Good morning. The data-center boom has moved from promise to plumbing: permits, transformers, transmission loans, water tradeoffs and rate cases are where the story is now.
Top Stories
DATA-CENTER BOOM STRAINS GRID EQUIPMENT
Reuters
AI load is making transformer and grid-equipment shortages worse, pushing utilities and developers to reserve scarce hardware years ahead.
DATA CENTERS SKIP WATER PERMITS AFTER COURT RULING
Politico
The narrowed Clean Water Act is helping projects avoid or streamline wetlands reviews, cutting out one of the few public pressure points.
DOE CLOSES $3.26B TEXAS GRID LOAN
Washington Examiner
AEP Texas gets federal financing to upgrade thousands of transmission lines as data-center load turns into a bankable grid-expansion case.
NEW JERSEY TIES DATA CENTERS TO RATEPAYER RELIEF
Utility Dive
New laws target transmission returns, data-center tariffs and state review of supplemental projects as affordability politics harden.
PERMITTING BOTTLENECKS HIT ENERGY BUILDOUT
Semafor
JP Morgan says the problem is most acute in the U.S., where infrastructure timelines are colliding with load growth and capital plans.
Power & Grid
INDIANA RATE HIKE GETS A SECOND LOOK
WTHR
Gov. Mike Braun's pressure campaign pushed Indiana's consumer advocate to seek rehearing of AES Indiana's $71 million rate increase.
ARIZONA SCRAPS UTILITY EFFICIENCY RULES
E&E News
Regulators ended electric-efficiency standards, saying old demand-cutting rules no longer fit a state chasing factories and data centers.
NRC MOVES TO NARROW REACTOR REVIEWS
Reuters
The nuclear regulator is proposing tighter environmental review scope for new and renewed reactors, another front in the energy-permitting push.
COMED VPP CLEARED FOR HEAT-WAVE DISPATCH
Utility Dive
Illinois regulators approved a small-battery virtual power plant meant to discharge during grid stress like the early-July PJM load spike.
WHOLESALE POWER DIP MAY NOT REACH FAMILIES
Utility Dive
EIA expects summer wholesale prices to fall 8%, but extreme heat could erase the savings before customers feel them.
Data Centers
DATA-CENTER PROTESTS SET FOR JULY 18
Newsweek
Organizers are planning a wave of protests as local fights over utility costs, water, noise and land use go national.
AI COOLING'S NO-WIN WATER OR POWER CHOICE
E&E News
Next-generation chip cooling is forcing operators toward either big water use or big electricity use, and both are drawing opposition.
AALO ATOMICS EXPANDS AFTER REACTOR MILESTONE
Austin American-Statesman
The Austin reactor startup says it will expand manufacturing 25-fold after reaching criticality at Idaho, with AI data-center power in view.
MICHIGAN TOLD TO JUDGE DATA CENTERS CASE BY CASE
Michigan Advance
Researchers warn hyperscale projects can help local tax bases but rarely deliver broad tech clusters or many permanent jobs.
DATA CENTERS KEEP CONSTRUCTION GROWING
Engineering News-Record
Contractors told ABC's economist data centers now account for 35% of their work, up from 5% just a few years ago.
Stat of the Day
50+
Cities planning data-center protests on July 18
The backlash is scaling from scattered zoning fights into a coordinated national day of action.
Newsweek ↗