PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2025--
WATT Fuel Cell, in partnership with Essential Utilities, has successfully installed the next-generation WATT HOME solid oxide fuel cell system in Peoples Natural Gas’ Western Pennsylvania service territory. The installation marks a significant step forward in enhancing energy efficiency and reliability for residential customers.
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The WATT HOME system is a cutting-edge technology designed to provide safe, clean, efficient, and reliable energy directly to homes. This system operates by converting natural gas into electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion, offering a sustainable complement or alternative to traditional energy sources.
The installation of a WATT HOME system brings numerous advantages to the homeowner and community at large. Those advantages include increased efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and a smaller physical footprint. As a back-up power solution, the WATT HOME system provides a dependable source of electricity, minimizing the impact of grid outages.
With the increasing strain on the PJM electric grid from extreme weather events and the retirement of baseload generators, the need for reliable backup power has never been greater. On average, U.S. electricity customers experience approximately 5.5 hours of electricity interruptions annually. WATT HOME fuel cell systems keep the lights on during outages without the noise or pollution created by standard backup power generators.
"The rising frequency and severity of power disruptions highlight the urgent need for resilient, efficient, and clean energy solutions,” said Caine Finnerty, CEO and Founder of WATT Fuel Cell. “When the power goes out, the WATT HOME system activates to ensure your electricity is working all the time.”
Looking Ahead: Future Installations and Rollout Program
As part of Peoples’ commitment to advance innovative energy solutions, Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas utility plans pilot installations of the WATT HOME system in multiple company field offices. These projects will help define the installation and operational process across different use cases, informing a future public rollout.
“The partnership with WATT is the latest in a series of innovative concepts championed by Peoples to meet modern-day energy demands,” said Peoples President Michael Huwar. “The WATT HOME system’s groundbreaking technology has the potential to protect homeowners from volatility in power generation, offering a reliable, resilient and sustainable energy solution that leverages our region’s abundant natural gas supply.”
For more information about the WATT HOME system, visit WattFuelCell.com.
About WATT Fuel Cell
WATT Fuel Cell ( www.wattfuelcell.com ) is a manufacturer and developer of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (“SOFC”) stacks and systems that operate on common, readily available fuels such as propane and natural gas. WATT’s proprietary, patented additive manufacturing process (AMP) has allowed it to produce commercially viable SOFC products for small-scale and remote power applications. WATT’s Hybrid Power Management system works in tandem with renewable power sources (solar and wind) and energy storage to provide quiet, efficient, affordable, and environmentally responsible energy solutions prioritizing a return on investment for customers across the globe.
About Peoples Natural Gas
Peoples, an Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) company, provides clean, safe, affordable and reliable natural gas service to approximately 740,000 homes and businesses in Western Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Peoples is committed to its customers, its employees, the environment, and to the regions it serves.
About Essential Utilities
Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) delivers safe, clean, reliable services that improve quality of life for individuals, families, and entire communities. With a focus on water, wastewater and natural gas, Essential is committed to sustainable growth, operational excellence, a superior customer experience, and premier employer status. We are advocates for the communities we serve and are dedicated stewards of natural lands, protecting more than 7,600 acres of forests and other habitats throughout our footprint.
Operating as the Aqua and Peoples brands, Essential serves approximately 5.5 million people across 9 states. Essential is one of the most significant publicly traded water, wastewater service and natural gas providers in the U.S.
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A next-generation WATT HOME solid oxide fuel cell installed within the Western Pennsylvania service territory of Peoples Natural Gas, an Essential Utilities company. WATT HOME fuel cells convert natural gas into electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion, offering a sustainable alternative or complement to traditional energy sources.
OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister early Monday praised Pakistan and Qatar for their mediation after talks in Switzerland, saying that they “delivered major progress.”
Abbas Araghchi wrote the message on X.
Pakistan, Qatar and Iran all have acknowledged the end of the first round of high-level talks. The U.S. hasn’t comment.
In his message, Araghchi said the first real test of the understandings reached would be a deconfliction method created over the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran has tied success in the talks to the end of the fighting there. Israel insists it will continue to occupy Lebanese territory and that it must have a free hand to fight Hezbollah, which has launched attacks into northern Israel.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
High-level negotiations in Switzerland seeking a permanent end to the Iran war have ended, mediators said early Monday, while technical talks will go on there for the rest of the week.
Pakistan and Qatar, the two mediators there, issued a statement making the announcement. The United States did not immediately acknowledge it. Iran, through Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei speaking to the state-run IRNA news agency, said “good progress was made.”
