Episode Title: Reactor Power and Rising Demand

Icarus Data Center Briefing — August 18, 2025

This week’s briefing explores how America’s AI infrastructure is colliding with power, policy, and community realities.

In this episode:

* Google partners with Kairos Power and the TVA on a first-of-its-kind small modular nuclear reactor in Tennessee

* DOE projects data centers could consume up to 12 percent of U.S. electricity by 2028

* PJM warns residential power bills could rise 30-to-60 percent as demand surges

* Vacancy rates for U.S. data centers fall to a record-low 2.3 percent

* Nevada braces for tripled energy demand from regional data center clusters

* CoreWeave faces investor pushback on its $9 billion Core Scientific acquisition

* Data center operators push Treasury to preserve renewable subsidy rules

* Memphis residents fight back against unpermitted gas turbines at xAI’s Colossus facility

Key theme: The race to build AI capacity is accelerating, but baseload power, interconnection delays, zoning disputes, and community concerns are defining the boundaries of growth.

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