Good morning. The grid is having one of those weeks where every story eventually becomes a bill: affordability fights in dozens of statehouses, a billion-dollar relief package in New Jersey and a five-year-old Texas storm still sending invoices.
Top Stories
STATES HIT PAUSE ON DATA-CENTER TAX BREAKS
Newsweek
The incentive backlash is spreading as lawmakers ask whether subsidized server farms are worth the power, water and ratepayer exposure.
ENERGY AFFORDABILITY BECOMES A 46-STATE FIGHT
Utility Dive
Regulators and lawmakers are piling up affordability actions this year, but the pressure keeps rising as power prices and energy burdens climb.
PJM HIT SECOND-HIGHEST LOAD EVER IN JULY HEAT
E&E News
Extreme heat pushed PJM to about 162 GW on July 2, its second-highest load ever, right as the region debates how much new demand it can absorb.
OIL JUMPS AFTER U.S. BARS IRANIAN SALES
The Wall Street Journal
The market got a geopolitical jolt after Treasury revoked a waiver for Iranian oil sales, sending U.S. crude futures up as much as 5%.
RENEWABLES WRITE A TRUMP 2.0 PLAYBOOK
Axios
American Clean Power is hunting for durable wins on permitting, transmission credits, manufacturing incentives and conservative outreach.
Power & Grid
CPS ENERGY HIT WITH $400M URI GAS BILL
Utility Dive
Five years later, Winter Storm Uri is still producing invoices after a Texas judge ordered San Antonio's utility to pay Energy Transfer.
NEW JERSEY SIGNS RATEPAYER RELIEF PACKAGE
Asbury Park Press
Gov. Mikie Sherrill says three new bills will save electric customers $1 billion, putting affordability at the center of the state's energy politics.
MARYLAND TARGETS PJM RTO ADDER AT FERC
Utility Dive
State agencies want to end the extra 0.5% return some utilities earn for PJM membership, calling it an avoidable cost for ratepayers.
PERMITTING DEAL WINDOW STARTS CLOSING
Washington Examiner
American Clean Power's Jason Grumet says Congress is running out of time before August recess to move a bipartisan energy permitting bill.
MINNESOTA NUCLEAR BAN ENTERS GOVERNOR RACE
Minnesota Star Tribune
Rising power demand is pulling the state's 32-year nuclear moratorium into campaign politics, with Republicans pushing repeal and Amy Klobuchar leaving the door open.
Data Centers
ARIZONA TAX-BREAK PAUSE SPARKS A RUSH
Arizona Republic
A three-year pause on new data-center incentives appears to have triggered a deadline scramble, which is one way to measure how valuable the subsidy is.
ALABAMA PSC WEIGHS DATA-CENTER CONTRACTS
AL.com
Regulators are trying to balance Alabama Power, large new data-center loads and ordinary customers before the cost allocation fight lands on bills.
GOOGLE, RWE BACK FUSION POWER BET
Reuters
Proxima Fusion's EUR411 million raise is another sign that Big Tech is hunting for future firm power before AI load overwhelms today's grid.
DATA-CENTER HUM HITS MICHIGAN HOME
VICE
A local nuisance fight shows the data-center buildout is not just a power and water story when the noise reaches someone's front yard.
THE CLEAN-ENERGY WIRING PROBLEM
Anthropocene Magazine
Purdue researchers make the case that homes full of solar, batteries, EVs and heat pumps waste energy when everything keeps converting between AC and DC.
Stat of the Day
362
Energy-affordability actions taken so far this year
NCCETC counted actions across 46 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico as electricity prices keep climbing.
Utility Dive ↗