Plain-English background on why the PJM 2028/29 auction closing today matters more than a routine capacity procurement. PJM Interconnection operates the regional grid across 13 states and DC (roughly PA/NJ/MD/DE/VA/WV/OH/IL/IN/KY/NC/TN/MI and DC) — 65 million...
PJM Inside Lines — PJM Capacity Auction for 2028/2029 Delivery Year Opens (Jun 30 2026) + PJM Inside Lines — The Capacity Auction Is Coming. Here's What We're Doing Now + PA Environment Digest — FERC Approves Extension Of PJM Capacity Auction Price Cap Floor For Next 2 Auctions (Apr 30 2026) + PJM 2027/2028 Base Residual Auction Report (Dec 17 2025) + Enel North America — PJM 2027/2028 Capacity Auction Results + ESAI Power — PJM Capacity Auction Calendar ↗
ERCOTPJMFERCVirginiaMoratoriumInterconnectionCapacity market
Read why it matters →Plain-English background on why the Prince George's vote today matters as more than a local ordinance. Prince George's County is the second-largest county in Maryland by population (~955k residents), immediately east of Washington DC. It sits inside the PJM...
WUSA9 — Prince George's County debates 2-year data center development moratorium + WJLA — Data center protest held in Prince George's County as council considers 2-year moratorium + NBC4 Washington — Local Maryland governments pause data center development + Prince George's Suite — Data Centers On Hold + The Cool Down — Maryland anti-data-center rally draws counterprotesters before moratorium vote + Baltimore Banner — Prince George's County data centers may hinge on Election Day + Maryland Daily Record — Western MD county approves data center moratorium ↗
ERCOTPJMFERCVirginiaMoratoriumAir permitInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English background on why 'statewide' and '1 MW threshold' are the two most important words in this item. Until this week, every US data center moratorium was either a county ordinance (Linn IA, Washington MD, Prince George's MD, Whitley IN, Clark IN,...
Source New Mexico — New Mexico lawmakers announce proposed statewide moratorium on data centers (Jul 3 2026) + Santa Fe New Mexican — Santa Fe County approves 18-month data center moratorium + KRQE — Santa Fe County commissioners approve 18-month moratorium on data centers + KOB — Santa Fe County approves 18-month moratorium on data center development + Albuquerque Journal — Santa Fe County becomes latest New Mexico community to adopt data center moratorium + Los Alamos Daily Post — State Lawmakers To Introduce Data Center Moratorium In Upcoming Legislative Session + Santa Fe New Mexican — Four New Mexico lawmakers plan to propose statewide data center moratorium ↗
ERCOTVirginiaIllinoisMoratoriumInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Plain-English background on why ballot-initiative bans are structurally different from council-enacted moratoriums. A city council ordinance can be reversed by a subsequent city council vote (typically 3 of 5 or 4 of 7 depending on the city). A...
Ballotpedia — Monterey Park California Measure NDC Prohibit Data Centers Measure (June 2026) + Broadband Breakfast — Monterey Park Votes to Permanently Ban Data Centers + ABC7 Los Angeles — Monterey Park voters approve Measure NDC banning power-hungry data centers within city limits + Fox Business — California city votes to permanently ban data centers in first-of-its-kind measure + LA Public Press — Monterey Park overwhelmingly votes to ban data centers + City of Monterey Park — June 2 2026 Special Municipal Election page + Data Center Knowledge — California City Approves First Voter-Enacted Data Center Ban ↗
VirginiaColoradoArizonaOregonMoratoriumRatepayer protectionBallot initiative
Read why it matters →Plain-English background on why this lawsuit matters more than a single facility dispute. Multiple states have enacted or are enacting 'ratepayer protection' rules for hyperscaler-scale customers in 2025-2026: Virginia's SCC rate class (approved Nov 2025,...
Wisconsin Law Journal — Oracle sues PSC over Wisconsin data center rules (Jun 24 2026) + Wisconsin Public Radio — Oracle sues Wisconsin utility regulators over financial requirements for data centers + WisPolitics — Oracle sues PSC seeking to relax data center rules + Freeman/Waukesha Business — Oracle sues over $100M PSC ruling on data center tariffs + Ozaukee Press — Oracle files suit in county over PSC rate decision + TMJ4 — Port Washington neighbors push back on Oracle lawsuit + Latitude Media — Does Oracle actually have a case against Wisconsin's data center rule? ↗
ERCOTPJMFERCTexasInterconnectionRatepayer protectionFERC action
Read why it matters →Plain-English background on what got killed and why it matters. Digital Gateway was the planned largest data center campus in the world by every dimension. Location: 2,100 acres of former farmland immediately east of Manassas National Battlefield Park in...
