Good morning. EPA opened a new lane for off-grid data-center power, PJM advanced a backstop plan for its demand crunch, and Washington is reconsidering where nuclear waste should go. Paperwork with consequences.
Top Stories
EPA SAYS OFF-GRID PLANTS ESCAPE ACID RAIN RULES
The Hill
New guidance says "islanded" plants that never touch the grid fall outside the Clean Air Act's acid rain program, handing behind-the-meter generation a regulatory advantage the agency framed as ratepayer protection.
PJM MOVES AHEAD WITH BACKSTOP POWER PLAN
Reuters
Members advanced a procurement process for supply gaps left by large-load contracts, paired with rules that could force new data centers to bring generation or accept earlier curtailment.
WHITE HOUSE LOOKS BEYOND YUCCA MOUNTAIN
POLITICO
A leaked plan would pursue nuclear-waste storage in willing states, an attempt to break the stalemate created by relying on a single repository that never opened.
THE $7.6 BILLION GRANT FIGHT ESCALATES
Utility Dive
Rep. Rosa DeLauro warned that an OMB proposal would normalize political control of grants, while Rep. Brittany Pettersen led lawmakers demanding the agency withdraw the change.
NEXTERA PUTS A DATE ON THE DOMINION DEAL
Utility Dive
The company expects to close the acquisition in late 2027, with Virginia's first public hearing scheduled for November and $2.25 billion in shareholder-funded customer credits on offer.
Power & Grid
PJM WANTS A DATA-CENTER CURTAILMENT REGISTRY WITH TEETH
E&E News
The country's largest grid operator wants a firmer accounting of data centers and other major users that promise to cut consumption during shortages, turning voluntary demand response into something it can plan around.
REGULATORS TAKE AIM AT UTILITY PROFITS
Utility Dive
Maryland's Pepco rate case is becoming a test of whether states will cut authorized returns as higher bills turn utility profitability into an affordability fight.
RENEWABLE DEVELOPERS SAY PJM'S NEW RULES TILT FOSSIL
KYW Newsradio
Clean-energy advocates say requiring capacity sellers to post more financial security will make market access harder for renewable projects and favor established fossil generators, a charge PJM disputes.
COPPER THEFT HITS THE SOLAR BUILDOUT
pv magazine USA
Remote projects are increasingly exposed to equipment and copper theft as construction accelerates, a rising cost the industry is absorbing while solar output keeps climbing past coal.
THE RATEPAYER BILL GETS A WARNING FROM THE RIGHT
Washington Examiner
A conservative advocate argues that Republicans' unanimous committee vote legitimized calls for broader data-center restrictions, showing the political coalition around cost protection may not hold.
Data Centers
DATA CENTERS LAND IN A SWING-DISTRICT ATTACK AD
Associated Press
Democrat Paige Cognetti is targeting secrecy, tax breaks, power bills and water impacts in her challenge to Rep. Rob Bresnahan, pushing local backlash into a nationally watched House race.
META PAYS MORE TO FINANCE ITS TEXAS CAMPUS
The Wall Street Journal
A financing tied to Meta's Texas data-center project priced at a higher interest rate than a comparable deal last year, evidence that capital costs are rising with the scale of the AI buildout.
TEXAS DATA-CENTER BACKLASH REACHES ABBOTT
Houston Chronicle
Opponents from both parties are pressing the governor to call a special session as power, water and land-use fights spread through rural communities.
DATA-CENTER OPPONENTS MEET THE BUILDING TRADES
Newsweek
Construction unions are defending the jobs created by new campuses while environmental and community groups organize against them, splitting a political coalition that often fights on the same side.
CHINA BUILDS AI LOAD AROUND CLEAN POWER
Fast Company
An Inner Mongolia data center is paired with 200 MW of wind, 100 MW of solar and 45 MW of batteries, making generation part of the campus design instead of a later grid problem.
Stat of the Day
$12.5B
Financing tied to Meta's Texas data-center project
It priced above a comparable deal last year, the clearest sign yet that lenders are repricing the risk in AI infrastructure.
The Wall Street Journal ↗