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Carilion Clinic raises $96M for cancer center

SUMMARY:

  • Carilion has raised $96 million of its $100 million goal for a new cancer center and is seeking help from the public to close the gap
  • The center will double patient capacity and offer advanced treatments by 2027
  • Center aims to provide care locally, keeping patients close to home

has very nearly reached its $100 million goal to build a six-story cancer center in , but it’s counting on public support to cross the finish line.

During Roanoke’s annual Freedom Festival Thursday night, just before the evening’s fireworks, Carilion launched the public phase of its “Reaching Far, Caring Close” campaign. The Roanoke-based announced it has raised $96 million for the planned 257,000-square-foot cancer center over the past six years, but the health system is now asking for the public’s help to close the final $4 million gap.

“Ultimately, this project is by our community, for our community, which I think is what makes this so special,” said Lindsay Collins, vice president of oncology services at Carilion. “It’s really cool to be a part of because there was a lot of skepticism around whether we would get to this $100 million within our kind of smaller community. … It’s a big number. And so, we’re really excited to be this close. It feels tangible at this point.”

Launching the public campaign the night of the festival, she said, is “a great symbol of our partnership with the city.”

The health system broke ground on the new center in October 2024, and it is currently on track for completion in October 2027.

Once complete, the new building will replace Carilion’s 42-year-old cancer facility on South Jefferson Street, growing space from 40,000 to 250,000 square feet, doubling patient capacity and introducing advanced treatments and clinical trials previously unavailable in the area. The new building will be located on Carilion’s Riverside campus.

Furthermore, Carilion states that the center will offer comprehensive services for both adult and pediatric patients, advanced technology, clinical trials and multidisciplinary care teams, as well as support services tailored to the needs of patients and their families. Blue Ridge Cancer Care, which partners with Carilion to provide medical and radiation oncology services at the existing facility, will continue to provide care in the new facility.

Collins describes the planned center as “a beacon of hope and healing.” For her, the completion of the center is personal.

“I lost my dad to cancer nine years ago,” Collins told Virginia Business Tuesday before the public campaign launch. “His birthday is actually tomorrow, so it’s going to be a really bittersweet moment tonight, but we had to leave Roanoke to go get care, because there weren’t the specialists here that were needed to manage his type of cancer.”

Collins said it’s a challenge for cancer patients and their families to have to seek care far away from home, as it uproots their lives and may cause them to be separated from their support systems.

“How amazing will it be when our community doesn’t have to make that choice anymore? That they can stay here and get world-class care, and that they don’t have to leave their support systems and their friends or their job or their children to be able to get the care that they think they need,” she said. “We’re going to have it all right here, and it’s going to be under one roof. It’s going to be beautiful, it’s going to be high tech, it’s going to feel comfortable. If one person doesn’t have to experience what my family had to experience, it’ll all be worth it.”

Carilion currently treats about 3,500 patients for different forms of cancer each year, although Collins said she expects that number to grow.

The center bears the name of former Advance Auto Parts CEO Nicholas Taubman, a past U.S. ambassador to Romania, and his wife, Jenny, who donated $25 million to the project in 2024.

HDR, an employee-owned design firm with headquarters in Nebraska, worked with Carilion oncology teams to design the building.

Collins said the health system is still working on determining how many additional staff will be needed to accommodate the new building.

A  organization serving nearly 1 million patients in Virginia through hospitals, outpatient specialty centers and primary care practices, Carilion Clinic has more than 13,000 employees.

House passes Trump’s $4.5T tax cut and spending bill

Summary

  • House approves ‘s $4.5T tax and spending package
  • Includes $1.2T in cuts to federal government programs
  • GOP overcame internal opposition to pass the bill
  • stalled vote with 8-hour floor speech

(AP) — propelled President Donald Trump’s big trillion-dollar tax breaks and spending cuts bill to final passage Thursday in , overcoming multiple setbacks to approve his signature second-term policy package before a Fourth of July deadline.

The tight roll call, 218-214, came at a potentially high political cost, with two Republicans joining all Democrats opposed. GOP leaders worked overnight and the president himself leaned on a handful of skeptics to drop their opposition and send the bill to him to sign into law. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York delayed voting for more than more than eight hours by seizing control of the floor with a record-breaking speech against the bill.

“You get tired of winning yet?” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., invoking Trump as he called the vote.

“With one big beautiful bill we are going to make this country stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before,” he said. Republicans celebrated with a rendition of the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” a song the president often plays at his rallies, during a ceremony afterward.

