China has launched its first power plant using an advanced gas turbine manufactured domestically, marking a major step toward reducing dependence on foreign technology amid a global equipment shortage, according to Bloomberg.

China Energy Investment Corp. commissioned the Anji Power Plant, which operates two GE-designed turbines of roughly 400 megawatts each.

Bloomberg writes that the turbine design comes from GE Vernova, which formed a joint venture with state-owned Harbin Electric in 2019 to localize production and supply up to a dozen units annually.

The achievement advances China’s long-running effort to build its own gas-turbine industry at a time when worldwide demand is surging—driven by data-center expansion and by developing nations shifting away from coal.

China’s gas-fired capacity is expected to reach about 150 gigawatts this year, with proposals to grow to 200 gigawatts by 2030. Gas power is becoming increasingly important in coastal regions facing limited land for renewables and grid bottlenecks, according to Qi Qin of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Other domestic manufacturers, including Dongfang Electric and Shanghai Electric, are also speeding up their gas-turbine development programs.

The move carries broader geopolitical significance. As advanced gas turbines have long been dominated by a small group of Western and Japanese suppliers, China’s ability to localize production reduces a key point of technological leverage.

At a time when global supply chains for strategic equipment are tightening and export controls are expanding, demonstrating domestic capability in large-scale turbine manufacturing strengthens China’s energy security and lowers its vulnerability to potential sanctions or supply disruptions.

Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Chloe Cole grew up a tomboy, was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by age 7, and referred for autism screening by age 17.

Chloe Cole, who began transitioning at age 12 and now regrets surgically removing her breasts, holds testosterone medication used for transgender patients in Northern California on Aug. 26, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Cole began identifying as a boy during adolescence and sought physical changes to match.

Doctors readily consented to medical intervention. They prescribed puberty blockers and testosterone at age 13. At 15, surgeons performed a double mastectomy, she told The Epoch Times.

But doctors didn’t address her neurological issues first. The same gender specialist who referred her for breast surgery later referred her for autism screening. Cole has described herself as being on the autism spectrum, but said she was never formally diagnosed.

Cole is now a leading campaigner against interventions to transition children with gender dysphoria.

She said many of those she knew personally when she was involved in the transgender community, as well as many of the detransitioners she knows, “are either somewhere on the autism spectrum, or they have been diagnosed with similar conditions, like ADHD.”

Her observations are increasingly supported by research. For at least a decade, studies have reported links among transgender identity, autism, and other neurological conditions. These connections have recently gained greater public attention.

Growing evidence of an autism–transgender link is already prompting some nations to recommend neurological screening before intervention. In America, the treatment model remains unchanged, and the predominant “affirmation” model makes the link difficult to investigate.

Chloe Cole in Washington on Jan. 12, 2023. The overlap between gender dysphoria and neurodevelopmental issues such as autism and ADHD is more pronounced than people realize, Cole said. Melvin Soto-Vázquez/Cpi Studios For The Epoch Times

Autism and Gender Dysphoria

A report published this month by the British think tank Centre for Social Justice showed that autism and ADHD were “overrepresented,” or disproportionately high, among youth with gender dysphoria.

​The report, citing data from the UK’s National Health Service, showed 32.4 percent of gender dysphoria referrals had an autism diagnosis, and 11.7 percent had an ADHD diagnosis. ​

Those numbers were 16 times higher than the national population averages for autism, and more than twice as high for ADHD. The population-wide averages for autism and ADHD in the United Kingdom are estimated at 2 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

“Individuals with autism spectrum disorder are far more likely to identify as transgender,” Joseph Nicolosi Jr., a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher in California, told The Epoch Times via email.

A pair of studies conducted in 2016 and 2019 indicate that autistic children are between four and seven times more likely to experience gender dysphoria or gender variance, he said. A 2019 study was conducted by researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and a 2016 study was conducted at New York University.

Nicolosi said there are several reasons for the connection, including “rigid thinking.”

​For example, if a boy with autism lacks stereotypical male interests, he may doubt he is a boy and assume he must be a girl. Reading social cues is often hard for those with autism, so they may perceive same-sex peers as getting along better than they do.

​“This heightens their sense of alienation from their peers,” Nicolosi said.

Chloe Cole holds a childhood photo in Northern California on Aug. 26, 2022. Cole recalled that around fourth grade she started to have difficulty coping with her body beginning to mature—‘a common sentiment amongst people who have either ADHD or autism.’ John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Cole recalled having difficulty coping with her body beginning to mature around the fourth grade, younger than most of her peers.

“The older I got, the less I associated with femininity, and I didn’t really feel like I fit in—especially with my female peers—but with my peers in general,” she said.

