When the Three Mile Island power plant in Pennsylvania was decommissioned in 2019, it heralded the symbolic end of America's nuclear industry. In 1979, the facility was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in the nation's history: a partial reactor meltdown that didn't release enough radiation to cause detectable harm to people nearby, but still turned Americans against nuclear power and prompted a host of regulations that functionally killed most nuclear build-out for decades. Many existing plants stayed online, but 40 years later, Three Mile Island joined a wave of facilities that shut down because of financial hurdles and competition from cheap natural gas, closures that cast doubt over the future of nuclear power in the United States. Now Three Mile Island is coming back, this time as part of efforts to meet the enormous electricity demands of generative AI. The plant's owner, Constellation Energy, announced yesterday that it is reopening the facility.

Smart grids are part of a growing "smart" phenomenon involving distributed devices that are wirelessly connected and intelligently controlled to automate decisions normally left to people. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most popular example of this trend, with smart phones, thermostats, fridges, and even cars working in concert to share real-time data and make decisions autonomously. Smart grid technology does the same thing – but for energy. This comprehensive guide explains how smart electrical grids work, why they are important, and how they are helping to revolutionize the electricity landscape – especially as distributed energy sources (DERs) like solar, wind, and battery storage continue to place stress on America's aging power infrastructure. You may also enjoy this brief 30-minute podcast that introduces the challenges of smart grids and highlights some of the benefits of AI to improve energy and utility operations.