WED AM News: Realta Fusion touting ‘first-of-a-kind’ demonstration for fusion energy field; Evers administration hails roadmap to reducing emissions while some question costs

July 1, 2026

— Realta Fusion is touting a “first-of-a-kind achievement” for the fusion energy field, having demonstrated direct energy conversion of plasma kinetic energy into electricity.

The Madison-based company yesterday announced it’s the first commercial fusion energy company to achieve the milestone, though the process has been done several times in laboratory settings.

“People have been talking a big game about [direct energy conversion] for years, so we just went out and did it,” CEO Kieran Furlong said in the release.

The company installed and demonstrated its direct energy converter on June 19 using an experimental fusion machine it operates alongside UW-Madison, called the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror, or WHAM. The demonstration involved drawing multiple amps of current at around 100 volts, creating enough electrical power to power multiple lightbulbs.

Direct energy conversion for fusion plays a key role in boosting the system’s efficiency, according to the company.

The initial fusion power plants the company plans to start up in the mid-2030s will get 80% of their energy from a traditional thermal cycle operating at up to 45% efficiency, while the other 20% would come from direct energy conversion, running at greater than 90% efficiency.

That smaller component would offset the energy needed to kickstart and sustain the fusion plasma in Realta’s machines, resulting in up to 20% lower costs per kilowatt hour, the company says.

Derek Sutherland, chief scientific officer for the company, says the demonstration represents “a meaningful technical milestone and proof-of-concept” for this element of Realta’s planned fusion plants.

“While we’ve demonstrated DEC works on WHAM, this is not yet a demonstration of net-electricity or a large-scale conversion of fusion power directly into electricity” he said in the announcement. “Those are milestones for our future fusion machines.”

See the release.

See more on the company in a recent story.

— The Evers administration has released what it called a roadmap to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while driving economic growth, protecting natural resources and improving the health of state residents.

Produced by the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, the report was billed as the “first statewide framework to address all major sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Wisconsin.”

The report, which touched on everything from the ag industry to building codes and energy generation, didn’t include a price tag for the proposals.

Several groups immediately raised concerns yesterday about the potential impact.

For example, the report noted that animal digestive systems are one of the largest producers of methane gas and manure management accounts for two-thirds of agricultural emissions. It noted progress in feed alternatives that reduce the production of methane during the digestive process in animals and suggested support could come from state agencies.

It also suggested new businesses could emerge to collect, sort and process organic waste.

Jason Mugnaini of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation raised concerns that proposals in the plan would make farming more expensive and shift production to countries with weaker conservation practices. He said Wisconsin farmers are already leaders in conservation through voluntary efforts rather than government mandates.

“They don’t need more roadmaps; they need fewer roadblocks,” Mugnaini said, suggesting the state should focus on streamlining the DNR permitting process, among other things.

Gov. Tony Evers has previously called for making 100% of Wisconsin’s energy consumption carbon-free by 2050 through increased reliance on renewable sources.

Yesterday’s report suggests that move could create skilled jobs in solar, wind and energy storage sectors, as well as system maintenance. The efforts also could attract private investments and federal funding, according to the report.

“Through state policy, community action, and private partnership, the new Emissions Reduction Roadmap can help create new jobs, improve community health, and bring energy production back to Wisconsin, securing a more sustainable future for our state,” said DOA Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld.

But Scott Manley, executive vice president of government relations for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, called it an “unserious plan that doubles down on, rather than learns from, the failures of European countries,

“Those policies are a recipe for economic disaster for a manufacturing state like Wisconsin,” Manley said.

— Newly extended postpartum Medicaid coverage in Wisconsin that takes effect today is expected to save lives and help more new mothers get connected with critical support, state health officials say.

Dr. Jasmine Zapata, state epidemiologist for maternal and child health and chronic diseases, yesterday touted the impact of extending this coverage from 60 days to one year during a call hosted by the Department of Health Services.

“Evidence finds that maternal deaths within one year postpartum could be reduced with additional Medicaid coverage, which we’re getting ready to implement, between 1.6 to 7.01 deaths per 100,000 live births,” she said.

Zapata also said other states with extended postpartum Medicaid coverage had at least a 50% greater decline in infant mortality compared to other states.

“Every life that we can save matters,” she said. “Even if it’s just one, even if all of this last seven years it took is going to save one life, guess what, that one life is so important. But we’re hoping for even more than that.”

DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson yesterday said about 16,000 people are expected to be impacted by the change during the coming calendar year. During the coming months, the agency will be tracking use of the new expanded benefits, including how often they’re used and for what purposes.

“We hope we’ll see a decrease in maternal death and additionally a decrease in infant mortality,” she said. “We anticipate we’ll see an increase in access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment.”

Zapata noted the No. 1 causes of death during pregnancy or in the first year after giving birth are mental health conditions and drug overdoses.

“This coverage allows people who have mental health concerns or substance use conditions to be able to get the care that they need,” she said. “And many of those deaths that we see happen after that 60 days postpartum within that first year of life, so this is going to be critical.”

One way to reduce infant mortality is reducing risky “short-interval pregnancy” that occurs too soon after giving birth, Zapata added. By extending the postpartum Medicaid coverage window, she said the state can reduce the rates of short-interval pregnancies and associated pre-term births, a leading cause of infant mortality.

The extension of postpartum Medicaid coverage was enacted through 2025 Wisconsin Act 102, which Gov. Tony Evers signed into law in March. Johnson yesterday said the change follows seven years of attempting to extend this coverage.

— The Medical College of Wisconsin has been awarded a $7.5 million clinical trial agreement to assess a method for rehabilitating people with traumatic brain injuries and related conditions.

MCW yesterday announced it will lead the clinical trial, which is focused on helping military veterans and first responders with mild traumatic brain injury and associated depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Veteran’s Interdisciplinary Care for TBI and Co-Occurring Disorders Rehabilitation Trial, or VICTORY-RCT, is sponsored by the national nonprofit Avalon Action Alliance. The group awarded MCW with the agreement to conduct the four-year study, led by Prof. Michael McCrea, vice chair for research in the college’s Department of Neurosurgery.

The effort will explore the impact of a three-week outpatient rehabilitation program, delivered at five Avalon clinical sites across the country. That includes MCW’s Building Resilience through Action in Veterans and First Responders, or BRAVE program, along with locations in North Carolina, Florida, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

McCrea says the model being studied “has the potential to meaningfully improve quality of life for individuals coping with the persistent effects of traumatic brain injury” benefiting both those injured in the line of duty and others.

MCW says mild traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of long-term disability, impacting at least 500,000 veterans since 2000 and millions of people around the world.

See the release.

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— Wisconsin food banks will receive 2 million eggs following a national investigation that found producers colluded to raise prices.

“Companies must not make goods less affordable by improperly manipulating prices,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “There must be accountability for that kind of conduct.”

Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum and Hickman’s Egg Ranch will donate 53 million eggs to food banks nationwide and pay $3.3 million back to the afflicted states. The investigation found the egg producers allegedly coordinated their bids to influence egg price quotes in a benchmark pricing service, resulting in artificially inflated prices for consumers.

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