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DOE Announces Site Selection for Energy Infrastructure and AI Data Centers on Federal Lands

LCG, July 24, 2025--The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the next steps in the Trump administration’s plan to accelerate the development of AI infrastructure by using Federal lands to lower energy costs and help power the global AI race, as previously outlined in President Trump’s Executive Orders on Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure, Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, and Unleashing American Energy.

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Enbridge Announces 600-MW Solar Project in Texas to Power Meta Data Center Operations

LCG, July 22, 2025--Enbridge Inc. (Enbridge) today announced that it has reached a final investment decision on the Clear Fork solar project located near San Antonio, Texas. Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta), has signed a long-term contract for all of the renewable power generated from the 600-MW project.

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Industry News

New Materials May Make Capacity Upgrades of Lines Easier

LCG, Mar. 4, 2004--Composite materials are being tested in newly designed power lines that have the advantages of not sagging like traditional lines, and of allowing a greater amount of power to flow without adding significant bulk.

Companies developing the lines use substitutes for the steel that makes up the central core of traditional power cables, around which aluminum stands used to transmit electricity are wrapped. Because the composite materials, which use carbon fiber, glass and epoxy, provide the same strength as steel cores with larger diameters, they make it possible to wrap more aluminum around lines' cores. At the same time, they conduct less than steel, and sag up to 90% less, their makers say. This latter feature could be useful in preventing blackouts due to lines that heat up, and come to rest on trees or the ground.

The largest-scale test yet underway is planned by a local utility in Kingman, Kan., which has agreed to pay for a test of a 21-mile-long line, according to the New York Times. Other tests are underway in North Dakota and Minnesota, where another company will see how well its line performs in the local weather conditions. The Department of Energy is contributing financial assistance to a test near Fargo, N.D., scheduled for the winter. If the tests are considered successful, more widespread adoption will depend on the willingness of utilities to replace older lines, which can operate for more than 50 years without becoming seriously degraded.
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