The outcome delivers a milestone for the president, by his Friday goal, and for his party. It was a long-shot effort to compile a lengthy list of GOP priorities into what they called his “one big beautiful bill,” an 800-plus page measure. With Democrats unified in opposition, the bill will become a defining measure of Trump’s return to the White House, aided by Republican control of Congress.

Tax breaks and safety net cuts

At its core, the package’s priority is $4.5 trillion in tax breaks enacted in 2017 during Trump’s first term that would expire if Congress failed to act, along with new ones. This includes allowing workers to deduct tips and overtime pay, and a $6,000 deduction for most older adults earning less than $75,000 a year.

There’s also a hefty investment, some $350 billion, in national security and Trump’s deportation agenda and to help develop the “Golden Dome” defensive system over the U.S.

To help offset the lost tax revenue, the package includes $1.2 trillion in cutbacks to the Medicaid  and food stamps, largely by imposing new work requirements, including for some parents and older people, and a major rollback of green tax credits.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the decade and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage.

“This was a generational opportunity to deliver the most comprehensive and consequential set of conservative reforms in modern history, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the House Budget Committee chairman.

Democrats united against the big ‘ugly bill’

Democrats unified against the bill as a tax giveaway to the rich paid for on the backs of the working class and most vulnerable in society, what they called “trickle down cruelty.”

Jeffries began the speech at 4:53 a.m. EDT and finished at 1:37 p.m. EDT, 8 hours, 44 minutes later, a record, as he argued against what he called Trump’s “big ugly bill.”

“We’re better than this,” said Jeffries, who used a leader’s prerogative for unlimited debate, and read letter after letter from Americans writing about their reliance of the health care programs.

“I never thought that I’d be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene,” Jeffries said. “It’s a crime scene, going after the health, and the safety, and the well-being of the American people.”

And as Democrats, he said, “We want no part of it.”

Tensions ran high. As fellow Democrats chanted Jeffries’ name, a top Republican, Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, called his speech “a bunch of hogwash.”

Hauling the package through the Congress has been difficult from the start. Republicans have struggled mightily with the bill nearly every step of the way, quarreling in the House and Senate, and often succeeding only by the narrowest of margins: just one vote.

The Senate passed the package days earlier with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie vote. The slim majority in the House left Republicans little room for defections.

Once Johnson gaveled the tally, Republicans cheered “USA!” and flashed Trump-style thumbs-up to the cameras.

Political costs of saying no

Despite their discomfort with various aspects of the sprawling package, in some ways it became too big to fail — in part because Republicans found it difficult to buck Trump.

As Wednesday’s stalled floor action dragged overnight, Trump railed against the delays.

“What are the Republicans waiting for???” the president said in a midnight post.

Johnson relied heavily on White House Cabinet secretaries, lawyers and others to satisfy skeptical GOP holdouts. Moderate Republicans worried about the severity of cuts while conservatives pressed for steeper reductions. Lawmakers said they were being told the administration could provide executive actions, projects or other provisions in their districts back home.

The alternative was clear. Republicans who staked out opposition to the bill, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, were being warned by Trump’s well-funded political operation. Tillis soon after announced he would not seek reelection.

Massie voted against it, as did Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who was concerned about cuts to Medicaid.

Rollback of past presidential agendas

In many ways, the package is a repudiation of the agendas of the last two Democratic presidents, a chiseling away at the Medicaid expansion from Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and a pullback of Joe Biden’s climate change strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Democrats have described the bill in dire terms, warning that cuts to Medicaid, which some 80 million Americans rely on, would result in lives lost. Food stamps that help feed more than 40 million people would “rip food from the mouths of hungry children, hungry veterans and hungry seniors,” Jeffries said.

Republicans say the tax breaks will prevent a tax hike on households and grow the economy. They maintain they are trying to rightsize the safety net programs for the population they were initially designed to serve, mainly pregnant women, the disabled and children, and root out what they describe as waste, fraud and abuse.

The Tax Policy Center, which provides nonpartisan analysis of tax and budget policy, projected the bill would result next year in a $150 tax break for the lowest quintile of Americans, a $1,750 tax cut for the middle quintile and a $10,950 tax cut for the top quintile. That’s compared with what they would face if the 2017 expired.

___

 

US stocks tick higher and yields leap as Wall Street sees little chance for a July rate cut (UPDATED)

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are climbing further into record heights on Thursday after a report showed the U.S. job market looks stronger than Wall Street expected.