The talks mark the start of diplomacy in a 60-day process seeking to reach a permanent deal over the Iran war. But fighting between Israel and the Iranian-back militia Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to threaten the diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Iran insisted it had again shut the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf crucial to energy shipments. The U.S. said traffic continued.
Negotiators worked through the night after high-level U.S.-Iran talks on their interim deal to end the war had a tense start Sunday in Switzerland, when Tehran took offense at U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to attack and his warning that Iran's president should watch what he says.
The comments from afar — on social media and to news outlets — complicated efforts by Vice President JD Vance and mediators Pakistan and Qatar to keep Iran engaged in discussions meant to address thorny issues like Tehran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets.
Before anything, however, Iran wants to discuss Lebanon, where Israel's military has been fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, since the deal halts conflict on all fronts.
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump said on social media. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
“They would do better to be careful about their statements," Iran's lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X after Trump's comments. "Our armed forces are prepared to respond to them in a different manner. They may keep talking, it is we who act.”
Iranian state media said talks had entered a “difficult phase” and recessed after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President.” The Iranian delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiating site, state media said.
Vance and U.S. negotiators including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, had met with Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for what Iranian state media said was about 80 minutes.
It was not clear when they might meet again. Negotiators were anticipating working through the night, according to a senior U.S. diplomat engaged in the talks.
The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions, said talks included clarifying what Iran meant by recent statements about the Strait of Hormuz. Negotiators also discussed “mechanisms” to ensure the strait remains open and that a ceasefire in southern Lebanon is enforced, along with “robust” discussions on the nuclear issue.
Negotiators are in a 60-day sprint to reach an agreement on the technical details that hold massive implications for the world economy and global security.
“The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?” Vance said as the talks began, and asked whether they could “change relations in the Middle East permanently.”
The U.S. wants Iran locked into negotiations over its nuclear program amid concerns it may be used for military purposes, which Iran denies. Vance also wants Tehran to commit to keeping open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran on Saturday claimed to close. The U.S. has disputed that, saying shipping traffic continued Sunday.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told the state news agency that Tehran first wants talks to focus on the conflict in Lebanon.
A renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, brokered on Saturday, appeared to be holding, and Israel's military said it would lift movement restrictions for residents near the border with Lebanon on Monday morning — another sign of calm.
But neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing.
The agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian immediately allows Tehran to sell its oil freely and paves the way for Iran to tap into billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen. A member of Iran's negotiating team told state television that draft wording was reached about “temporary sanctions waivers for oil and petroleum derivatives."
The agreement also calls for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were targeted in U.S. strikes a year ago.
Pezeshkian, however, declared Sunday that "we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” according to Iran’s state media.
Trump, in a telephone interview with Fox News, later warned that the Iranian president should watch what he says and threatened to take over Iran, in comments relayed by a Fox correspondent.
Iran had cautiously approached the talks given its previous experience with U.S. negotiations on the nuclear issue, which twice in the past year were interrupted by military strikes.
Vance has said he planned to be in Switzerland for “a day or two,” leaving much of the detailed negotiations to be led by Witkoff and Kushner. His role in the talks has heightened scrutiny at a time when he's considering a 2028 presidential campaign.
Trump and Vance have come under searing criticism from parts of their own party for the deal, with Republican hard-liners unfavorably likening it to the nuclear agreement signed by the Obama administration that Trump and Republicans have insisted did nothing to terminate Iran’s nuclear program.
The new agreement says commercial vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days without charge, but does not preclude future fees imposed by Iran. Trump made his own threat Saturday to levy U.S. tolls if there is no deal with Iran in 60 days, insisting that the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.”
The Trump administration has been working to reassure global markets that the war has been merely a blip on oil prices, as Americans complain about high gasoline prices ahead of peak summer travel. After the deal was announced, oil futures dropped almost 8%.
Markets are expected to closely track the progress of talks when they open for trading Sunday evening.
Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
A sign for the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Bürgenstock during a meeting between U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, in Obbuergen, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance waits to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, reacts next to U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff, second right, and Jared Kushner, right, while waiting to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, reacts next to U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff, second right, and Jared Kushner, right, while waiting to meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and Switzerland's Foreign Minister Federal councillor Ignazio Cassis, right, shake hands at bilateral discussions at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)
A Swiss Army Helicopter flies around the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone Pool via AP)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, right, meets with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, center, arrives at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, early Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool via AP)
Air Force Two, with Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance on board, departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, June 20, 2026, en route to Switzerland. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, June 20, 2026, en route to Switzerland. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP)
