THE DAILY MINE ⛏️

Today's issue is about the AI buildout turning abstract load growth into concrete fights over prices, wires, land, and who gets priority on the grid. PJM prices are already showing the strain. Eversource is openly resisting Connecticut data-center load. Georgia and Virginia communities are pushing back on new power lines. Ohio is ordering new pricing rules. At the same time, the West is trying to build the markets and transmission institutions needed to move power at scale, while solar manufacturing and offshore infrastructure keep getting pulled into the broader energy-security frame. The story is not just more demand. It is demand forcing every part of the system to declare its rules.

Top Stories

DATA CENTERS DRIVE 76% PJM POWER-PRICE SURGE
E&E News
PJM power prices jumped almost 76% year over year in the first quarter, putting hard numbers on how AI load is reshaping the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest power market.

WESTERN STATES TRY A NEW WAY TO BUILD TRANSMISSION
Latitude Media
The $11 billion SunZia line is nearing commercial operation after years of fights, and state transmission authorities are emerging as a practical tool for getting big Western lines financed, permitted, and built.

THE WEST MOVES POWER TRADING A DAY AHEAD
Wyoming Public Media
Utilities across the West are launching a regional day-ahead market meant to share power before it is needed, lower costs, and move renewable generation across a fragmented grid.

INOX CLEAN BUYS 3 GW OF U.S. SOLAR MANUFACTURING
pv magazine USA
Inox Clean is buying Boviet Solar's U.S. PV manufacturing assets for $750 million, adding 3 GW of operating TOPCon module capacity to the domestic supply-chain race.

EVERSOURCE FACES FERC COMPLAINT OVER $385M LINE
Utility Dive
A ratepayer complaint says Eversource misclassified a New Hampshire transmission project to avoid stricter review, adding another affordability fight to the local transmission buildout.

Power & Grid

UNDERGROUNDING PUSHBACK HITS SDG&E TRANSMISSION PLAN
San Diego Union-Tribune
The proposed 145-mile Golden Pacific Powerlink would run from the Imperial Valley toward San Diego and Orange counties, but putting more of the line underground is drawing cost and feasibility objections.

NEW YORK BUDGET SOFTENS 2030 CLIMATE TARGET
ESG Dive
Gov. Kathy Hochul's 2027 budget would scrap New York's 2030 goal for a 40% emissions cut and replace it with a 2040 target for a 60% reduction.

OFFSHORE INFRASTRUCTURE GETS AN ENERGY-SECURITY SPOTLIGHT
Forbes
Offshore engineering and logistics are becoming strategic energy-security infrastructure, serving both oil and gas reliability and the offshore wind buildout.

GEORGIA POWER-BILL FIGHT MOVES TO PSC BALLOT
Grist
Ten candidates are running for two Georgia Public Service Commission seats as rising bills, utility regulation, and the state's energy future become a primary-election issue.

FORD GETS PULLED INTO THE AI-STOCK TRADE
The Detroit News
Ford shares jumped after investors latched onto the company's AI angle, a reminder that the AI boom is spilling beyond chipmakers and data-center developers into broader industrial narratives.

Data Centers

EVERSOURCE RESISTS CONNECTICUT DATA-CENTER LOAD
CT Insider
Eversource says large data centers are showing serious interest in Connecticut, but the utility is warning about grid overloads, power supply, and customer-cost exposure.

GEORGIA DATA-CENTER BOOM RUNS INTO EMINENT DOMAIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New power lines for Georgia data centers are triggering landowner backlash and eminent-domain concerns in Fayette, Coweta, and other fast-growing areas.

OHIO ORDERS FIRSTENERGY DATA-CENTER PRICING RULES
cleveland.com
Ohio regulators ordered FirstEnergy to write new data-center customer rules as the state tries to decide who pays for grid upgrades tied to AI-driven load growth.

UTILITIES SPLIT ON DATA-CENTER GROWTH STORY
Utility Dive
A first-quarter earnings roundup found utilities still chasing gigawatts of data-center demand, but increasingly constrained by physics, policy, politics, and affordability.

LOUISA COUNTY FUNDS FIGHT AGAINST VALLEY LINK LINE
29News / WVIR
Louisa County is putting $250,000 toward legal costs opposing the 115-mile Valley Link transmission project, a Dominion-backed line tied to Virginia's rising power demand and data-center growth.

Stat of the Day

$11 billion

Construction cost of the SunZia transmission line nearing commercial operation
Latitude Media reports the long-fought Western project is reaching the finish line, with state transmission authorities increasingly cited as a practical model for financing and permitting big lines.
Latitude Media report ↗