Good morning. America's appetite for power is breaking records. The bill is arriving right behind it.
Top Stories
AI PUSHES U.S. POWER USE TO BACK-TO-BACK RECORDS
Reuters
EIA expects electricity demand to rise from 4,195 billion kWh in 2025 to 4,288 billion this year and 4,356 billion in 2027. Average wholesale prices are forecast to climb 11% to $52 per MWh, with the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest PJM region leading the increase.
THE MIDWEST'S CHEAP-POWER ERA IS STARTING TO CRACK
Nebraska Public Media / Midwest Newsroom
Utilities sought $18.6 billion in rate increases nationwide in the first half of this year, including about $2.7 billion affecting more than 14 million Midwestern customers. Among Midwestern respondents to a PowerLines-Ipsos poll, 73% noticed higher bills, 82% felt powerless over utility charges and 62% said those bills added financial stress.
MARYLAND SELECTS 440 MW OF STORAGE FOR SEVEN CENTS A MONTH
Utility Dive
The state's first conditional bulk-storage awards cover a 400-MW project at Chalk Point and a 40-MW project on a reclaimed coal mine, and both still need construction approval. The 15-year awards add 6.98 cents to an average monthly residential bill, but the round fell well short of its 800-MW target as PJM faces a 6.8-GW capacity gap for 2028-29.
A 1-GW DATA CENTER AND GAS PLANT ARE PITCHED FOR A PENNSYLVANIA LANDFILL
Pittsburgh's Public Source
A developer is pitching 11 to 28 two-story data-center buildings on 549 acres at a former landfill in Allegheny County's Elizabeth Township, near the Youghiogheny River. One version totals 3.7 million square feet; the developer claims $125 million in annual local tax revenue, but no formal plans, permits or end user exist yet.
WISCONSIN VOTERS SOUR ON DATA CENTERS. NEITHER CANDIDATE BACKS A PAUSE.
The Cap Times
A Marquette Law School poll found 74% of Wisconsin voters say data-center costs outweigh the benefits, including 57% of Republicans, 83% of independents and 90% of Democrats. Yet both major gubernatorial candidates oppose a statewide moratorium and favor local control, leaving directly affected residents demanding tougher safeguards.
Power & Grid
ALABAMA LETS DATA-CENTER POWER CONTRACTS WIN APPROVAL BY DEFAULT
Alabama Daily News
The Public Service Commission unanimously adopted a procedure under which Alabama Power's contracts with data centers of 150 MW or more are approved automatically if commissioners do not vote within 90 days. An administrative law judge had recommended requiring a vote on every contract. Alabama Power has 10 days to file a compliant tariff.
MISSOURI'S NEW ENERGY PLAN PUTS NUCLEAR FIRST
KBIA
The state plan names nuclear its top priority as AI data centers drive demand and old plants retire. Replacing retiring plants and meeting projected demand would require producing 2.6 times more energy than Missouri does now, the plan says, and relying on imports risks higher bills. It asks lawmakers to designate priority energy zones at brownfields and former plant sites.
EVERSOURCE PUTS CONNECTICUT'S SOLAR PROCUREMENT IN LIMBO
Canary Media
The utility declined in March to sign three contracts for its 54-MW share of a regional solar procurement, citing affordability and the lack of a durable state clean-energy strategy, though it says talks continue. State officials projected the projects would save ratepayers up to $80 million.
XCEL ASKS TEXAS TO MAKE DATA CENTERS PAY FOR THEIR GRID UPGRADES
All Ag News
Xcel Energy wants Texas regulators to approve a large-load tariff requiring big users to pay for the transmission, substations, interconnection upgrades and new generation needed to serve them. Customers would typically commit for at least 15 years and post financial security, and Xcel expects to seek a similar tariff in New Mexico.
HEATING-OIL BILLS COULD JUMP 31% THIS WINTER
TIME
The National Energy Assistance Directors Association projects home-energy costs will rise 8.7% this winter, more than twice the latest inflation rate, while heating-oil costs climb more than 31%. Nearly 5 million U.S. households, concentrated in the Northeast, depend on heating oil.
Data Centers
SAN FRANCISCO HITS PAUSE ON EVERY NEW DATA CENTER
Mission Local
A 45-day citywide moratorium took effect immediately while planners study water, power, air-quality and neighborhood impacts. It stops NOVVA's planned expansion from 9 MW to 36 MW and a proposed 160,000-square-foot Dogpatch facility; the pause could stretch to 22 months or become permanent controls.
A STARTUP SAYS DATA-CENTER WASTE HEAT CAN PULL WATER FROM AIR
WIRED
Atoco's metal-organic frameworks pull moisture from air with humidity in the teens and release it using waste heat as low as 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Its prototype makes up to 300 liters a day using simulated heat from a 20-kW data center, not a live facility; a planned commercial unit targets 1,000 liters.
AI COMPANIES BUILD A MARKET FOR STRANDED COMPUTING POWER
Axios
A coalition of startups, cloud providers, researchers and investors launched a National Compute Grid to pool unused AI capacity. The bet is that matching idle chips with startups and researchers can ease the supply crunch without waiting for another round of multibillion-dollar data centers.
LOUDOUN BACKS OFF A DATA-CENTER CRACKDOWN OVER UP TO $60 MILLION IN LEGAL RISK
DC News Now
Supervisors tabled a proposal to end grandfathered status for projects already in the pipeline, along with a $200,000 outside audit offered as the alternative, after staff warned lawsuits could cost the county $45 million to $60 million. Staff also cautioned that the litigation would have to be disclosed to bond rating agencies.
CHARLESTON BANS DATA CENTERS AND GRID BATTERIES FOR A YEAR
WCIA
The Illinois city unanimously paused new data centers and battery energy storage systems through October 2027. Officials want time to study effects on electricity, water and public safety before writing permanent rules; small residential storage systems are exempt.
Stat of the Day
41%
EIA's projected 2026 increase in PJM wholesale electricity prices
EIA expects PJM prices to ease 7% in 2027, while Pacific Northwest prices drop 23% this year.
Reuters ↗