Robert Bryce
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Reporter, film producer, and public speaker. Author of six books on energy, power, innovation & politics. Lastest mini-doc: Vietnam Plugs In.💡
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Articles by Robert Bryce
Anthropic’s $1.5 Trillion IPO Is Coming. Where’s The Juice?
Yesterday, Anthropic, the company behind the popular Claude AI chatbot, filed an S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company hopes to sell about $100 billion in shares to investors, which could help it reach a market capitalization of $1.5 trillion. The prospectus makes numerous claims about AI’s potential benefits.
Inside Job
Oklo’s co-founders: Jacob DeWitte and Caroline Cochran. Credit: Oklo After it went public in March 2025, CoreWeave Inc. quickly became one of America’s hottest stocks. Within three months of its IPO, its stock price had more than tripled. The company, which bills itself as “the essential cloud for AI,” became a Wall Street darling as its revenues soared. Its second-quarter 2026 revenues totaled nearly $2.6 billion, double the year-earlier period.
Black Start: Florida Keys
What happens when a blackout hits the Florida Keys? They have to do what grid operators call a black start. I recently visited the Keys Energy Generating Facility on Stock Island to see how they do it. This video is free for all subscribers. Want to help me make more content like this? Please become a paid subscriber. You’ll get every new article, access to more than 400 pieces in the archive, and the ability to post comments. Thanks for your support.
In Texas, it’s Musk vs Talarico
Here’s an update on the state of Trumpism in America: last month, the richest man in world history threw $158 million into a last-ditch attempt to rescue the worst candidate for US Senate in American history. It’s part of what one US media outlet is calling “Elon Musk’s massive Texas rescue mission.” But even a trillionaire’s fortune may not be able to rescue the execrable Ken Paxton from defeat on November 3.
In Texas, it’s Musk vs Talarico
Robert Bryce In Texas, it’s Musk vs Talarico Monday, October 19, 2026, 11:28 AM Elon Musk unveils a new Tesla automobile in Austin, Texas (Getty) Here’s an update on the state of Trumpism in America: last month, the richest man in world history threw $158 million into a last-ditch attempt to rescue the worst candidate for US Senate in American history.
Five Truths About the Big Tech Backlash
Protestors gathered outside the Indianapolis City-County building on September 22, 2025, to show their opposition to a proposed Google data center. Credit: Farrah Anderson/WFYI. If you need more proof that the backlash against Big Tech, data centers, and AI is real, consider this: Last month, the Board of Supervisors in Loudoun County, Virginia, voted to halt new data center applications for a year. That vote (7-1-1) came after months of study by county officials.
Cooking With Gas
My mother taught women how to cook with natural gas. She was also a pioneer of Oklahoma television. In 1950, my mother was featured in a newspaper ad turning on the gas in her apartment in downtown Tulsa. The remarkable history of the American natural gas industry is personal. And my late mother, Ann Mahoney Bryce, played a noteworthy role in that history. Before I get to my mom’s story, it’s important to understand how women cooked before electricity and natural gas were widely available.
Deep Short
Iceberg Research targets Deep Fission. Plus, the TVA’s construction permit for a SMR at Clinch River is significant, but... Credit: Deep Fission In August 2024, Deep Fission announced it was emerging from “stealth mode” and had raised $4 million in a “pre-seed round” of funding.
The Great Grid Hardware Shock
A new index tracks rising costs for everything from cable to transformers. Add in higher labor costs and spiraling gas-turbine prices, and it’s a perfect recipe for soaring electricity bills. An electrical arc at a switchyard near Boulder City, Nevada. Credit: Capturedlightning.com Soaring electricity prices are a major political issue across the country. And for good reason.
Trump v. Madison (And Streisand)
On June 8, 1789, during the first session of the United States Congress, James Madison introduced language in the House of Representatives that would evolve over the next two years into the First Amendment. That session, held in Federal Hall in New York City, is the most important Congressional session in US history. Among other things, the House and the Senate created the first oaths of office for state legislators, federal executives, and state and federal judges.
The Looming Gas Shortage Across Europe And The UK
Written by Robert Bryce on September 22, 2026. Posted in Current News Last Monday, Wood Mackenzie reported that “European gas storage has fallen to its lowest level for this time of year since 2009” and the continent is heading into winter “with one of its weakest storage positions for this stage of the cycle in almost two decades.” Low gas storage levels are just one of Europe’s problems. The wars in Iran and Ukraine have drastically reduced the amount of gas available to European buyers.
California Is So Screwed
In 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order requiring the state’s utilities to get one-third of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. “This will be the most aggressive target in the nation,” crowed the aging bodybuilder-turned-movie-star-turned-Republican politician. “Today is all about changing our goals and raising the bar,” he said.
