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GE Vernova Announces $14.2B in Energy Deals in Saudi Arabia

William Attardi on June 5, 2025

 GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE: GEV) announced initiatives worth up to $14.2 billion for its world class energy equipment technology and services to support power generation and grid stability projects. The announcements include up to $2 billion in backlog or on a reservation agreement as of the first quarter of 2025, with future contracts and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for agreements spanning across the next four years. The initiatives are expected to play a strong role in supporting the Kingdom in achieving its energy goals under Saudi Vision 2030 and transition to net zero by 2060. GE Vernova Announces $14.2B in Energy Deals in Saudi Arabia – electrifiED

Coal Plant to be Transformed into Gas-Powered Data Center Campus

William Attardi on April 10, 2025

 Homer City Redevelopment (HCR) and Kiewit Power Constructors Co. (Kiewit) announced the future of the former Homer City Generating Station. Homer City – previously the largest coal-burning power plant in Pennsylvania – will be transformed into a more than 3,200-acre natural gas-powered data center campus, designed to meet the growing artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) needs of the innovative technology companies shaping America’s digital future. GE Vernovawill provide seven high-efficiency 7HA.02 hydrogen-enabled, gas-fired turbines, with the first deliveries expected to begin in 2026.  Coal Plant to be Transformed into Gas-Powered Data Center Campus – electrifiED

GE Vernova Outlines $600M US Expansion

William Attardi on January 31, 2025

GE Vernova Inc. outlined a capital investment program for U.S. manufacturing and development operations totaling close to $600 million through 2027. It projected the investments would address issues involving energy affordability, national security, and manufacturing growth, and would prompt the creation of more than 1,500 new jobs. GE Vernova, which is the former General Electric portfolio of businesses that manufacture industrial and alternative energy systems, pegged the new U.S. investments as part of its broader, $9-billion global capital investment and research program. Among the planned U.S. investments:

  • Greenville, SC ($160 million)
  • Niskayuna, NY ($100 million)
  • Parsippany, NJ, Bangor, ME, Schenectady, NY ($50 million each)
  • Clearwater, FL, Charleroi, PA ($20 million each)
  • Also Pensacola, Grand Forks, Amarillo, Wilmington, Pittsburgh

Energy Giant Outlines $600M US Expansion | GE Vernova | American Machinist

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.