Good morning. Texas Republicans are turning on the data centers they once courted, PG&E is shelving $2 billion of planned work, and a $6 billion power line has cleared federal environmental review. The politics are moving faster than the grid.
Top Stories
TEXAS REPUBLICANS TURN ON THE DATA-CENTER BOOM
Reuters
Less than a year after Gov. Greg Abbott called Texas the “epicenter of AI development,” his reelection campaign is pushing sweeping restrictions. The reversal puts Big Tech on notice in one of its most important growth markets.
JUDGE REJECTS A GAG ORDER OVER GOOGLE'S ARKANSAS POWER DEAL
CNBC
A federal judge refused Entergy Arkansas's bid to block news outlets from reporting on energy documents tied to Google's data center. The utility argued that the material contained trade secrets and protected information.
PG&E SHELVES $2 BILLION AFTER WILDFIRE REFORM COLLAPSES
San Francisco Chronicle
The utility will defer renewable-energy and housing connections equal to about 15% of its planned 2027 investment. PG&E says less borrowing will protect ratepayers; consumer advocates call the move political.
NORTH DAKOTA SOURS ON THE WIND REVENUE IT ONCE WELCOMED
Canary Media
Turbines still deliver tax revenue and substantial payments to farmers, but development has slowed as state and local politics shift against new projects. The fight is turning rural economic benefits into a cultural liability.
CLEAN-ENERGY MONEY TARGETS RHODE ISLAND'S GOVERNOR
Rhode Island Current
A national clean-energy super PAC is campaigning against Gov. Dan McKee in the final days before the September 9 Democratic primary. The spending puts state energy policy into an unusually small and closely watched race.
Power & Grid
A $6 BILLION POWER LINE WOULD CONNECT THREE GRIDS
Canary Media
The 420-mile, 3-GW North Plains Connector would link WECC, SPP and MISO across three time zones. The project has a final federal environmental review, a $700 million DOE grant and a target no earlier than 2032.
13 POWER LINES COULD CREATE $15.3 BILLION IN GRID VALUE
Utility Dive
A study of high-value projects across the Eastern Interconnection puts PJM's share of the benefits at $6.7 billion over 40 years. Its base case produced a 1.77 benefit-cost ratio.
TRUMP GRID ORDER PUTS BATTERY PROJECTS AT RISK
Utility Dive
BloombergNEF expects delays and cancellations as developers navigate restrictions on foreign-made batteries and inverters. China holds 80% of global lithium-ion supply-chain capacity.
NEXTERA PAUSES A POWER-LINE CASE AFTER FIVE ROUTE CHANGES
WDTV
The 77-day pause in West Virginia's MARL case follows warnings that newly affected landowners were denied due process. The proposed schedule reopens limited discovery and pushes the decision deadline to May 22.
HEAT WAVE PUSHES U.S. GRIDS TOWARD THE EDGE
The Independent
Outage risk is rising across a broad swath of the country as intense heat drives electricity demand higher. The stress test arrives while grid operators are already warning about tightening reserves and fast-growing loads.
Data Centers
OPENAI'S GEORGIA DEAL CLEARED WITHOUT A COMMISSIONER VOTE
WJCL / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Georgia Power
PSC staff signed off on Georgia Power's contract for the 3.2-GW Effingham County campus without a direct vote from the commission. OpenAI will cover grid upgrades, owe a minimum bill even if it uses less power than planned and supply up to 1 GW of demand response.
SB ENERGY'S IPO REVEALS A $3.2 BILLION LOSS AND OPENAI RISK
International Business Times
The S-1 says no company data center is operating or producing revenue, and the business is “substantially dependent” on OpenAI. The AI company appears 306 times in the filing.
DEMOCRATS OPEN A NEW FRONT ON DATA-CENTER TAX BREAKS
POLITICO
The party is tying data-center growth to Opportunity Zone benefits expanded by Republicans, turning federal tax policy into a midterm attack line as local opposition rises.
BERNIE, AOC AND BANNON FIND A COMMON ENEMY
The Wall Street Journal
The unlikely coalition is warning about the costs of the AI buildout from opposite ends of American politics. Data centers have become one of the few issues capable of uniting populists on the left and right.
DATA CENTERS CLAIM 5 GWH OF AMERICA'S BATTERY BUILDOUT
Yale Environment 360
Data centers accounted for 5 of nearly 31 GWh installed in the first half and 75% of capacity added at commercial and industrial sites. Analysts expect their battery demand to grow fivefold by 2030.
Stat of the Day
$180
Annual savings Georgia Power now promises typical residential customers by 2029
Up from the $102 it committed to in December, with large-load contracts like OpenAI's cited as the reason.
Georgia Power ↗