THE DAILY MINE ⛏️

PJM WHOLESALE COSTS SURGE 54%... MONITOR BLAMES DATA CENTERS
Utility Dive

Capacity costs up 262%. The market monitor says data centers are responsible for 63% of the price spike — and it's not reversible.

NRDC DROPS DECADES OF NUCLEAR OPPOSITION... AI NEEDS THE WATTS
Axios

One of America's most powerful environmental groups just endorsed nuclear power. The AI electricity crunch is rewriting the green playbook.

DATA CENTERS NOW A MIDTERM CAMPAIGN ISSUE
The Hill

Ads in Texas primaries, Georgia gubernatorial race, North Carolina county commissioner fights. Both parties running against data center tax breaks.

META EYES 15,000 LAYOFFS TO FEED THE AI MACHINE
Business Insider

20% workforce cut to fund $135B in 2026 capex. Zuckerberg is cannibalizing his own company to build data centers.

DOE DROPS $1.9B ON GRID UPGRADES — 'SPARK' PROGRAM LAUNCHES
Utility Dive

Biden's GRIP program rebranded but the money's still flowing. Reconductoring existing lines is the cheapest path to more capacity.

24.3 GW OF BATTERY STORAGE COMING IN 2026... TEXAS LEADS WITH 13 GW
ESS News / EIA

Record-shattering year. Texas alone is adding more battery storage than the entire U.S. installed in 2024.

VINEYARD WIND COMPLETE: FIRST OFFSHORE WIND FARM FINISHED UNDER TRUMP
AP News

62 turbines, 800 MW, powering 400,000 homes off Martha's Vineyard. Trump tried to stop it. Federal judges said no. Revolution Wind now sending power too.

CLEAN ENERGY REGAINS SWAGGER AS WARTIME OIL HEDGE
The Daily Upside

Strait of Hormuz sealed, oil at $100/bbl. Solar install quotes up 17%. The national security case for clean energy just got very real.

BPA DITCHES CAISO'S MARKET FOR SPP'S MARKETS+
RTO Insider

Bonneville exits WEIM Oct 2027, joins Markets+ by Oct 2028. The Western grid market war just got real.

ATLAS ENERGY LOCKS IN $840M IN GAS GENERATORS FROM CATERPILLAR
Utility Dive

1.4 GW of behind-the-meter gas capacity. The "build your own power plant" trend is accelerating.

NEBIUS SIGNS $27B DEAL WITH META — NEOCLOUD ARMS RACE HEATS UP
Reuters

$12B guaranteed by 2027, up to $15B more over five years. Nvidia just took an 8.3% stake. The neoclouds are becoming the new hyperscalers.

AMAZON BETS $12B ON LOUISIANA DATA CENTER CAMPUS
Amazon / Construction Dive

Caddo and Bossier Parishes. 540 jobs, $400M in water infrastructure. SWEPCO provides the power. Construction starts in weeks.

LS POWER PLANS 300 MW BEHIND-THE-METER CAMPUS NEAR RICHMOND
Data Center Dynamics

Five 60 MW buildings on 205 acres in Ashland, VA. Power from their own Doswell gas plant. The behind-the-meter model keeps spreading.

CRUSOE GOES MODULAR: 'SPARK FACTORY' TO BUILD 100 AI DATA CENTERS/YEAR
Forbes

$200M factory in Colorado, 1 MW shipping-container-sized units. First deliveries summer 2026. Edge AI in a box.

UTILITIES SCRAMBLE TO CONNECT 39 GW OF DATA CENTER LOAD
Data Center Dynamics / EEI

EEI survey of investor-owned utilities. 39 GW is roughly 40 nuclear reactors' worth of demand waiting in the queue.