“It’s a common sentiment amongst people who have either ADHD or autism.”

Erin Friday, who gained national attention for successfully steering her ADHD daughter away from identifying as a transgender male, said she knows many detransitioners who are on the autism spectrum. A detransitioner is someone who had previously taken steps to transition to the opposite gender.

But most of the medical community doesn’t recognize transgender identity as a maladaptive coping mechanism, she told The Epoch Times.

They view autism and transgender identity as complementary and natural, instead of looking at causality, she said.

“This is the intersection of autism and transgenderism, like peas and carrots, it goes together,” Friday said. “They’re not even looking at … what is the causality?”

She observed that some hospitals offering pediatric transgender care have integrated autism and gender dysphoria services.

“It’s a feeder,” she said. “So it gives an endless stream of patients.”

Children’s National Hospital in Washington runs a Gender and Autism Program that treats autistic patients with gender dysphoria, illustrating the recognized connection between the two, she noted.

“We do not understand why autism and gender expansiveness often occur together, but we do know that this co-occurrence can be complex to navigate for young people and their families,” the website states.

The hospital did not respond to a request for comment.

Attorney Erin Friday joins “Our Duty” supporters at the California State Capitol Building in Sacramento on Aug. 28, 2023. Friday gained national attention for successfully steering her daughter with ADHD away from identifying as a transgender male. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Neurological Screening

In the UK, a seminal report released last year on how the country has handled treatment of children with gender dysphoria suggested screening children for neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism and mental health issues.

That review, led by pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, sparked a wave of reforms, and the UK’s National Health Service all but halted the prescription of puberty blockers because there was a lack of evidence that the treatment was beneficial.

The Cass report found that young people distressed about their gender often have complex problems contributing to that distress, including mental illness, neurodiverse traits, and a variety of social problems.

Sweden and Finland recommend that neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism and ADHD be addressed as part of the evaluation process for the treatment of pediatric gender dysphoria.

In the United States, however, psychological organizations prioritize “gender-affirming care” without recommending neurological screening.

Instead, most follow the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care, which call for individualized, age-appropriate care to “improve health and wellbeing” of youth who identify as transgender.

The organization says assisting gender dysphoric patients “may include gynecologic and urologic care, reproductive health, voice and communication therapy, mental health services (e.g., counseling, psychotherapy), and/or hormonal or surgical treatments, among others.”

Pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass speaks about the publication of the Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People in London on April 9, 2024. The report recommends screening children for neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism, as well as for mental health issues. Yui Mok/PA Wire

WPATH does not believe an autism diagnosis should prevent “gender-affirming care.”

“There is no evidence to suggest a benefit of withholding [gender affirming medical and surgical treatments] from [transgender] people who have gender incongruence simply on the basis that they have a mental health or neurodevelopmental condition,” according to WPATH.

Likewise, a 2023 commentary appearing in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics said that autistic youth deserve “gender-affirming care, and an [autism spectrum] diagnosis should not prevent youth and families from providing informed consent to gender-affirming care.”

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network said in its June newsletter that the government shouldn’t interfere with an autistic person’s decision to transition.

“They think autistic people cannot really know if we are transgender. They say we are being tricked or we are confused. They think we should not be allowed to get gender-affirming care,” the newsletter stated.

Republican lawmakers in many states have enacted bans against gender-related medical treatments on minors, with corresponding federal actions to restrict funding for such practices.

Shortly after taking office earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that the federal government will not fund or promote transition-related care for children who identify as a different gender.

This spring, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a 409-page review of medical procedures used for gender dysphoric children. The report advocates for psychotherapy as a “noninvasive alternative to endocrine and surgical interventions,” since the benefits of hormones or surgery have not been established.

“Many of these children and adolescents have co-occurring psychiatric or neurodevelopmental conditions, rendering them especially vulnerable,” the executive summary for the report states.

Read the rest here…

The one-party rule of ‘Democratic Kings‘ in Maryland continues to reveal an optically displeasing truth about these leftist activists masquerading as competent politicians, who are anything but, and their epic mismanagement of state finances has only occurred because of limited oversight into their radical agendas.

Fox Baltimore reports that a state legislative audit uncovered major concerns about the oversight of billions of dollars spent by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and his rudderless leftist allies in Annapolis, who champion everything from failed climate-crisis policies to wokeism to gender identity agendas to social justice and criminal justice reforms, as well as protecting illegal aliens (new voter base) – this is anything but ‘Maryland First’…

“Most recently, a state audit revealed 42 state offices spent a total of $8.5 billion last year with minimal oversight. That audit came on the heels of a State Highway Administration audit detailing $360 million in unauthorized spending for federal projects, and a separate Social Services Administration audit revealing a lack of protections for foster care children in Maryland,” Fox Baltimore wrote in a report. 