Natural Gas By Far The Cheapest Form Of Residential US Energy
Written by Robert Bryce on September 17, 2026. Posted in Current News Department of Energy data shows natural gas is by far the cheapest form of residential energy. Now, the Left’s campaign to ban gas and mandate all-electric homes is headed to the Supreme Court According to the Energy Information Administration, residential electricity prices in June were 5% higher than they were in June 2025. The average price of electricity in American homes is now about 18.3 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Is Holtec Worth 22x EBIT?
Over the past year, NuScale Power’s stock price has plummeted, going from more than $56 per share to less than $9 per share. Last week, Holtec Nuclear Corporation began a roadshow for its initial public offering, which should happen in the next few days. As I explained in July, in “Holtec Is The Real Deal,” the company is one of the world’s strongest pure-play nuclear companies. I stand by that statement. In this piece, I take another look at Holtec’s growth prospects and its expected IPO valuation.
Ban Gas, Pay More.
A cook preparing food over a gas flame in Tokyo, March 4, 2023. Photo by author. Electricity prices across the US are, pardon the pun, rising at shocking rates. According to the Energy Information Administration, residential electricity prices in June were 5% higher than they were in June 2025. The average price of electricity in American homes is now about 18.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. In 2016, that same amount of juice cost US residential consumers 12.5 cents.
Five companies picked to build nuclear microreactors on US Army bases
Written by Robert Bryce on September 3, 2026. Posted in Current News There’s nothing new under the sun. And that includes the US Army’s foray into the nuclear power business. Last week, the Army announced it will support the development and deployment of five small reactors at five of its bases. This is not new. Six decades ago, the Army was on the leading edge of nuclear power development. From 1968 to 1976, the Army operated a nuclear powership on Gatun Lake.
The Army’s SMR Shortlist
Cutaway image of Westinghouse’s eVinci reactor, which was selected by the Army last week to be part of the Janus Program. Credit: Westinghouse Nuclear. There’s nothing new under the sun. And that includes the US Army’s foray into the nuclear power business. Last week, the Army announced it will support the development and deployment of five small reactors at five of its bases. This is not new. Six decades ago, the Army was on the leading edge of nuclear power development.
The $3.7 Trillion American Shale Gas Windfall
Written by Robert Bryce on September 1, 2026. Posted in Current News In 2007, Exxon’s CEO wrote off the US gas sector. Nineteen years later, shale is saving every American hundreds of dollars per year Making predictions can be dangerous. Predictions are particularly tricky when it comes to energy. To prove that point, consider some of the claims that have been made about biofuels.
Why Isn’t Oil At $150?
Last week, I spoke at length with Robert McNally, the founder and president of Rapidan Energy Group, a Washington, DC-based energy consulting firm. McNally served in the White House under George W. Bush as senior director for international energy on the National Security Council. He’s also the author of the 2017 book, Crude Volatility: The History and the Future of Boom-Bust Oil Prices. I met McNally a few months ago when we were both presenting at a conference at Southern Methodist University.
Beyond Coal? India, Indonesia, and Vietnam Didn’t Get the Memo
Written by Robert Bryce on August 21, 2026.
Germany’s Self-Inflicted Decline
Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Credit: . Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking to my son, Jacob, about the situation in Germany. After hearing his observations about what he’s seeing in Berlin, I encouraged him to write this essay. By Jacob Bryce Berlin has a reputation as one of Europe’s “cool” cities. And it’s true, the vibe in Berlin — its nightlife, restaurants, and cultural scene — is amazing. But Berlin isn’t Germany.
Beyond Coal? India, Indonesia, and Vietnam Didn’t Get the Memo
A sign in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) celebrating the 50th anniversary of Reunification Day. On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops seized Saigon. Five decades later, Vietnam has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
US Data Center Rejections Hit 275 So Far This Year
Written by Robert Bryce on August 13, 2026. Posted in Current News The legacy media has woken up to the backlash against data centers.
Texas Wants Much More Weather-dependant Power Generation
Written by Robert Bryce on August 10, 2026. Posted in Current News ERCOT’s 765-kV transmission plan would seize thousands of acres, funnel billions to transmission monopolies, and jack up ratepayer bills. No wonder it’s facing fierce opposition The billionaires, bureaucrats, and academics make it sound easy.
Bernie Trump
I do my best to avoid listening to President Trump. The man talks way too much. As US Sen.
Viewpoint: Data center rejections hit 275 in 2026. Opponents are not the Luddites portrayed by the media
2026 Credibility and Reputation Report The GLP is committed to full transparency. Download the report. Global Gene Editing Regulation Tracker Our interactive GLP global map explains the status of each country’s regulations for human and agricultural gene editing and gene drives. GLP 2021 Annual Report The GLP is committed to full transparency. Download our 2021 Annual Report. XLinkedInFacebookRedditBlueskyThreadsSMS The legacy media has woken up to the backlash against data centers.
