Power supply becomes the binding constraint on AI compute. The defining theme across today's announcements is that securing electricity, rather than securing chips or capital, is now the decisive limit on artificial intelligence expansion. Federal regulators moved to force the question into the open on the same day that developers raced to bring new generation online and one campus collapsed for want of power. FERC orders all six US grid operators to defend or revise large-load rules. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission used its June 18 open meeting to issue tailored show-cause orders under section 206 of the Federal Power Act to each of the six regional grid operators it oversees, namely PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, ISO New England and NYISO, requiring them either to justify their existing large-load interconnection tariffs or to file reforms, as set out in the commission's own announcement. Each operator has sixty days to defend or revise its rules for connecting data centres and other large users, and thirty days to file an informational report on how it will secure adequate generation, an unusually fast route that the agency chose over a conventional rulemaking, as Renewable Energy World reported. Critical Energy raises $22m for modular geothermal plants aimed at data centres. Los Angeles startup Critical Energy, founded by former SpaceX propulsion engineer Spencer Jackson, announced $22 million in early funding comprising a $19 million seed round and $3 million in venture debt, co-led by Susa Ventures and Upfront Ventures with participation from MaC Venture Capital and others, according to the company-issued release carried by citybiz. The company builds assembly-line modular turbines that it says can be deployed in roughly two weeks, targeting a first 2.5 MW commercial plant in 2027, and it positions geothermal as a firm round-the-clock supply for compute campuses, as ThinkGeoEnergy confirmed. TerraPower Natrium reactor enters UK regulatory assessment. The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation, working with the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales, formally began the three-step Generic Design Assessment of TerraPower's Natrium reactor, a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten-salt storage that can lift output to 500 MWe, the regulator announced. TerraPower, chaired by Bill Gates, also opened TerraPower UK as its first office outside the United States, while its first Natrium plant remains under construction at Kemmerer in Wyoming with a 2030 target, as World Nuclear News reported. Ohmium and Hynfra agree green hydrogen development across MENA and Africa. US-based PEM electrolyser manufacturer Ohmium International and Polish developer Hynfra signed a master cooperation agreement to advance green hydrogen and green ammonia projects in Mauritania, Jordan and Oman, according to the companies' release on BusinessWire. The framework covers the front-end engineering and design stage, with Ohmium supplying electrolyser technology and technical support, and the partners citing energy independence and reduced fossil fuel imports as the rationale, as Energy Monitor reported. The agreement does not yet disclose capacity, tonnage or financial figures. CIM Group closes about $600m financing for California solar and storage. CIM Group's Permanent Power Company closed an approximately $600 million construction financing facility for its Grape project at Westlands Solar Park in California's San Joaquin Valley, the company said on BusinessWire. The facility combines a roughly $372.3 million construction-to-term loan, a $166.7 million tax-credit transfer bridge loan and a $61.3 million letter of credit facility, with Truist as administrative agent, funding 246.4 MWac of solar paired with a 150 MWac and 600 MWh battery system, as confirmed in the company's SEC 8-K filing. Eos Energy lands first order under 2 GWh battery reservation deal. Eos Energy Enterprises announced the first purchase order under Frontier Power USA's 2 GWh capacity reservation agreement, supporting the Redbird project, a 100 MW and 400 MWh four-hour battery system using Eos's zinc-based Z3 technology for the ERCOT market in Texas, the company said on GlobeNewswire. The order fills nearly half of a 1 GWh master supply agreement and the company pointed to a further 12 GWh development pipeline across ERCOT, PJM, CAISO and MISO, as StockTitan reported.

Critical Energy raises $22m to develop modular geothermal plants targeting data centers. Targeting both conventional and enhanced geothermal sectors June 18, 2026 A US company focused on the design and development of factory-built modular geothermal plants for the data center sector has raised $22 million in seed funding. 20 Nov 2025 Meta and others have thrown their backing behind experimental geothermal projects as energy demand from AI continues to rise Los Angeles-based Critical Energy announced the close of its funding round, led by Susa Ventures and Upfront Ventures. It plans to use the proceeds of the funding round to advance its technology and expedite plans for its full-scale commercial plant, which is slated to come online in 2027. Critical Energy was founded by SpaceX alum Spencer Jackson, who serves as its CEO. The company is seeking to offer a bespoke solution for the AI data center sector by building custom on-site geothermal power plants. Jackson said that the company is taking a manufacturing-based approach to geothermal deployments, with its Apex power units designed to be factory-manufactured, shipped in containers, and assembled on-site where they will deliver power. The company has two flagship models, dubbed Apex 2500 and Apex 5000, which provide 2.5MW and 5MW of capacity, respectively. According to the company, the former is targeted for standard conventional geothermal power, and the latter is designed for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), which have seen growing interest from hyperscale companies. "The thing that needed to be done here was a manufacturing and supply chain change, not a technology invention," Jackson said. The fundraiser reflects the growth of interest in geothermal energy within the data center market. Over the past two years, we have seen a swathe of deals within the sector, with much of the focus on EGS systems, which offer much higher capacity factors than conventional geothermal systems. To date, Google, Meta (x2), Microsoft, and Amazon have all inked deals with geothermal developers, with the bulk of the deals within the US market. More in north america.