Gaining a Competitive Edge with Vulcan's Insights on Generation Projects to Data Centers

Vulcan's EIA-860M Analysis: July 2025 Update

Another month brings new insights, and our latest analysis of the EIA-860M data provides a clear picture of U.S. power project development. All of this data is easily accessible to Vulcan clients via API or Snowflake, and the visuals you see below can be effortlessly replicated in Tableau.

This month, we've identified an additional 6.2 GW of power projects, once again dominated by solar and battery storage. Arizona leads the additions with over 3.6 GW, followed by Texas with over 1 GW.

 On the cancellation front, we've seen 3.4 GW of projects removed from the books—primarily Texas natural gas plants first proposed back in July 2015. These cancellations were not a surprise to our clients, as their project rankings were below 2.6. Vulcan provides project-by-project rankings, where a score below 2.6 indicates a high risk of cancellation. This month also saw 248 MW of power plant retirements. 

 We also detected one "ghost plant"—a 100 MW solar facility in Ohio that appeared as already operational, having bypassed traditional detection during its planning and construction phases. 

Vulcan: Closing the Gap Between Forecast and Reality

The true value of the Vulcan platform becomes clear when you compare official forecasts with on-the-ground reality. The EIA-860M projected a cumulative addition of 40 GW by July in the December 2024 860M. In reality, only 26 GW came online—a significant 35% error. In contrast, our V2 forecast from early February projected a more accurate 29 GW build, reducing the forecasting error to less than 10%.

This is more than just data; it's a competitive advantage. Vulcan eliminates guesswork, providing you with a level of certainty that is invaluable for strategic planning. We apply this same rigorous, ground-truth methodology to data centers, helping utilities, ISOs, and energy forecasters achieve a much clearer understanding of future load.

Enhance Your Intelligence with Private Monitoring

For clients with specialized needs, our Private Monitoring add-on provides bespoke visual intelligence. For an additional cost, we can provide weekly monitoring of up to 50 specific sites that you designate. This service eliminates the need for you to hire an image analyst or navigate complex satellite systems. We handle everything, delivering key dates and weekly updates directly to you, ensuring your unique use cases are covered with the same precision as our core product.

For more information on Vulcan or to schedule a demo, please reach out to David Bellman, Lead Researcher / Vulcan Product Lead, at dbellman@synmax.com, or visit our website at synmax.com or email us at info@synmax.com.