Power Grab: Texas’ $33B High-Voltage Heist
Country music singer Tanya Tucker testified before a Texas Senate committee on Wednesday to express her opposition to the state’s proposed 765-kV lines. She ended her testimony by singing part of her song, “Texas (When I Die).” Credit: Texas Senate. The billionaires, bureaucrats, and academics make it sound easy.
Robert Bryce: ‘Yes, solar is growing at a rapid clip. But nearly all that growth is occurring in wealthy countries, bypassing the places where low-cost electricity is desperately needed’
https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/where-the-sun-dont-shine By Robert Bryce Where The Sun Don’t Shine Excerpt: For decades, pundits and politicos have been telling us that solar energy is right on the cusp of global dominance.
Where The Sun Don’t Shine
On June 11, 2024, citizens in South Bend, Indiana, gathered to protest a project that aimed to cover more than 2,300 acres of farmland with solar panels. The project has not been built, and it continues to face fierce opposition. Credit: Joseph Dits/South Bend Tribune For decades, pundits and politicos have been telling us that solar energy is right on the cusp of global dominance.
Holtec Is The Real Deal
The Palisades Power Plant in Covert, Michigan, was shut down in 2022. Holtec is now refurbishing the 800-megawatt plant. When it begins producing power, Palisades will be the first-ever restart of a shuttered nuclear plant in the US. Credit: Holtec. Holtec Nuclear Corporation is the antithesis of Hadron Energy. As I reported here last month,Hadron Energy, a startup that aims to build a 10-megawatt light-water reactor, went public on May 26 via a SPAC merger.
New York Freeze Brings 2026 Data Center Rejections To 179; New Report Confirms Surging "Anti-Tech Sentiment"
On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order banning the construction of large data centers for one year. It’s the first statewide ban in the US, and yet another example of the growing backlash against Big Tech and data centers. Hochul’s ban is the 179th rejection or restriction of data centers in the US in 2026. For comparison, there were 49 rejections in 2025 and just 9 in 2024.
The AI Backlash Comes to Texas
Written by Robert Bryce on July 3, 2026. Posted in Current News Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has never been known for his strong political convictions. His views on any given issue are, well, malleable. For instance, on November 14, the three-term governor raved about Google’s plan to spend $40 billion on AI and data centers during a press event in Midlothian.
The AI Backlash Comes to Texas
Last November, Texas Congressman Jake Ellzey, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly, Governor Greg Abbott, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Google Senior Director Amanda Peterson Corio touted Google’s plan to spend $40 billion in Texas on AI and data centers at an event in Midlothian. Credit: Google. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has never been known for his strong political convictions. His views on any given issue are, well, malleable.
Postcard From Saigon
Construction cranes are everywhere in Saigon. From our hotel room near the banks of the Saigon River, we could see more than two dozen of them. Construction is happening all over the town, which is properly known as Ho Chi Minh City. Five decades after the US military left the country after an ignominious war, Vietnam has become an industrial powerhouse with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
The Iron Law Of Electricity prevails yet again as global coal use soars
Written by Robert Bryce on June 27, 2026. Posted in Current News In 2016, I interviewed Sanjay Kar Chowdury, a manager at the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation. Chowdury explained that his company was founded in 1879 and that Kolkata was the second city in the British Empire, after London, to be electrified He was particularly proud that CESC had drastically reduced the number of blackouts affecting residents of the sprawling city of 4.5 million people.
SMRs For Investors: Which Companies (And Reactors) Will Survive The Shakeout?
Small modular reactors may be the most crowded — and overhyped — corner of the power sector. After 18 years of reporting on SMRs, my view is simple: A brutal shakeout is coming. In the US alone, 42 companies are pushing 48 reactor designs, all chasing the same pool of capital and customers.
The US Is Finally Reigning In The Onshore Wind Industry
Written by Robert Bryce on June 19, 2026. Posted in Current News Last month, Heatmap News, a relentless cheerleader for the solar and wind sectors, ran an article headlined, “Trump Is Getting Away With Murdering an American Industry” The article lamented that dozens of proposed wind projects with 30 gigawatts of generation capacity are now stranded because the Trump administration is deliberately slow-walking — or just ignoring — Big Wind’s permit applications.
Coal Roars Back
This 1916 photo shows miners riding an electric hauling engine at the Renton Coal Mine in Renton, Washington. The electric engines were a vast improvement over mules for hauling coal and far safer than gasoline-powered engines. Credit: . In 2016, I interviewed Sanjay Kar Chowdury, a manager at the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation. Chowdury explained that his company was founded in 1879 and that Kolkata was the second city in the British Empire, after London, to be electrified.