Washington Times — Company kills plan for world's largest data center hub near Manassas National Battlefield Park (Jul 3 2026) + Bloomberg — Blackstone's QTS Abandons Massive Data Center in Virginia (Jul 2 2026) + Potomac Local — QTS Withdraws Supreme Court Appeal, Ending Proposed Digital Gateway Data Center Project (Jul 3 2026) + FOX 5 DC — QTS drops appeal, ending plans for massive Prince William County data center + Tom's Hardware — Blackstone-owned QTS abandons planned world's largest data center campus after years of lawsuits — 2,100-acre Virginia Digital Gateway project dies over a newspaper-notice technicality + National Parks Conservation Association — Victory for Manassas: Proposed Massive Data Center Digital Gateway Threat Ends + InsideNova — Digital Gateway data center project in Prince William dies ↗
VirginiaMoratoriumAir permitRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English background on why the four operational-track deadlines all matter this month. Each of these deadlines drives a specific action by developers, hyperscalers, or state parties, and each represents a concrete moment where Cliff can produce a...
ERCOT — Large Load Integration Page + PJM Inside Lines — PJM Capacity Auction for 2028/2029 Delivery Year Opens (Jun 30 2026) + PJM — 2028/2029 Base Residual Auction Documents (Jun 30 2026) + Utility Dive — Maryland lawmakers back data center transmission cost complaint at FERC + Utility Dive — FERC extends comment deadline on PJM data center transmission complaint + Greenberg Traurig — New York Legislature Passes Data Center Moratorium; Bill Awaits Governor's Approval + Harris Beach Murtha — New York State Legislature Passes First-in-the-Nation Data Center Moratorium ↗
ERCOTPJMMISOCAISOMoratoriumInterconnectionCapacity market
Read why it matters →Plain-English background. Illinois is a 'blue trifecta' state — Democratic governor, Democratic-majority state Senate, Democratic-majority state House. The Democratic coalition in Illinois has three major internal constituencies: (a) organized labor,...
Capitol News Illinois — Gov. JB Pritzker Suspends Tax Breaks for Data Centers, Urging More Discussion + The Hill — Pritzker Pauses Data Center Tax Incentives in Illinois + E&E News — Pritzker Hits Pause on Illinois Data Center Subsidies + American Public Power Association — Illinois Governor Pauses New Data Center Tax Incentives + Union Bulletin — Gov. JB Pritzker Pauses Tax Incentives for Data Centers After Regulation Efforts Stall in Illinois Legislature + Illinois Governor's Newsroom — Gov. Pritzker Pauses New Data Center Tax Incentives (Jun 30 2026) ↗
ERCOTPJMVirginiaOhioMoratoriumInterconnectionRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English background on the operational track. Yesterday's newsletter covered the regulatory calendar (VA tax, IL DCIP freeze, FL SB 484, Trump EO 14318, PJM auction open, ERCOT Batch Zero deadlines, Abbott Texas memo). Today's operational read is about...
ERCOT — Large Load Integration Page + ERCOT Market Notice M-B062326-01 Implementation of the Batch Zero Process + ERCOT Trending Topic New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity Users (Jun 18 2026 PDF) + EPE Consulting — New Pathway and Deadlines in ERCOT's Large Load Batch Zero PCLR + Willkie Farr & Gallagher — ERCOT Approves Implementing New Batch Zero Process for Large Load Interconnections + Foley & Lardner — ERCOT's Proposed Batch Zero Process What Developers of Large Loads Need to Know + Microsoft Source — Microsoft Completes Construction on First Datacenter Facility in Mount Pleasant Wisconsin (Jun 23 2026) + WEDC — Gov. Evers Microsoft Officials Announce New $4 Billion Investment in Mount Pleasant Datacenter ↗
ERCOTPJMMISOTexasMoratoriumInterconnectionHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Plain-English background. Four separate regulatory clocks all reach 12:01 AM Wednesday July 1, 2026 at the same instant. Three are state-level and point toward friction — they increase cost or reduce access for hyperscalers building in that state. One is...
