Good morning. Amazon is now investigating its own engineers for opposing data centers, which shows how far the AI-power backlash has spread from the zoning board. The same week brings threats serious enough to read as security risks and a national protest taking shape on the right. FERC's order to speed up grid hookups is the day's bigger headline, though faster connections do not make the power any cheaper.
Top Stories
FERC TELLS GRID OPERATORS: SPEED UP AI POWER HOOKUPS
Associated Press
Federal regulators ordered regional grid operators to move faster on large-load interconnections, but the cost fight is only moving from the queue to the bill.
MARYLAND LAWMAKERS TO FERC: STOP DATA-CENTER COST SHIFT
Utility Dive
Dozens of Maryland lawmakers backed a complaint arguing PJM transmission costs driven by out-of-state data centers are landing on Maryland ratepayers.
OG&E WANTS DATA CENTERS ON A LARGE-LOAD TARIFF
The Oklahoman
The utility wants high-energy customers to pay more directly for grid costs, another sign that AI load is turning into a rate-design problem.
NORTH CAROLINA EYES END TO DATA-CENTER TAX BREAKS
WUNC
Gov. Josh Stein wants to phase out data-center tax exemptions by 2032, starting with the electricity sales-tax break after this year.
DATA-CENTER BACKLASH TAKES A DARKER TURN
Newsweek
The backlash is still mostly local and political, but a string of threats shows why infrastructure fights can become security risks fast.
Power & Grid
OKLO AND CENTRUS PITCH NUCLEAR FOR OHIO'S DATA-CENTER LOAD
NBC4 WCMH
The Portsmouth site is becoming a test case for the AI power boom: gas, transmission, uranium enrichment and advanced nuclear are all in the mix.
UTAH ADVANCED REACTOR REACHES CRITICALITY
Deseret News
Valar's milestone is not commercial deployment, but it gives the new-nuclear push a field test outside the national-lab bubble.
DATA CENTERS GIVE CLEAN ENERGY A DIRTY BOOST
The Guardian
The same AI demand shock keeping fossil plants alive is also forcing tech companies to bankroll batteries, solar and dedicated power.
OREGON COAL FALLS, GAS FILLS THE GAP
OregonLive
The coal phaseout story is not just wind and solar; in Oregon's latest mix, gas is still doing a lot of the reliability work.
IRAN SHOCK SENDS BUYERS TOWARD CLEAN ENERGY
Canary Media
Fossil volatility is again giving households and governments a security argument for EVs, rooftop solar, induction stoves and renewables.
Data Centers
OHIO DATA-CENTER CRACKDOWN STALLS OUT
Cleveland.com
The pause shows how hard it is for legislatures to keep up once developers, utilities and ratepayer protections collide.
AMAZON PROBES ENGINEERS WHO OPPOSED AI DATA CENTERS
CNBC
The data-center fight is moving inside Big Tech, where employees are pressing the same energy and land-use questions cities are asking.
CONSERVATIVES PLAN NATIONAL ANTI-DATA-CENTER PROTEST
Axios
Opposition to AI infrastructure is no longer just local zoning noise; it is becoming a national political lane.
MICHIGAN LAWMAKERS TARGET DATA-CENTER SAFEGUARDS
MLive
Michigan is joining the statehouse scramble to put rules around AI infrastructure before local fights harden into project wars.
TEXAS PUTS DATA-CENTER GRID REQUESTS INTO BATCH ZERO
Dallas Morning News
ERCOT is trying to separate serious large loads from speculative queue noise as data-center power requests pile up.
Stat of the Day
$450M
Potential annual sales-tax revenue North Carolina could forgo from data centers
Gov. Josh Stein's office says the state's current $45 million to $57 million annual exemption cost could jump sharply if all proposed facilities are built.
WUNC ↗