Posted: 1/16/2026 9:05:09 PM EDT
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We have Google building a data center not 3-miles from me and across I-29 from the coal-fired elecric plant. The size of the Google campus looks like its going to absorb more power than the City itself. Small nuclear power devices..? Other, easily built, power stations..? I want to invest in those companies, |
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Originally Posted By FoxtrotTWONovember: where at? i listened to the SRS about small portable nucs for data centers seems interesting Council Bluffs, IA... pretty much middle USA. This Google operation is HUGE. Construction started maybe 4-years ago and it just keeps getting bigger. |
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There’s lots of hype around OKLO for small nuclear reactors but I don’t think they’ve built anything yet. BE / Bloom Energy is building what I understand are natural gas fuel cells ideally suited for powering data centers. Dumb Money podcast has been pushing it hard but it’s already had a heck of a run. I’m not in either so I haven’t done much due diligence. |
Moderate-Length Barrel Evangelist
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Originally Posted By TechOps: Memphis XAI is using small natural gas power stations until it connects to the high voltage lines directly across from the complex at the power plant. |
When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
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Originally Posted By USMC2111: Power is one thing, water is the other. Towns that have data centers built nearby have seen aquifers drained to run the cooling towers.... There are lawsuits flying around because of it. I suppose having the Missouri river on their perimeter was a big consideration for its location. |
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The announced data center builds exceed any reasonable expectation of the grid supporting them. There is a huge hype machine going about AI that is mostly the race among the techbros to be the first trillionaire, and a disturbing number of people who want to manifest it as either a pollyanna savior or a retribution against humanity's mistreatment of Mother Gaia. |
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Found this interesting, and relevant. Although im not quite sure of the effect. After announced, quite a few energy stocks dropped hard. https://www.investors.com/news/trump-energy-auction-electricity-power-ai-demand-tech-bitcoin-miners/?src=A00619&refcode=aflMarketWatch&mod=mw_quote_news&_gl=1 |
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I'll bite i guess. I just left project Ludicrous/Longhorn, Oracle/OpenAIs biggest site in Abilene Texas The contractor i worked for was responsible for building 10 gas turbine generation units totalling around 300mw. 5 ge lm2500e and 5 solar t350 units. The ge side is up and running, the solar side had issues with turbines so only 1 of the 5 had a turbine installed when I left and the delay was going to be too long for them to keep us around to install it. Ge got the purchase order for 29 more lm2500e units 1 to finish out the row of 6 they left out on the site we build and 20 more units on a neighboring plot. These turbine units are designed as duel fuel using natural gas as a primary source since its cheap and abundant in west Texas and diesel as a backup with a large 1mil gal aprox tank on site. While working on finishing up these units since we had large transport delays due largely to tariffs and permits they brought in over 300mw of temporary big rig trailer size generators to run the 2 completed data center buildings. There is also a large solar farm built by oracle to the north just to help offset the data center as well. Will there be a draw on the public infrastructure? I don't doubt it but these data centers would rather be self sufficient than rely on unstable power grids. On the powers idea most of the water and cooling systems are closed loop only requiring occasional top offs and only running the evaporative coolers in the hottest months. The feed line is only 4inch into the power plant and that includes the plants crew quarters/control room. (They got a much nicer kitchen than I do) I am now being pushed to a project in Amarillo texas where they are planning 42 natural gas hrsg units 7(6hrsg) units, 4 nuclear modular reactors, and quite a bit of solar farm. It's a huge site wrapping around the D.O.E. pantex nuclear facility. So the power in the big projects has been at least planned to be on-site for the couple that ive been on or going to. The venture global lng facility's also have on-site power generation. Both the plng plant and the cp1/cp2 projects in Louisiana have large power facilities. Plng has 10hrsg units and 10 ge lm2500 units though 8 of those lm2500 units were supposed to be temporary. We weren't even allowed to anchor them to the ground when we set them due to lack of permits. |
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I'm not a believer - google says the newest nuclear reactor in the US began construction in 2009 and was completed in 2023. Many states don't want any nuclear power. To think that we're going to suddenly have so many tiny nuclear reactors that the companies making the reactors generate outsized profits seems like a poor bet to me. Nevermind the risk of any sort of radiation incident at one of these places and your investment would crater within the hour to pennies on the dollar. Seems like 24x7 power for computing farms could be had waaaay faster/cheaper by building your own solar farm for daytime power and getting inexpensive power from the grid at night when demand is low. |
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Originally Posted By Morgan321: I'm not a believer - google says the newest nuclear reactor in the US began construction in 2009 and was completed in 2023. Many states don't want any nuclear power. Google is either outdated or wrong. That must be traditional PWRBWR plants. Micro plants are being built right now. Uncle Sam and commercial developers. |
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I have been involved with one being built in Dalton, GA. Dalton, GA is the carpet capital of the world and there are carpet and other flooring manufacturing plants throughout the city that use a lot of power. The data center will be 2 buildings with just under 500k square feet under roof. It is supposed to use more power than the entire city of Dalton does now. |
I love a good double entendre.
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Originally Posted By USMC2111: Power is one thing, water is the other. Towns that have data centers built nearby have seen aquifers drained to run the cooling towers.... There are lawsuits flying around because of it. I think a lot of that in internet BS. I've also seen things saying that they use less water than most golf coarses......so what's the actual truth? |
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Originally Posted By imq707s: I think a lot of that in internet BS. I've also seen things saying that they use less water than most golf coarses......so what's the actual truth? They certainly don't have to use a lot of water. |
| Bulk power has to go through transmission lines regardless of how close the generation is to the data. I recommended Quanta a few years ago on this fact. It was $150 when I posted it. I don't know if I'd buy it now. MasTech and AEP do the same thing. I don't have those stocks so I don't watch them. Worth a shot taking a look at all three though. |
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Originally Posted By Positronic: Unless the power generation is the 40 foot connex that "burns" Uranium- in the parking lot ? UUUU URA CCJ Quanta builds subs also. Not the actual reactor, but all the switches, relays, and bus work. They are payed when completed though, as opposed to the fuel, so, get both? |
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The future will, necessarily have more atomic reactors. Uranium is going to increas in demand. URA is an ETF, includes miners, processors and has been performing well over the 16 months I've been in. Highly recommend. UUUU is down a bit, and I am adding shares regularly with "low-ball" limit buys, usually strike after-hours dips. CCJ ( Cameco) is a VERY large Canada based mining and refining op, with some Kazakastan holdings. I just this month started buying after-hours dips. |