Greenberg Traurig — Virginia Legislature Approves Tax on Data Center Electricity Consumption (Jun 2026) + Data Center Knowledge — Virginia Approves First-Ever Data Center Power Tax + Illinois Governor's Newsroom — Gov. Pritzker Pauses New Data Center Tax Incentives + Capitol News Illinois — Gov. JB Pritzker to Suspend Tax Breaks for Data Centers, Urging More Discussion + The Hill — Pritzker Pauses Data Center Tax Incentives in Illinois + MultiState — State Data Center Policy Shifts as Governors Impose New Restrictions (Jun 22 2026) + Whitehouse.gov — Executive Order 14318 Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security (Jun 2026) + AI Governance Institute — EO 14318 Accelerating Federal Permitting Data Center Infrastructure 2026 + Henrico Citizen — Virginia Has a New Two-Year Budget. Here's What Lawmakers Now Require of Data Centers + Kiplinger — Virginia Approves First Data Center Power Tax ↗
ERCOTPJMMISOEPAMoratoriumTax incentiveInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English background. In deregulated wholesale electricity markets, capacity is auctioned three years ahead of when it delivers. PJM (the grid operator for 13 states from Illinois to Virginia covering ~65 million people, the largest electricity market in...
Utility Dive — PJM Accelerates Backstop Reliability Auction Amid Uncertainty Over Data Cen[ters] + ERCOT Market Notice M-B062326-01 (Jun 23 2026) + ERCOT Trending Topic New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity Users (Jun 18 2026 PDF) + PUCT Press Release Jun 18 2026 — PUCT Approves ERCOT's Batch Zero Rules + EPE Consulting — New Pathway and Deadlines in ERCOT's Large Load Batch Zero Provisional Controllable Load Resource (PCLR) + Willkie Farr & Gallagher — ERCOT Approves Implementing New Batch Zero Process for Large Load Interconnections + Governor Abbott Press Release Jun 10 2026 — Directs PUC and ERCOT to Shield Texans from Data Center Infrastructure Costs + ZeroEmissionGrid Workshop Summary Jun 11 2026 — Batch Zero Readiness + OPUC Order 26-154 Oregon Schedule 96 (May 2026) ↗
ERCOTPJMTexasVirginiaInterconnectionCapacity marketRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English background. Virginia has two governors who matter for data centers: the Republican-appointed State Corporation Commission (SCC) that sets utility rates, and the elected governor who signs budgets. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) was elected in...
Virginia Mercury — Virginia General Assembly approves Spanberger's budget amendments, ending monthslong impasse (Jun 29 2026) + VPM News — Lawmakers accept Spanberger's budget amendments, averting state funding crisis (Jun 29 2026) + News From The States — Virginia has a new two-year budget. Here's what lawmakers now require of data centers + Canary Media — Virginia slaps data centers with big new tax — but no climate rules + Northern Virginia Daily — General Assembly OKs Spanberger's budget amendments, ending impasse + Virginia Scope — Data center debate spills over into Spanberger bill signing ↗
VirginiaMoratoriumTax incentiveBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Plain-English background. Data centers are huge users of electricity, and US states have spent the last 10-15 years competing for data center investment by offering tax breaks. The two main breaks are (a) a sales-tax exemption on the hardware (servers,...
Virginia Mercury — Virginia legislators advance $205B budget including new tax on data centers (Jun 22 2026) + Data Center Knowledge — Virginia Approves First-Ever Data Center Power Tax + Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres — Governor Pritzker Directs DCEO to Pause Data Center Investment Program Agreements Effective July 1, 2026 + Gov. Pritzker Newsroom — Gov. Pritzker Pauses New Data Center Tax Incentives (Jun 5 2026) + Capitol News Illinois + Multistate — State Data Center Policy Shifts as Governors Impose New Restrictions (Jun 22 2026) ↗
VirginiaIllinoisTax incentiveBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Plain-English background. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a formal data center directive on June 10, 2026, to the two state-level energy authorities: the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT — appointed by the governor, regulates retail electricity in...
Office of the Texas Governor — Governor Abbott Directs PUC and ERCOT to Shield Texans from Data Center Infrastructure Costs (Jun 10 2026) + Shale Magazine — Governor Abbott Directs PUC and ERCOT to Protect Texas Ratepayers from Data Center Costs + Texas Scorecard — Abbott Directs Regulators to Make Data Centers Pay Their Own Infrastructure Costs + Community Impact — Gov. Abbott tells PUC, ERCOT to ensure Texas consumers do not foot the bill for data center growth (Jun 10 2026) + Alden Energy — Abbott Issues Directive to ERCOT, Public Utility Commission to Control Rising Data Center Costs ↗
ERCOTTexasVirginiaIllinoisInterconnectionRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English version. Yesterday's edition framed July 10 as the ERCOT Batch Zero application deadline for large loads (≥75 MW). Today we have the actual scale number, which ERCOT's June 18 'Trending Topic: New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity...