The was up 0.8% in midday trading and on track to set an all-time high for the fourth time in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 334 points, or 0.8%, as of 11:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.

Stocks of companies whose profits can get the biggest boosts when workers are feeling confident helped lead the way, including travel providers. Expedia climbed 4.1%, United Airlines rose 2.1% and Norwegian Cruise Line steamed 3.2% higher.

Bank stocks were also strong, with Wells Fargo up 1.6%, and JPMorgan Chase up 1.6%.

The reaction was bigger in the bond market following the report from the U.S. government, which said employers added 147,000 more jobs to their payrolls last month than they cut. The unexpected acceleration in signals the U.S. job market is holding up despite worries about how President Donald ‘s tariffs may hurt the economy and inflation.

“There is nothing to complain about here,” according to Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “You cannot find any evidence of a nascent recession in these figures.”

A separate report, meanwhile, said fewer U.S. workers applied for benefits last week, an indication of easing .

Yields jumped in the bond market as investors bet the better-than-expected data could keep the on hold when it comes to , instead of cutting them like Trump has been loudly calling for.

Traders in the futures market now see less than a 5% chance that the Fed could cut its main interest rate at its next meeting later this month. That’s down sharply from the nearly 24% chance they saw just a day earlier, according to data from CME Group.

The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, has been insisting that he wants to wait and see how Trump’s tariffs affect the economy and inflation before making its next move. While lower rates give a boost to the economy by making it easier to borrow money, they can also give inflation more fuel. And that could be dangerous if Trump’s tariffs are about to send inflation higher.

Many of Trump’s stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, but they’re scheduled to kick into effect next week unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower them.

Many U.S. companies in the services industries are still saying they’re concerned about the impacts of tariffs, even if they returned to growth last month following May’s contraction, according to the most recent survey by the Institute for Supply Management.

“Increased cost from tariffs and the potential for tariffs is impacting cost increases,” one company in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry said in the survey.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.33% from 4.30% late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, jumped even more. It climbed to 3.87% from 3.78%.

On Wall Street, Datadog rallied 15% after learning that its stock will join the widely followed S&P 500 index before trading begins on Wednesday. Many managers of funds either directly mimic or at least compare themselves against the S&P 500, which drives investment into any stock that joins the index.

Datadog will replace Juniper Networks, which combined with Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a merger.

On the losing side of Wall Street were companies that can feel pain from interest rates staying high.

Homebuilders would like rates to fall in order to make mortgages cheaper to get, for example, and Lennar sank 3.7%, while D.R. Horton dropped 2.7%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6% for two of the bigger moves.

___

AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.

Notes: Eds: UPDATES: with close of US trading;

Average long-term US mortgage rate falls to 6.67%, the lowest level since early April

NEW YORK (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage fell for the fifth straight week to its lowest level since early April, an encouraging sign for potential buyers who have wrestled with rising home prices.

The long-term rate fell to 6.67% from 6.77% last week, mortgage buyer said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners their home loans, fell to 5.80% from 5.89% last week. A year ago, it was 6.25%, Freddie Mac said.

High can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers and reduce their purchasing . That’s helped keep the U.S. in a sales slump that dates back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic.

Last year, sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. They’ve remained sluggish so far this year, as many prospective have been discouraged by elevated mortgage rates and home prices that have continued to climb, albeit more slowly.

High borrowing costs are also putting pressure on the new home market. Last week, the government reported that sales of new U.S. homes fell nearly 14% in May from the previous month.

Recent data suggests sales could pick up in the coming months, especially with the recent decline in mortgage rates. A seasonally adjusted index of pending U.S. home sales rose 1.8% in May from the previous month and increased 1.1% from May last year, the National Association of Realtors said last week.

There’s usually a month or two lag between a contract signing and when the sale is finalized, which makes pending home sales a bellwether for future completed home sales.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the ‘s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation.

The key barometer is the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.33% at midday Thursday, down from 4.58% just a few weeks ago.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained relatively close to its high so far this year of just above 7%, set in mid-January. The 30-year rate’s low point this year was in early April when it briefly dipped to 6.62%.

Mortgage rates have now fallen five weeks in a row, reflecting the recent pullback in .

The recent decline in mortgage rates appears to have encouraged some home shoppers. Last week, mortgage applications rose 2.7% from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Economists generally expect mortgage rates to stay relatively stable in the coming months, with forecasts calling for the average rate on a 30-year mortgage to remain in a range between 6% and 7% this year.

