Good morning. Omaha's utility says it has less than 100 MW left for big new customers, and it won't be the last to say so.
Top Stories
OMAHA HAS LESS THAN 100 MW LEFT FOR LARGE PROJECTS
Flatwater Free Press
OPPD says any new or expanding customer needing at least 2 MW could be affected over the next few years. Nearly 2 GW of economic-development projects are active in its queue through 2031 and another 5 GW are on the radar.
PUBLIC OUTCRY KILLS A PHILADELPHIA-AREA DATA CENTER
PennLive
Hanover Development withdrew its plan for a 150,000-square-foot facility on 37 acres in Upper Hanover Township. The application arrived hours before officials restricted data centers to another zoning district and included a challenge to that rule.
TECH MONEY TOPS $500 MILLION AS DATA CENTERS HIT THE AIRWAVES
The Guardian
More than 150 campaign ads now focus on data centers or AI and at least 20 gubernatorial candidates support moratoriums. Tech interests have spent more than $500 million this cycle when Elon Musk's Republican giving is included.
DATA-CENTER BACKLASH PUTS THE AI TRADE AT RISK
Reuters
Investors worry that midterm gains by data-center critics could slow the buildout behind the stock rally. AI infrastructure spending could exceed $1 trillion next year, while 69% of Democratic registered voters and 43% of Republicans support construction limits.
WHITE HOUSE MOVES TO REOPEN FIVE OFFSHORE-WIND PERMITS
Canary Media
Justice asked a federal court to return the 2 GW New England Wind approval to Interior for another review. Similar moves now target Revolution Wind, Maryland Offshore Wind, Atlantic Shores and SouthCoast Wind, threatening bipartisan permitting talks.
Power & Grid
U.S. TAPS A THIRD OF ITS HEATING-OIL RESERVE
Reuters
DOE will offer up to 315,000 barrels from the Northeast reserve after heating oil topped $6.50 a gallon. Borrowers must return the fuel plus a premium, and it is the stockpile's first use aimed specifically at lowering home-heating prices.
FOUR CHANGES COULD CUT GIANT SOLAR COSTS 22%
pv magazine USA
Lightsource bp modeled automated piling, steel-framed panels, bolt-free installation and on-site preassembly. Together they could reduce direct installation costs about 22% and construction time up to 30%, with U.S. and Australian trials planned.
NUCLEAR SUPPORT CROSSES THE AISLE
Reason
Pew found about six in 10 adults favor more nuclear plants, including roughly seven in 10 Republicans and 52% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. The Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan uranium-enrichment bill this month.
SUNZIA'S TWO-DECADE BUILD OFFERS A GRID BLUEPRINT
Vox
The 3.5 GW wind farm and 550-mile transmission line began generating in June after five presidential administrations, a major reroute and an ownership change. More than 900 turbines now send power from New Mexico toward Arizona and California.
POWER SCARCITY DICTATES WHERE DATA CENTERS CAN BUILD
POLITICO
Grid access has become a top siting constraint as developers chase enormous blocks of electricity. Community opposition narrows the map further, leaving the industry with fewer places where power and political support overlap.
Data Centers
META SECRECY FIGHT REACHES A LOUISIANA COURT
The Lens
Earthjustice appealed regulators' decision to block subpoenas for Meta's projected jobs, investment and power demand. Entergy estimates about $3.4 billion of generation costs would remain after Meta's 20-year contract for the Richland Parish campus.
HOUSE BILL WOULD MAKE LARGE DATA CENTERS PAY FULL POWER COSTS
Newsweek
Rep. Eugene Vindman's bill would amend the Federal Power Act so facilities using at least 20 MW cover the incremental cost of serving them. The threshold matches protections in the Senate permitting package moving toward a lame-duck vote.
DAN COX CALLS FOR A MARYLAND DATA-CENTER BAN
DC News Now
The Republican gubernatorial nominee wants an immediate statewide moratorium and permanent ban on new mega facilities. Cox co-sponsored Maryland's data-center tax break in 2020 but says today's projects bear little resemblance to those envisioned then.
THE DATA-CENTER REBELLION IS JUST BEGINNING
The Atlantic
Facilities that once drew little notice now face organized resistance over power bills, water, noise and land. An August Economist/YouGov poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose a data center in their community.
AI MONEY FAILS TO WIN OVER BATTLEGROUND VOTERS
Inc.
Guardrails Action polling found roughly three-quarters of voters in Iowa, Michigan and Ohio would be less likely to back a candidate funded by an AI super PAC. More than one in four might cross party lines for an opponent of AI companies and data-center developers.
Stat of the Day
1 MILLION BARRELS
Size of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve
DOE created it after heating oil prices nearly doubled in the winter of 1999-2000; it holds less than two days of Northeast demand.
GAO ↗