It's Thursday. Texas has spent decades insisting everything is bigger there. Its grid operator just received its first application for reactors sold on being small.
In today's edition:
⚛️ Big Story: Blue Energy files ERCOT's first SMR grid application
⚡ Quick Hits: a whole-home VPP, a PFAS battery shutdown, a perovskite record, $260B in cancelled data centers, a gas pipeline surge
💰 Capital: Type One Energy's $200M fusion round
📋 Policy Watch: California's transmission monitor, Alabama's data center rules, Connecticut's solar contract standoff
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The Big Story
Blue Energy asks ERCOT to connect up to 1.5 GW of SMRs
Maryland nuclear startup Blue Energy Global has applied to connect up to five 300 MW reactors of GE Vernova Hitachi's design to the ERCOT grid to supply a Crusoe data center, Bloomberg reported, citing ERCOT data released last week. The grid operator described it as the first application of its kind for small modular reactors. The plan bridges to nuclear with gas, and the first reactor is not expected until 2033.
The reactors would total up to 1.5 GW, enough for about 260,000 Texas homes, according to the report.
Blue Energy has also applied to connect about 1 GW of initial gas-fired generation, with two units slated to start in 2030 and 2031, per ERCOT data.
The filing is an interconnection request; the report does not cover NRC licensing or project financing.
Texas today has four large reactors at South Texas Project and Comanche Peak, with over 5 GW of combined capacity.
Source: Energy Connects (Bloomberg)
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Quick Hits
Technology milestones from across the grid
Five items, from thermostats to groundwater.
Everyday Electric, the rebranded Renew Home, bought EV software firm Smartcar to fold cars into a whole-home virtual power plant built on more than 8 million managed smart thermostats, and says it aims to save customers $5 billion over five years under a pay-for-performance model. Utility Dive
NextEra ceased operations at its East Hampton and Montauk battery sites on Long Island by Oct. 3 after New York regulators identified the East Hampton system's fire suppression as the probable source of PFPrA in local groundwater, a rare case of battery fire response turning into a water liability; two wells are out of service and the county water authority has sued. Energy-Storage.news
UNSW and UtmoLight reported a certified 23.5% stabilized efficiency on a 676 cm² perovskite submodule, 0.6 points above the prior benchmark, and are now targeting 18% to 19% on a full 2.8 m² module. pv magazine
Heatmap Pro data show at least $260 billion of data center investment was cancelled this year after sustained local opposition, about half of it in the third quarter, with roughly $1 trillion more facing opposition. Heatmap
Planned US gas capacity rose 44% since December 2025 to 60.4 GW through 2030, while planned wind additions fell 33.9%, according to an Environment America and Frontier Group analysis. Electrek
The Capital Stack
Type One Energy raises $200M toward a 400 MW fusion plant
Type One Energy raised $200 million in a round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Clutterbuck Capital, with Lowercarbon Capital, Siemens Energy Ventures and SiteGround Capital participating, TechCrunch reported. CEO Christofer Mowry said the Series B should get the company halfway to paying for a 400 MW commercial stellarator plant, Infinity Two, with AECOM on engineering and its first devices sited at TVA's Bull Run. Mowry framed 2034 as the target for bringing it online.
Source: TechCrunch
Also in the capital stack:
ZincFive agreed to go public via SPAC at about $752 million in pro forma enterprise value and InoBat at a $1.265 billion valuation, while ESS Inc moved to over-the-counter trading on Oct. 5 after an NYSE delisting notice. Energy-Storage.news
Policy Watch
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2493, which requires utilities and transmission developers to file schedules for major CPUC-permitted upgrades, creates a CPUC transmission development monitor, and orders remedies when projects slip. A CPUC report found about 22 GW of renewables and batteries depend on transmission projects that have already been delayed. Canary Media
Alabama regulators adopted data center standards requiring a public vote on each project over 150 MW and disclosure of customer names and maximum load, but a late amendment approves a project by default if no vote happens within 90 days, Inside Climate News reported. Inside Climate News
Connecticut energy officials have floated naming another buyer or a different contract mechanism for future solar procurements after Eversource declined in March to sign PPAs for 54 MW selected in December, citing over-market prices, Canary Media reported; Eversource now says it will move forward with two outstanding contracts. Canary Media
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