The US labor market continues to surprise and the unemployment rate, against the odds, is falling

Summary

  • U.S. added 147,000 jobs in June, above forecast.
  • rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in May.
  • remains strong despite policy uncertainty.
  • Job growth led by , hospitality, and finance.
  • Some caution remains due to inflation and trade policy.

U.S. employers added 147,000 jobs in June as the American market continues to show surprising resilience despite uncertainty over President Donald ‘s economic policies. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% from 4.2% in May, the said Thursday.

rose modestly from a revised 144,000 in May and beat economists expectations of fewer than 118,000 new jobs and a rise in the unemployment rate

The U.S. job market has cooled considerably from red-hot days of 2021-2023 when the economy bounced back with unexpected strength from COVID-19 lockdowns and companies were desperate for workers. So far this year, employers have added an average 130,000 jobs a month, down from 168,000 in 2024 and an average 400,000 from 2021 through 2023.

But the June numbers were surprisingly strong. jobs increased by 39,000. State governments added 47,000 workers and local governments 33,000. But the federal government lost 7,000, probably reflecting Trump’s hiring freeze. Manufacturers shed 7,000 jobs.

Labor Department revisions added 16,000 jobs to April and June payrolls. The number of unemployed people fell by 222,000.

Average hourly wages came in cooler than forecasters expected, rising 0.2% from May and 3.7% from a year earlier. The year-over-year number is inching closer to the 3.5% year-over-year number considered consistent with the ‘s 2% inflation target.

The U.S. labor force — the count of those working and looking for work — fell by 130,000 last month following a 625,000 drop in May. Economists expect Trump’s immigration deportations — and the fear of them — to push foreign workers out of the labor force.

Hiring decelerated after the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. But the economy did not collapse, defying widespread predictions that the higher borrowing costs would cause a recession. Companies kept hiring, just at a more modest pace.

Employers are now contending with fallout from Trump’s policies, especially his aggressive use of import taxes – tariffs.

Mainstream economists say that tariffs raise prices for businesses and consumers alike and make the economy less efficient by reducing competition. They also invite retaliatory tariffs from other countries, hurting U.S. exporters.

The erratic way that Trump has rolled out his tariffs — announcing and then suspending them, then coming up with new ones — has left businesses bewildered.

The upside surprise in June payrolls likely will encourage the Fed to continue its wait-and-see policy of leaving rates unchanged until it has a better idea of how Trump’s tariffs and other policies will affect inflation and the job market. The Fed cut rates three times last year after inflation cooled but has turned cautious in 2025.

“Today’s results are more than positive enough to reduce expectations for Fed rate cuts in the wake of tariffs and policy chaos, at least for now,” Carl B. Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary.

Nvidia-backed AI startup to curb hungry data centers’ appetite for power

SUMMARY:

  • launches with $24.5M in seed funding to make AI data centers more -efficient and reduce strain on electric grids
  • The ‘s software allows data centers to reduce energy consumption during peak grid demand without sacrificing AI computing performance
  • Backed by major investors like Nvidia and ‘s Jeff Dean, Emerald AI is ramping up efforts to test and demonstrate what its technology can do nationwide

As growth continues to explode across Virginia and the nation, so do fears that the centers are gobbling up too much energy and straining already overtaxed electric grids.

However, backed by Nvidia and other heavy hitters, a new AI startup with offices in Arlington County emerged from stealth Tuesday, stating that it aims to alleviate some of these concerns through software that will help data centers adjust energy consumption, making them more efficient in their energy usage during periods of peak demand.

Emerald AI, which was incorporated last year in , D.C., but has its primary offices in Clarendon, revealed Tuesday that it has secured $24.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Canadian venture capital fund Radical Ventures, with participation from NVentures (Nvidia’s venture capital arm), AMPLO, CRV and Neotribe. The company’s individual backers include former Secretary of State John Kerry; Google Chief Scientist and Google AI head Jeff Dean; and Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr.

Emerald AI’s founder and CEO is , formerly chief strategy and innovation officer for global offshore wind energy company Ørsted and also former chief technology officer for ReNew, the largest renewable energy company in India. Early in the Biden administration, Sivaram worked for Kerry, who was then special presidential climate envoy, as managing director and senior adviser for clean energy and innovation. Sivaram’s CV also includes a three-year stint as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. and a year as a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s SIPA Center for Global Energy Policy.

