Good morning. October arrived carrying a $200 billion promise, a stalled power auction and one very expensive merger fight.
Top Stories
SOUTH KOREA FLOATS A $200 BILLION U.S. ENERGY BET
The Hill
The package of up to $200 billion could put $50 billion to $54 billion into Alaska LNG, $22.3 billion into a 6-GW Texas gas complex for AI data centers and up to $120 billion into eight nuclear reactors. Seoul says its Alaska LNG participation still depends on a commercial and legal review.
PJM DELAYS A 6.8-GW AUCTION AFTER FERC REBUKE
Utility Dive
PJM postponed its reliability backstop after regulators questioned who would pay and how much collateral load-serving entities would post. FERC Chair Laura Swett called it "a deeply flawed, eleventh-hour procurement mechanism with billion-dollar implications for consumers."
SENATORS STRIKE A SWEEPING PERMITTING DEAL
PBS NewsHour / AP
Four committee leaders agreed on a 417-page package that would accelerate environmental reviews, expand FERC authority over interstate transmission and make data centers cover associated transmission costs. A vote is not expected before the midterms.
LAWMAKERS TARGET NEXTERA'S $67 BILLION DOMINION DEAL
CBS News
Elizabeth Warren and 11 other Democrats asked FERC to scrutinize or block the merger over rates, grid investment and market power. The combined utility would serve about 10 million customers and own every nuclear plant in New England.
AMAZON BACKS A $3 BILLION NUCLEAR EXPANSION
The Wall Street Journal
A 20-year agreement with Constellation supports upgrades expected to add about 190 MW at Maryland's Calvert Cliffs plant. The deal follows Amazon's withdrawal of a proposed data-center campus next door; the added power will flow into PJM.
Power & Grid
META'S NEW SOLAR DEAL IS DWARFED BY PLANNED GAS
Inside Climate News
Meta signed for 144 MW from a Texas solar project due in 2027. That is less than half the 366-MW gas plant El Paso Electric wants to build exclusively for Meta's 1-GW data center during its first five years.
DATA CENTER GENERATORS RAN A COMBINED 46,000 HOURS WITHOUT PERMITS
The Guardian / Floodlight
A Rutgers researcher estimates DataOne's 62 generators in Vineland, New Jersey, emitted about 140 tons of nitrogen oxides. The Microsoft-linked facility could emit more than 1,500 tons a year at full use, nearly twice what the state's largest NOx emitter is allowed to release.
SENATE BLOCKS HUSTED-LED DATA-CENTER COST BILL
The Hill
Democrats stopped the Ratepayer Protection Act on a 57-43 procedural vote. The House-passed bill would only require states and some utilities to consider making data centers cover the costs they create; the fight is stalled until November at the earliest.
TEXAS PERMIT FREEZE THREATENS CHEVRON'S MICROSOFT POWER PROJECT
Semafor
Chevron's final decision on Project Kilby could slip into 2027 after Gov. Greg Abbott halted new data-center permits. The West Texas project would use on-site gas turbines to supply 2.67 GW to Microsoft, with first power still targeted for 2028.
DEMOCRATS PRESS INTERIOR ON SECRETIVE PUBLIC-LAND PROJECTS
Wyoming Public Media
House lawmakers asked Interior to disclose possible data-center proposals across six Western states and explain how communities will get a voice. They want answers by October 8 and Rep. Dina Titus is pushing a bill to require NEPA review for data centers on public land.
Data Centers
MIKE JOHNSON CALLS DATA-CENTER OPPOSITION A "CHINESE PSYOP"
The Center Square
The House speaker dismissed claims that data centers hurt communities while telling developers to address power bills, water use and local trust. The remark lands as candidates in both parties scramble to answer voter anger before November.
WES MOORE PIVOTS FROM DATA-CENTER BOOSTER TO BRAKE PEDAL
The Baltimore Banner
Maryland's governor says he would sign a statewide pause next year and wants the industry's sales tax exemption repealed. That reverses a record of easing generator reviews, defending the tax break and, through his Commerce Department, opposing tighter reporting rules.
NEW TRACKER MAPS THE DATA-CENTER RUSH, FLAGS PUBLIC-LAND SITES
Outdoor Life
The tool catalogs 2,173 facilities across 49 states and says communities have stopped 568. Separate reporting identifies at least a dozen proposals that could affect 17,600 acres of Western public land.
OHIO REPUBLICANS BLOCK A BROADER DATA-CENTER RELIEF PUSH
Signal Cleveland
Lawmakers returned to pass a 90-day gas-tax holiday, but Republican leaders used procedural moves to block Democratic amendments on data centers, utility costs and property taxes.
GUILFORD COUNTY WEIGHS A 180-DAY DATA-CENTER PAUSE
WFMY News 2
Commissioners scheduled an October 15 hearing on a moratorium of up to 180 days while planners write specific rules. Greensboro already paused projects above 10 MW through February as North Carolina localities race to build guardrails.
Stat of the Day
$2 billion
Collateral one Virginia co-op estimated it would have to post under PJM's backstop plan
Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative's estimate, cited in FERC's order, shows why regulators questioned who would carry the auction's risk.
Utility Dive ↗