Good morning. Virginia's governor has entered a $67 billion utility fight, Arkansas communities are boxed in by state limits on data-center bans, and another offshore wind developer is cashing out of its American leases. Who gets to say no is turning into the week's real question.
Top Stories
SPANBERGER ENTERS THE $67 BILLION DOMINION-NEXTERA FIGHT
The Washington Post
Virginia's governor formally sought party status in the SCC case, citing weak protections for workers and ratepayers and preserving her option to challenge the world's largest regulated utility deal in court.
ARKANSAS LAW BOXES IN COMMUNITIES FACING TWO DATA-CENTER GIANTS
The Guardian
Google plans a $1 billion Little Rock campus while Avaio proposes a $6 billion facility nearby, but a 2023 state law prevents local governments from banning either project.
RWE TAKES $1.22 BILLION TO ABANDON ITS U.S. OFFSHORE LEASES
Los Angeles Times
The German developer is relinquishing roughly 7 GW of planned capacity off New York, California and Louisiana, leaving it with no remaining American offshore wind holdings.
TRUMP SIGNS POLYSILICON TRADE ORDER AIMED AT CHINA
Reuters
The signed action advances tariffs and a price floor for the solar and semiconductor input, converting a plan reported days earlier into formal White House policy.
TUBERVILLE TELLS ALABAMA POWER TO EXTEND ITS RATE FREEZE
AL.com
The senator is pressing the state's dominant utility to keep bills frozen as electricity affordability becomes a sharper political issue across the South.
Power & Grid
REVOLUTION WIND INSTALLS 60 OF 65 TURBINES
Hartford Courant
The $6.2 billion project is producing power and on track to finish this year under 20-year contracts serving 350,000 homes and businesses, though former partner Eversource has booked $239 million in charges from the federal stop-work orders.
COURT ORDERS PENTAGON TO RESTART WIND-PERMIT REVIEWS
Canary Media
Judge Karin Immergut ordered Defense officials to resume the onshore wind reviews developers need before securing FAA approvals, days after signaling the freeze had likely broken the law.
ARKANSAS PANEL SAYS NEW REACTORS NEED GOVERNMENT BACKING
Arkansas Advocate
Experts told state lawmakers that new nuclear generation is technically feasible, but public support will be needed to absorb the financing and development risk.
VIDEO GAMERS HELP FINANCE A 110 MW TEXAS SOLAR PROJECT
Utility Dive
Gaming-sector power buyers gave the project a financing lift, showing how corporate demand is supporting new generation beyond the usual hyperscaler contracts.
ONE-MILE-DEEP REACTOR CLEARS DOE PILOT SAFETY REVIEW
Interesting Engineering
Deep Fission's underground reactor concept advanced within DOE's pilot program, though the safety review is an early federal milestone rather than NRC approval to construct a commercial plant.
Data Centers
WISCONSIN REGULATORS DEAL A BLOW TO DATA-CENTER POWER LINE
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The PSC found the transmission application for the proposed Port Washington Oracle and OpenAI campus incomplete, forcing sponsors to fill gaps before the review can move forward.
BESHEAR MOVES TO REIN IN KENTUCKY'S DATA-CENTER BOOM
Lexington Herald-Leader
The governor is tightening the state's posture toward developers as a rapidly expanding project pipeline raises new questions over power, water and public incentives.
RAMASWAMY WANTS NEW DATA CENTERS TO PAY RESIDENTS' ELECTRIC BILLS
Cleveland.com
The Ohio gubernatorial candidate would route payments from new facilities straight to households, going further than rivals who want only to keep costs off ratepayers.
TEXAS PAUSE PUTS 20% OF U.S. DATA-CENTER PIPELINE AT RISK
Utility Dive
BloombergNEF says the longer Abbott's audit blocks interconnections, the greater the delay risk for a fifth of the national development pipeline.
MAP SHOWS WHERE TEXAS' DATA-CENTER QUEUE HITS GRID BOTTLENECKS
Newsweek
Red Oak, the $1.1 billion Veale Ranch proposal and Stargate sit among the projects mapped against regions where utilities forecast large-load demand climbing from about 5 GW this year to 109 GW by 2032.
Stat of the Day
$4 BILLION
Total paid to developers to abandon U.S. offshore wind leases
RWE's settlement is the third major buyback this summer, following Invenergy in June and Duke in July.
Associated Press ↗