The Power Play: Is Fusion Nearing a Kitty Hawk Moment?

In an era of AI, data centers and electrification, rising power demand presents a range of challenges and investment opportunities across the energy sector. Bottlenecks in the supply chain, such as the backlog in gas turbine production, have grabbed headlines while the power-hungry digital infrastructure buildout lifts energy consumption. With the grid increasingly strained, commercial-grade fusion power is one innovative solution emerging in a rapidly evolving energy landscape. PGIM's Daleep Singh visits Commonwealth Fusion Systems CEO Bob Mumgaard for a conversation inside the facility that houses SPARC, the company's prototype for what could be the first commercially produced machine that generates net energy from fusion. This milestone – expected in 2027 – would be significant, paving the way for the first generation of fusion power plants. Like geothermal energy and small modular reactors, commercially viable fusion power could make the national grid better equipped to meet forecasts for intense electricity demand – using dispatchable, zero-carbon power that could be more resilient through periods of geopolitical strife. Institutional investors will continue to play a role in deploying the long-term capital needed to scale new technologies, expand the power grid, and fortify energy supply chains. Listen for an inside look at the future of fusion power. This episode explores: CFS's plans to establish the first ARC plant in the early 2030s – and its ambitions to build thousands more The engineering and capital hurdles to create grid-scale fusion power plants Industrial policy actions and public-private partnerships that could accelerate the fusion buildout Why fusion energy's supply chain is less vulnerable to geopolitical chokepoints than traditional fuel sources