Wednesday, May 6, 2026

BOX ELDER WAVES THROUGH O'LEARY'S DATA CENTER
The Salt Lake Tribune
Commissioners cast the final local vote for the massive Utah campus after hundreds of protesters turned the project into a statewide fight over water, power, and process.

TUCSON CUTS OFF PROJECT BLUE'S WATER TAP
Tucson Sentinel
The city revoked a construction water meter and told the Project Blue developer to replace the water it already used, turning a data center fight into a utility enforcement story.

MICHIGAN VOTERS WANT DATA CENTER RECEIPTS
Michigan Advance
A new poll says 77% of Michigan residents support more transparency requirements for data centers receiving tax breaks, with water, energy, land, and jobs all on the ledger.

NEW JERSEY POLL TURNS AGAINST AI DATA CENTERS
News 12 New Jersey
More than half of New Jersey voters support banning new AI data centers from their communities, a sharp warning sign for developers leaning on generic economic-development pitches.

SALINE DATA CENTER FIGHT GETS A RECALL CAMPAIGN
MLive.com
A recall petition against Saline Township’s supervisor was approved, moving the Stargate/Oracle backlash from meeting rooms into electoral politics.

TRUMP EO WOULD PUSH MORE POWER THROUGH OLD WIRES
Latitude Media
A long-delayed White House order would press FERC, grid operators, and utilities to use advanced transmission technologies that can unlock capacity faster than new lines.

RICHLAND COUNTY KEEPS ITS WIND AND SOLAR BAN
Ideastream Public Media
Voters upheld a ban on large solar and wind farms in 11 Ohio townships, turning yesterday’s ballot-box test into a clean win for local project vetoes.

MIDWEST SOLAR BOOMS INTO THE POWER CRUNCH
Guardian US
Solar is accelerating across the industrial Midwest as electricity becomes the region’s hottest commodity and data center load tightens the supply conversation.

ENERGY SECURITY TAKES OVER THE CLEAN ENERGY STORY
Forbes
The clean energy pitch is moving from climate and cost toward security, as geopolitical risk and fossil supply exposure reshape the transition argument.

DOJ MOVES TO BLOCK MINNESOTA CLIMATE SUIT
The Well News
The Justice Department sued Minnesota to stop state action against energy companies, pushing the federal-state fight over fossil liability into court.

TEXAS AI POWER PLAN STARTS WITH GAS, ENDS WITH NUCLEAR
Interesting Engineering
Blue Energy and GE Vernova are pitching a 2.5 GW Texas plant that would use gas turbines for early power, then add small modular nuclear reactors for data center load.

BOX ELDER COMMISSIONER DEFENDS THE DATA CENTER VOTE
ABC4 Utah
A county commissioner is trying to explain the vote after the meeting blew up, which is usually a sign the political damage is just getting started.

QTS ANSWERS HAYNES STATION NEIGHBORS
WRDW
QTS responded as Augusta-area residents pressed concerns about a planned development near Fort Gordon, keeping Georgia in the local data center backlash file.

CHESTER COUNTY DATA CENTER SWELLS BACK TO 1.5M SQ FT
Philadelphia Inquirer
Developers reverted to a 1.5 million-square-foot East Whiteland proposal after back-and-forth over the facility’s footprint, resetting the scale of the fight.

NEW YORK'S DATA CENTER BOOM GETS THE EXPLAINER TREATMENT
The Journal News
USA TODAY Network lays out the New York pushback pattern: power prices, tax breaks, environmental impacts, and the politics of where hyperscale load lands.