility Global, based out of Houston, TX, announced a $100 million first close for its Series D round. The company produces hydrogen and concentrated CO₂ streams from industrial off-gases to help industrial facilities reduce their overall environmental footprint. Ara Partners and APG Asset Management co-led. Link.

• LanzaJet, based out of Deerfield, IL, announced a first close of $47 million for a $135 million round with a $650 million pre-money valuation for its alcohol-to-jet fuel technology that converts waste-based ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. IAG and Shell co-led, with participation from Groupe ADP and LanzaTech. Link.

• Rosy, a biochar-based, peat-free soil brand based out of New York, NY, closed a $5 million Series A led by London-based climate fund AP Ventures. The company's soil uses approximately 30% biochar, a carbon-negative material, and is available in Target stores nationwide. We had the founder and CEO on the podcast many moons ago. Congrats, Chad! Keep goin’. Link.

Last but not least

• Scientists found microplastics in the guts of Antarctic midges, the only insects found exclusively in Antarctica. Seems you could go to the ends of the Earth and not avoid the plastic problem. While only two plastic fragments were detected across 40 larvae studied, the finding is striking given how scarce plastic pollution is on the continent. Lab tests showed larvae exposed to high levels of plastic had smaller fat reserves, which could have consequences on their overall health and resilience. Link.

SPONSOR THIS NEWSLETTER

Reach 15,000+ executives, operators, policy professionals, founders, and investors in the energy, climate, and sustainability spaces. Reply to this directly to join our sponsor waitlist.

Tschüss,

— Nick