Good morning. A startup wants 456 reactors on federal land in Utah, AI's biggest names signed a safety pact with no penalties attached and USDA is in court over rural solar. Big promises, light enforcement.
Top Stories
VALAR PLANS 456 REACTORS FOR A UTAH DATA CENTER
NPR
Valar Atomics' Project Beehive would put a 9.6-GW nuclear and data-center complex, with fuel production and waste storage, on more than 9,000 acres of federal land near Price, Utah. Valar wants its first reactors online in 2028; BLM is still reviewing whether the application is complete.
TRUMP AND AI CEOS SIGN A VOLUNTARY SAFETY PACT
Reuters
Tech leaders including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Anthropic's Dario Amodei agreed to internal controls, outside audits and board oversight for advanced AI systems. The pact has no legal penalties, while Trump again backed rapid data-center expansion.
USDA SUED OVER ITS RURAL SOLAR SHUTDOWN
Utility Dive
Farmers, rural businesses and a solar installer say USDA illegally stopped grants and loans under the Rural Energy for America Program. Internal emails show officials asking communications staff to find support for anti-solar claims after the policy was announced.
LAWMAKERS ASK FERC TO BLOCK THE $33 BILLION AES SALE
Reuters
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers urged federal regulators to reject the power-company acquisition. Their letter argues the deal could raise electricity bills and favor data centers at the expense of utility customers.
NRC WEIGHS A WHOLESALE REWRITE OF NUCLEAR RULES
Canary Media
Proposals would relax radiation-exposure rules and narrow environmental reviews for reactors. NRC estimates one reform package would save the industry up to $22.2 million a year, a modest sum beside plant costs and a potential tradeoff with public confidence.
Power & Grid
DATA CENTERS REMAKE AMEREN'S TWENTY-YEAR PLAN
KSDK
Ameren Missouri projects 2.9 to 3.9 GW of new demand by 2030 and as much as 9 GW by 2045. Its plan adds gas, solar, wind and storage while delaying some coal retirements to serve data centers and other large loads.
$3.5 BILLION PIPELINE DETOURS AROUND A UTILITY MANAGER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Southern Natural Gas moved part of its expansion away from land owned by a Southern Co. plant manager and onto one neighbor's property. The change adds about 1,400 feet and potentially millions of dollars; the developer denies favoritism.
EXUS BUYS 715 MW OF SOLAR IN DATA-CENTER MARKETS
Reuters
Exus acquired four projects in Wisconsin and Louisiana from ibV Energy Partners. The developer plans to build and operate the sites and is discussing power purchases with data-center customers in regions where demand is outrunning supply.
RECORD RENEWABLE GROWTH FACES A 2028 CLIFF
Axios
Wind and solar additions remain at record levels despite the administration's opposition. The industry's largest trade group warns that expiring incentives, tariffs and federal policy could push annual growth sharply lower starting in 2028.
U.S. SOLAR FACTORIES GROW, BUT SUPPLY GAPS REMAIN
PV Tech
The value of module imports fell from $7.6 billion to $1.7 billion in two years as domestic capacity grew. Still, 89% of surveyed firms said some tariff-exposed inputs have no competitively priced U.S. substitute.
Data Centers
AI'S BUILDOUT ENTERS THE SHOW-ME-THE-MONEY PHASE
Axios
Major hyperscalers are on track to spend about $800 billion this year, while Goldman Sachs says they need roughly $300 billion in annual AI revenue to break even. The gap is increasing pressure to prove the infrastructure can pay.
THE DATA-CENTER BACKLASH GOES POPULIST
The Atlantic
Local fights over power bills, water and land are merging into a broader populist backlash. The movement cuts across party lines and is turning data-center siting into a national political problem rather than a collection of zoning disputes.
THE DATA-CENTER PIPELINE MEETS REAL-WORLD LIMITS
Utility Dive
Labor shortages, equipment delays, grid constraints and local opposition are putting even named hyperscaler projects at risk. Developers are turning to self-supplied generation, flexible loads and software that finds unused grid capacity.
DEMOCRATS TURN AI AND DATA-CENTER TAXES INTO CAMPAIGN TOOLS
Bloomberg Law
Democratic candidates are floating new taxes on AI companies and data centers in competitive midterm races. The proposals tie infrastructure growth to voter anger over electricity costs and local tax incentives.
DOMINION CHANGES A ROUTE FOR ITS 765-KV VALLEY LINK
Virginia Mercury
Developers altered one option for the proposed 115-mile line across nine Virginia counties. Louisa County officials still reject the route and want the project ended as new transmission pushes toward Northern Virginia's data-center market.
Stat of the Day
3.4 GW
All new U.S. nuclear capacity switched on since 2000
Three plants in a quarter century. Valar's single Utah proposal calls for nearly three times that.
NPR ↗