“We’re at a critical inflection point as exponential growth of AI computing pressures our electrical infrastructure,” Sivaram said in a statement. “To unshackle AI technology progress from power constraints, Emerald AI transforms data centers from grid liabilities into flexible assets, enabling grid operators to swiftly interconnect AI, bolster reliability and energy security, and more efficiently harness the massive spare capacity on today’s grids.”

A Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report on data centers from last year indicates that the unconstrained demand for power in Virginia is expected to double within the next 10 years, with the data center industry being the primary driver. The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) has warned that increased demand poses challenges to grid stability.

Furthermore, Emerald AI notes that substantial investments in building infrastructure over the coming decades will likely lead to higher energy prices for American communities.

The startup’s solution is an AI conductor software platform that enables data centers to adjust and reduce their energy consumption during periods of peak grid demand to support grid stability while ensuring acceptable AI computing performance.

This method of managing energy consumption will prevent issues that now occur when data centers consume electricity that is needed elsewhere. The company says by allowing data centers to require less power to operate, its platform will help data centers bypass yearslong waits for grid interconnection.

Sivaram first conceived the idea for Emerald AI’s technology a few years ago while working for Ørsted.

Although the company was registered last year, Emerald AI’s first hire took place in January. The company now has nine full-time employees, including academics, researchers and Big Tech software engineers.

On Tuesday, Emerald AI released results of a demonstration that took place in May as part of the Electric Power Research Institute’s DCFlex Initiative in Phoenix. Nvdia reported that Emerald AI’s conductor platform demonstrated that it can reduce power consumption of AI workloads by 25% for 3 hours in response to a grid stress event, such as a hot summer day when people are using more energy, while maintaining computing service quality.

Emerald AI plans to conduct larger-scale demonstrations in Phoenix and around the country in the future.

“We have some projects planning in Virginia that we are over-the-moon excited about,” said Jack Megrue, Emerald AI’s chief of staff and business operations associate. However, he wasn’t able to offer more specifics.

In an emailed statement, Varun said Emerald AI is actively ramping up its activities in Pennsylvania, including major investments in data center flexibility. He said this would enable Pennsylvania to turbocharge its economic development and AI data center deployment while limiting cost increases for local communities and improving the reliability of the for energy and national security.

The company has not yet announced any partnerships or collaborations with utilities like Dominion Energy.

Former Secretary of Commerce and Emerald AI Advisor Gina Raimondo stated that Emerald AI’s approach will accelerate AI deployment, enhance grid reliability and protect consumers from rising energy costs.

“Enabling faster innovation without putting additional strain on our existing power systems is critical for maintaining America’s competitive edge in AI development,” she said in a statement.

Parsons acquires CTI for $89M

Chantilly contractor announced Tuesday that it has acquired Maryland-based for $89 million.

Founded in 2000, CTI is a portfolio company of Bluestone Investment Partners, focusing on the development of advanced, warfighter-focused solutions for military and security applications. CTI says its products enable warfighters to sense, evaluate and deliver effects within “invisible battle spaces” such as cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum. Parsons says these capabilities are critical for modern warfare and align with President Donald ‘s administration’s spending priorities.

CTI has expertise in the electromagnetic spectrum, cyberspace, autonomous systems and specialized communications.

Parsons says the will allow it to expand its offerings and enhance its position in the Indo-Pacific Command area of operations. Through the acquisition, CTI’s more than 225 employees will be aligned to Parsons’ defense and intelligence business unit.

“Acquiring CTI is a logical addition to our growth strategy, enhancing our mission-ready solutions for the Department of Defense,” Parsons Chair, President and CEO Carey Smith said in a statement. “CTI’s spectrum dominance solutions strengthen our portfolio and position us to capture a larger share of the full-spectrum operations market, which is poised for increased government funding due to evolving near-peer threats.”

Parsons expects CTI to generate about $89 million in revenue next year.

Founded in 1944, Parsons provides technology solutions in the defense, intelligence and critical infrastructure markets. It posted $6.8 billion in 2024 revenue and has more than 19,000 employees worldwide.

Emerson to lay off 87 workers in Charlottesville

Emerson Electric — the St. Louis-based Fortune 500 multinational corporation that provides engineering services and manufactures items such as industrial automation equipment and climate control systems — plans to lay off 87 workers working at its facility, starting Dec. 31.

Automation Solutions, in compliance with the (WARN) Act, notified the state last week of plans to lay off employees due to the decision to permanently reduce operations at the Emerson subsidiary’s Charlottesville site.

