Beyond Solar: Small Modular Reactors, Hydropower, Geothermal and Long-Duration Storage
New energy sources are moving from pilot to construction. Most will reach a building through the grid, not the roof. Here is what is real now and what is still years away.
Why owners are asking
Data centers, electrification and new manufacturing are raising electricity demand, and utilities are looking beyond wind, solar and gas to meet it. That has put small modular reactors, hydropower and geothermal back in the news. For a property owner, the useful question is simple: does any of it change what I should do with my building now?
Small modular reactors (SMRs)
SMRs are nuclear reactors built in smaller, factory-made units. Two milestones show where the technology stands:
- On May 29, 2025, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the standard design of NuScale's US460, a plant of six 77-megawatt modules. A design approval is not a permit to build; a utility or developer still has to apply to build and operate one. (NRC)
- On April 4, 2025, Canada's nuclear regulator issued Ontario Power Generation a licence to construct a 300-megawatt BWRX-300 reactor at its Darlington site. (CNSC)
What it means for a building: SMRs are utility-scale and years from serving most grids. They may shape future wholesale prices and grid reliability, but they are not an on-site option for a commercial property.
Hydropower
Most hydropower in the US comes from large dams built decades ago. The newer activity is smaller: adding turbines to existing dams that do not generate power, upgrading older plants, and pumped storage that moves water uphill when power is cheap and releases it when it is needed.
What it means for a building: a property with a qualifying dam or water right is rare. For everyone else, hydro reaches the building through the grid and, in some states, through community or virtual net metering programs.
Geothermal
Two very different things share the name:
- Geothermal power plants use deep heat to make electricity. New drilling methods are extending where they can work, but they remain utility projects.
- Ground-source (geothermal) heat pumps use the steady temperature a few hundred feet down to heat and cool a building. These are an on-site option today, especially for campuses, schools and new construction with land for a well field.
See planning the HVAC replacement cycle.
Long-duration storage
Most commercial batteries today are lithium-ion systems designed for a few hours of discharge. Newer chemistries and designs aim to store energy for many hours or days, mainly for utilities balancing wind and solar.
What it means for a building: for demand charges and most state programs, today's battery storage is the right tool. Long-duration storage matters more to the grid than to the meter.
What to do now
The proven on-site tools are still the ones that pay today: efficiency, rooftop solar, batteries and EV charging. New grid sources may change what the utility charges in the 2030s. A building that already produces, stores and manages its own energy is in a better position whatever the grid looks like.
Facts in this article were checked on October 5, 2026. Talk to us about your property.
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