PJM Interconnection, the 13-state power market serving 67 million people, is seeking emergency capacity after its latest auction left a 6.8GW supply shortfall despite record-high prices, while data centers and other large loads could add 70GW of demand by 2038. PJM now proposes registering major computing facilities and potentially curtailing data-center electricity during emergencies when on-site generation cannot support operations. The gap exposes a U.S. infrastructure mismatch: AI campuses can be built faster than transmission lines, substations, turbines, and storage systems can enter service. FERC, utilities, and technology companies must now prioritize firm generation, grid-responsive computing, accelerated transmission approvals, and customer-funded interconnections, or rising digital capacity will increase blackout exposure across the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. (Reuters)
Strategic Moves | Capital flows in energy, infrastructure, and policy
Energy Systems & Grid Reliability
- Valar Atomics is seeking $1 billion at a $6 billion valuation to scale helium-cooled SMRs for AI data centers, reducing grid-capacity risk despite licensing and deployment uncertainty.
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems raised $1 billion to advance its Sparc reactor and 400MW Arc plant, targeting 2027 breakeven and future grid supply for Google and Eni.
- Bluecore Energy raised $10 million to deploy barge-mounted SMRs that can power about 15,000 homes or a major port, strengthening grid and port continuity through mobile nuclear generation.
- Antares Nuclear raised $470 million to deploy 100kW-1MW SMRs at U.S. military bases from 2028, strengthening off-grid power continuity despite $214/MWh sector costs and supply-chain risk.
- Thea Energy secured a $20 million ARPA-E grant to manufacture modular superconducting magnets for its stellarator, reducing fusion-reactor construction costs ahead of commercial deployment in the mid-2030s.
Resilient Infrastructure & Materials
- Sila raised $300 million to expand its 2GWh Washington anode factory to tens of GWh annually, supplying 100,000+ EVs while reducing battery-system exposure to China’s 75% graphite supply share.
- Fast Metals raised $4.3 million to extract titanium, scandium, and other critical minerals from 3 billion tons of red mud, reducing waste exposure and strengthening domestic materials supply.
- Rio Tinto signed a 5-year SuperChar offtake deal to test 5%-50% bio-pellet blends at its Gladstone alumina refineries, targeting 35,000 tons of annual local production and up to 90,000 tons of Scope 1 emissions reductions while lowering coal dependence in refinery boilers.
Resilience Finance & Policy
- Florida plans to redirect nearly $200 million in NEVI funding from EV chargers to 32 eVTOL landing pads, expanding air-taxi infrastructure while leaving road-charging gaps exposed.
- Mercedes-Benz will use Hydro CIRCAL aluminum containing at least 75% post-consumer scrap in its next-generation large EVs, reducing material emissions and strengthening circular supply resilience across automotive production.
Omer Agadi, Research, Endurance Capital