The Garroting of Big Wind
In 2019, more than 200 people were arrested on the island of Oahu, while protesting a wind project being built by AES. It was the biggest-ever act of civil disobedience involving a wind project in US history. The protests got virtually no coverage from legacy media outlets. Photo from Facebook by Candace Fujikane.
SpaceX At $5 Trillion? The Final Frontier Of FOMO
The SpaceX IPO has some otherwordly valuation metrics. Credit: SpaceX. On Friday, SpaceX will go public in the biggest IPO in history. The deal is expected to give the company a valuation of $1.8 trillion. SpaceX will raise about $75 billion in the transaction, and, due to his massive ownership stake in the company, Elon Musk will become the richest person in history, with an estimated net worth of $1.1 trillion.
The Iron Law Of Power Density, Revisited
Discarded wind turbine blades near Sweetwater, Texas, in 2021. Photo by author. Note: You can’t understand energy and power systems if you don’t understand power density. As I explained in the article below, published on August 20, 2023, here on Substack, power density is the most important and least understood metric in physics. I’m reposting it because it is just as relevant today as it was in 2023.
Another Day, Another SMR Startup Goes Public
Sam Gibson is the 25-year-old CEO of Hadron Energy, which went public on May 26. Gibson’s stake in the startup is currently worth $118 million. Credit: Sam Gibson/X. The SMR market isn’t just crowded, it’s overcrowded. As we’ve shown in SMR Intelligence US, there are now 42 companies trying to develop and commercialize small modular reactors in the United States. Dozens of foreign companies are trying to do the same thing. But markets are brutally efficient.
SpaceX’s $2 Trillion Gas-Fired IPO
Elon Musk’s rockets, AI ambitions, and dreams of "interplanetary industrialization" all depend on an old-fashioned fuel: the queen of the hydrocarbons. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket taking off from Florida on May 25. Credit: SpaceX.
Pope Leo: AI “Must Be Disarmed”
In his first encyclical, Leo blasts Big Tech and AI. Plus, a few short items, including my appearance on The Market House with Maggie Lake, and shoutouts to Roger Pielke Jr. and the Energy Bad Boys. Pope Leo XIV signed the encyclical on AI earlier this month. Credit: Vatican media/AFP/Getty Images. Ted Gioia is a very successful writer on Substack. He has 290,000 subscribers and is ranked number one in the music category. While I dig his music writing, his cultural analysis may be even better.
Top 10 Reasons Why Communities Are Fighting Data Centers
Eric Schmidt at the University of Arizona on May 15, while being booed by students. Credit: Fox Business. Commencement speeches are forgettable. Speakers routinely resort to the same pantry of platitudes — dream big, embrace failure, work hard, study hard, pray hard, etc. — and audiences forget all of them before the salt kisses the rim of the first margarita glass. Not this year.
NY Times Prints More Alt-Energy Propaganda As Renewable Rejections Hit 1,200
Thirteen months ago, I quit subscribing to the New York Times after the paper imposed an 83% price hike. And as I explained here on Substack, there were four other reasons for my cancellation, including the paper’s “energy reporting is often laughably bad.” These days, I seldom look at the paper’s website other than to scan the headlines. But sometimes the paper’s energy coverage is just too appalling to ignore.
NY Times Prints More Alt-Energy Propaganda As Renewable Rejections Hit 1,200
Thomas Edsall’s column provides another example of the energy flapdoodle that gets published in the Times. Meanwhile, the renewable energy rejections keep piling up. An anti-solar sign in Ohio in 2022. Credit: Eric Albrecht/Inside Climate News Thirteen months ago, I quit subscribing to the New York Times after the paper imposed an 83% price hike.
Elon’s 100-Terawatt Fairy Tale
Out of this world. Credit: The Daily Mail. Nearly everything about Elon Musk is cartoonish. Forbes puts his net worth at about $776 billion. That makes him more than twice as rich as Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, who is worth about $286 billion. Musk’s so rich his fortune defies our imagination. It might help to think of it this way: Musk’s personal wealth is roughly equal to the GDP of, take your pick, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, or Israel. Need another cartoonish number?
Yes, Nuclear. How Much? How Soon?
Here’s the transcript of a discussion I had at Southern Methodist University with Jim Burke, the CEO of Vistra, and Ray Rothrock, a longtime nuclear investor and board member at Centrus Energy. Photo: Lorin Bryce There’s no shortage of cheerleading about the future of nuclear energy in the US. That’s why I was pleased to sit down on April 9 at SMU’s Energy Outlook 2026 with Jim Burke and Ray Rothrock.
Fermi Air
A Gulfstream G650 similar to this one was purchased by Neugebauer’s TMNN Manager LLC a few days after Fermi went public last October. Photo credit: . “Among the world’s ultra-rich, owning a big, expensive airplane is the closest thing one can get to an actual penis-measuring contest.” I published that sentence 24 years ago in my first book, Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron.
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