Fusion startup Realta Fusion has struck a deal with Madison Gas and Electric to explore building one of the first grid-connected fusion power plants in the United States, in Wisconsin. The agreement is part of a wider trend of utilities partnering with fusion companies, reflecting both growing confidence in fusion's technical progress and utilities' concern about meeting soaring future electricity demand, particularly from AI data centres. Such deals give utilities early access to a potentially transformative technology, while startups gain crucial engineering, permitting and site-selection support.

The Realta–Madison Gas and Electric partnership envisages a 200-megawatt plant, enough to power a small city, potentially operational in the mid-2030s, alongside an undisclosed equity investment from the utility. Realta is converting a former Oscar Mayer factory in Madison into its research facility. Only a handful of similar tie-ups exist so far: Commonwealth Fusion Systems has partnered with Dominion Energy on its 400-megawatt Arc plant near Richmond, Virginia, with Google and Eni already agreeing to buy power from it, while Helion is working with a Washington State utility on a 50-megawatt plant due in 2028.