Denver / Cheyenne / Charlotte / Cave City / PJM compliance

Today is the single highest-density 'moratorium decision day' of 2026 so far. Four municipal-level decisions in geographically distinct markets (Mountain West urban, Sun Belt urban, central Kentucky rural, Mountain West regional capital) plus a structurally important PJM compliance filing at the federal level. Each has different stakes. Denver: the moratorium would be the first 1-year freeze in a top-50 US metro on data-center new construction, effective May 21 if approved. The Elyria-Swansea organizing is environmental-justice-framed (the neighborhood is historically Latino, sits in a known air-quality hot zone, and the existing data-center site is a 200-acre former industrial parcel adjacent to I-70 and the National Western Center). Press conferences are scheduled outside City Hall starting today before the vote. Cheyenne: the Public Services Committee meeting today is the staff-and-committee review step before the formal second reading on May 26. The procedural rule for Cheyenne is that the Public Services Committee reviews and recommends, then the full council does the second reading + final vote two weeks later. If the committee recommends 'do pass,' the May 26 vote is near-certain to ratify; if 'do not pass,' the vote becomes politically uncertain. Wyoming municipalities derive zoning authority from Title 15, Chapter 1 — the legal-soundness challenge from one council member (per the May 11 first-reading record) will likely surface at today's committee discussion. Charlotte: two separate items — the American Tower zoning petition is the immediate decision (vote today), and the broader moratorium is on a longer timeline (public hearing May 26, vote June 8). The American Tower facility is small by hyperscale standards (40,000 sq ft, likely <20 MW) but is the proximate cause of the moratorium organizing — the petition has nearly 5,000 signatures and the framing is power-bill, water, and air-pollution. Charlotte's mayor (Vi Lyles) cast the deciding vote two weeks ago to send the moratorium to the council debate, and her position on the American Tower zoning petition specifically is the key vote-count signal. Cave City: smallest jurisdiction (population ~2,200), first central-Kentucky moratorium — the council is voting on a 1-year freeze on IT-infrastructure applications, no specific developer publicly named. Cave City is in Barren County between Bowling Green and Mammoth Cave National Park. PJM compliance filing: this is the PJM response to FERC Docket EL26-XX where FERC on April 16 partially rejected PJM's prior colocation-compliance filing — the new filing addresses how co-located customers can access provisional interconnection, request service below nameplate capacity, and accelerate the interconnection process. The procedural posture means FERC will hold a comment period after PJM files (likely 30-60 days), then act on the revised compliance proposal — this fits the FERC June timeline already reported for the broader DOE/FERC interconnection-reform proceeding. Sources: 9news.com 'Denver City Council to vote on data center moratorium as Elyria-Swansea neighborhood fights new facility'; CBS Colorado 'Denver residents push for data center regulations ahead of temporary moratorium city council vote'; Yellow Scene Magazine 'Residents and Community Groups to Hold Press Conference Ahead of Denver Data Center Moratorium Vote' (May 17); The Denver Gazette 'Denver gets closer to imposing data center moratorium'; Cap City News (Cheyenne) 'Cheyenne data center pause, final plats up for Public Services Committee discussion today' (May 18); Wyoming Public Media 'Wyoming's capital city considers pause for new data centers' (May 14); WBTV 'Charlotte City Council to finally debate data centers freeze' (May 11); Axios Charlotte 'Charlotte City Council debates data center pause amid building boom' (May 8); Govtech 'Charlotte, N.C., Mayor's Vote Chills Data Center Moratorium'; WCLU Radio 'Data center moratorium proposal heads to Cave City council vote' (May 14); Utility Dive 'FERC tees up June decision on data center interconnection reform.'

Primary source · 9news / CBS Colorado / Yellow Scene / Denver Gazette / Cap City News / Wyoming Public Media / WBTV / Axios Charlotte / Govtech / WCLU Radio / Utility Dive ↗