Taxpayers Protection Alliance president David Williams told Fox Baltimore journalist Jeff Abell, “It’s a problem that almost $9 billion is going to these entities and we just don’t know where the money is going.”

Williams expressed serious concerns over the findings, pointing out, “This is supposed to be a system of checks and balances. We know the checks have gone out but there are no balances to be sure the money is being spent wisely.”

He called for increased oversight, saying, “If you’re receiving taxpayer money, there has to be full accountability, and this is billions of dollars we’re talking about.”

The lack of oversight in Maryland comes as no surprise, given that the state suffers from a disastrous one-party rule of far-left Democrats who care more about upholding the globalist framework of climate-crisis and illegal alien policies. 

Moore’s photo next to dark-money-funded NGO emperor Alex Soros makes it all the more clear why he and Maryland Democrats operate with a globalist framework in the first place.

The result of one-party rule has been a ballooning deficit, soaring taxes, a credit rating downgrade, and a continued large-scale exodus of residents fleeing to red states as Maryland quickly loses its charm and is on track to transform into the next “Illinois 2.0.” On top of the financial failures, power grid mismanagement has collided with surging data center demand, sending power bills through the roof.

Another Democrat-run state under scrutiny this week is Minneapolis, where far-left Gov. Tim Walz seemingly ignored his Somali voting base that looted taxpayers in billion-dollar welfare fraud schemes – with some of the funds allegedly ending up in the hands of overseas terror networks.

If Maryland and Minneapolis have oversight problems, imagine what’s happening in all the other Democrat-run states.

By Brian Martucci of UtilityDive

Summary:

U.S. data center power demand could reach 106 GW in 2035, BloombergNEF said Monday in one of the more aggressive load growth estimates to date. The U.S. had about 25 GW of operating data centers in 2024, Bloom Energy said earlier this year.
BloombergNEF’s latest forecast is 36% higher than its previous prediction, released in April. The jump is due in part to the higher average size of the 150 significant U.S. data center projects announced in the past year, over a quarter of which are larger than 500 MW, BNEF said.
The Energy Information Administration, which tracks demand for the federal government, generally only publishes detailed projections out two or three years, and few other analyses have attempted firm forecasts as far out as 2035.

BNEF’s report comes as some energy industry analysts and executives warn that an artificial intelligence bubble or speculative data center proposals could be fueling excessive load growth projections. 

A report from Grid Strategies released last month said utility forecasts of 90 GW additional data center load by 2030 were likely overstated; market analysis indicates load growth in that time frame is likely closer to 65 GW, it said. 

A July report from the Department of Energy estimated an additional 100 GW of new peak capacity is needed by 2030, of which 50 GW is attributable to data centers. Those facilities could account for as much as 12% of peak demand by 2028, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

BNEF’s data center project tracker shows the industry diversifying beyond traditional data center hubs like Northern Virginia, metro Atlanta and central Ohio into exurban and rural regions served by existing fiber-optic trunk lines for data traffic.

A map of under-construction, committed and early-stage projects shows gigawatts of planned data center capacity spreading south through Virginia and the Carolinas, up through eastern Pennsylvania and outward from Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. More data centers are also planned for Texas and the Gulf Coast states.

Much of the capacity is poised to materialize on grids overseen by the PJM Interconnection, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. BNEF predicts PJM alone could add 31 GW of data center load over the next five years, about 3 GW more than expected capacity additions from new generation. 

With the expected surge, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. warned late last year of “elevated risk” of summer electricity shortfalls this year, in 2026 and onward in all three regions. 

Some experts disputed NERC’s methodology, however. MISO’s independent market monitor said in June that the group’s analysis was flawed and that MISO was in a better position than grid regions not expected to see exponential data center growth, like ISO New England and the New York Independent System Operator. 

Other technology and energy system analysts expect a significant amount of proposed data center capacity to dissipate in the coming years due to chip shortages, duplicative permit requests and other factors. 

In July, London Economics International said in a report prepared for the Southern Environmental Law Center that meeting projections for U.S. data center load in 2030 would require 90% of global chip supply — a scenario it called “unrealistic.” 

Patricia Taylor, director of policy and research at the American Public Power Association, told Utility Dive earlier this year that it’s common for data center developers to “shop around” the same project across neighboring jurisdictions. 

Still, U.S. grid operators face an “inflection moment” as they balance the desire to accommodate large-scale data centers with the obligation to ensure reliable service for all customers, BNEF said.