The permanent , which include both hourly and salaried personnel, will commence on Dec. 31 and conclude on or about Dec. 31, 2026. Emerson Automation Solutions Human Resources Manager Megan Ambrose wrote that neither hourly nor salaried employees are represented by a union.

In the letter, she said that Emerson’s business has declined and a strategic decision  was made to “reduce overhead costs through ‘rooftop’ consolidation.”

“We hope you understand that this action is being taken strictly due to business economics,” she wrote. “We have communicated this decision to all employees at the Charlottesville facility. They have been informed verbally and they are receiving written information as to when their jobs will be eliminated.”

She added that the company has designed a severance plan based on each employee’s length of service. She assured that each employee will be paid wages for all hours worked up to the time of separation.

Emerson did not immediately return requests for comment.

According to Emerson, the Charlottesville location at 2500 Austin Drive is one of 24 North America sites that has been used as a training center, featuring on-site instructor-led courses, virtual classroom, eLearning and blended learning options.

 

Google agrees to buy power from planned Chesterfield fusion plant

SUMMARY:

Google has signed an agreement to buy from Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ planned facility — expected to be the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant.

The Massachusetts-based fusion company announced in December 2024 its plans to build the 400-megawatt facility, dubbed ARC, in Chesterfield. The power plant will likely cost more than $2.5 billion, according to Chesterfield’s economic development director, Garrett Hart.

CFS expects ARC to begin generating carbon-free power for the grid in the early 2030s. Google signed a power purchase agreement for 200 megawatts (half the facility’s expected electric power output), according to a Monday announcement.

According to the announcement, Google — now CFS’ first customer — will also have the option to offtake power from future ARC plants.

The tech giant, which has been an investor in the company since 2021, is also increasing its stake in CFS, although the companies did not disclose financial terms. Since its 2018 funding, CFS has raised more than $2 billion from high-profile investors including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Tiger Global Management, Khosla Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital.

The project would be located at 1201 Battery Brooke Parkway in the James River Industrial Center, a site owned by Dominion Energy. CFS has signed an option-to-lease agreement for the site, according to spokesperson Christine Dunn.

CFS filed an application with Chesterfield County in May for a permit to build the plant. The company plans to begin construction in the late 2020s.

Spun out of MIT in 2018, CFS is one of more than 40 companies currently pursuing fusion technologies and says it is the largest private fusion company in the world. CFS’ Series B2 round has raised more than $1 billion and is now targeting between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, Axios Pro reported in mid-May.

The company is building a fusion demonstration machine, nicknamed SPARC, at its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts. CFS began assembling the machine’s tokamak — a fusion device that uses electromagnets to create the right conditions for fusion energy — in March. SPARC will begin commissioning in 2025 and start operations in 2026, according to CFS’ zoning application.

Google’s power purchase agreement with CFS “is anchored in CFS’ SPARC achieving net fusion energy, known as Q>1,” according to a news release. CFS expects SPARC to achieve net fusion energy in 2027, according to a Monday blog post from CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard.

ARC will use magnetic fields for the fusion process. In the process, two forms of hydrogen — deuterium and tritium — fuse, creating helium and releasing neutrons. A “molten salt liquid ‘blanket’ surrounding the plasma will capture the energy of the neutrons in the form of heat,” according to CFS’ zoning application. The molten salt then circulates through heat exchangers — systems that transfer heat between fluids — to produce steam, which turns a turbine connected to an electricity generator.

Gary Lowenthal Joins Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s Council

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is pleased to welcome Gary Lowenthal to its Council, a dedicated group of goodwill ambassadors who work closely with the Board of Directors and staff to provide advice and assist with raising funds and building awareness.

Mr. Lowenthal is a retired educator, entrepreneur, and executive with a career spanning education, international service, and business leadership.

He began his professional journey as a teacher serving in the Peace Corps, teaching in underserved communities in Fiji. Upon returning to the US, he held an executive position at Bloomingdale’s before founding The Boyds Collection Ltd. in 1979, a company that became a leader in the plush and figurine market renowned for its lovingly crafted handmade collectibles.

“Gary’s unique blend of creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and dedication to service makes him a tremendous asset to the Foundation’s Council,” said Foundation Chairman Neal F. Kassell, MD. “His insight and will strengthen our efforts to advance this transformative technology and expand its access to patients.”

“It’s an honor to join the Foundation’s Council and support such groundbreaking work,” Mr. Lowenthal said. “I’m inspired by the potential of focused ultrasound to revolutionize medicine, and I look forward to contributing to a mission that has real, lasting impact on people’s lives.”

 

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