ERCOT — Trending Topic: New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity Users (Jun 18 2026) + Texas Energy and Power — How Texas decides which data centers to connect (438,000 MW figure, ~90% data centers) + EPE Consulting — New Pathway and Deadlines in ERCOT's Batch Zero PCLR + Keentel Engineering Batch Zero Compliance & Large Load Guide + Zero Emission Grid — ERCOT Batch Zero Workshop 6 (June 11 2026 readiness summary) ↗
ERCOTPJMMISOSPPInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English version of what just happened. Virginia is the data center capital of the world. Northern Virginia's Loudoun County alone hosts more data center capacity (~3.5 GW operating, another ~7 GW in the queue) than any other county on earth, and...
Virginia Mercury — Virginia legislators advance $205B budget including new tax on data centers (Jun 22 2026) + Data Center Knowledge — Virginia approves first-ever data center power tax + Kiplinger + HB30 Conference Report Item 3-5.24 (budget.lis.virginia.gov) + Bisnow — Virginia keeping data center tax breaks adding tax energy use ↗
PJMVirginiaTax incentiveInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Plain-English background. ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) runs the Texas grid that covers about 90% of the state's load — everything except a few corners that sit on SPP or Eastern Interconnection. ERCOT is unique among US grid operators because...
ERCOT — Trending Topic: New Batch Connection Process for Large Electricity Users (Jun 18 2026) + ERCOT Press Release — PUCT Approves ERCOT's Batch Zero Process (Jun 18 2026) + EPE Consulting — New Pathway and Deadlines in ERCOT's Batch Zero PCLR + Keentel Engineering Batch Zero Guide ↗
ERCOTPJMSPPFERCInterconnectionHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Plain-English version. Oregon is a top-5 state for data center capacity in the US: ~7-8% of all US data center build-out has been in Oregon over the last decade, concentrated in Hillsboro (the Washington County corridor west of Portland), Prineville (Crook...
Oregon Department of Energy — Governor's Data Center Advisory Committee Meeting 5 Agenda (Jun 26 2026) + Davis Wright Tremaine — New Oregon Law Impacts Data Center Development Statewide + Oregon CUB — Oregon Still Needs More Protections Against Data Centers + Columbia Riverkeeper engagement materials ↗
PJMVirginiaOregonMoratoriumRatepayer protectionHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Plain-English version of what happened. PJM Interconnection is the regional transmission organization (RTO) — the federally regulated nonprofit that physically dispatches the electric grid for 13 states and DC, covering 67 million people from New Jersey...
PJM Inside Lines — PJM Adds Emergency Procedures to Maintain Reliability (Jun 24 2026) ↗
PJMFERCVirginiaNorth CarolinaMoratoriumInterconnectionCapacity market
Read why it matters →Plain-English version. On June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, the federal regulator with jurisdiction over the interstate transmission grid) used Section 206 of the Federal Power Act to issue what are called 'show-cause orders'...
FERC — FERC Launches Aggressive Targeted Action to Speed Large Load Integration (Jun 18 2026) + Mondaq + Day Pitney summaries of the six Section 206 orders + Akin Gump abeyance analysis ↗
PJMMISOCAISOSPPMoratoriumInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Plain-English version of what happened. Tuesday, June 23 was the single most active moratorium day Florida has had — three county boards moved separate ordinances forward in a coordinated wave. Clay County (just south of Jacksonville, ~220,000 residents) gave...
Florida Politics — Three counties moving forward with one-year data center moratoriums (Jun 24 2026) ↗
ERCOTPJMMISOCAISOMoratoriumInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Plain-English version of what Project Kilby is. Microsoft and Chevron jointly announced on June 22 that they are co-developing a roughly 2.67 gigawatt natural gas power plant in the Permian Basin near Pecos, Texas (about 200 miles east of El Paso), paired...
Chevron newsroom — Chevron signs 20-year power agreement with Microsoft for West Texas data center (Jun 22 2026) ↗
ERCOTMISOFERCTexasMoratoriumInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →The chronology. December 18, 2025, FERC issued a separate order (not yesterday's) directing PJM specifically to revise its tariff to provide clear rates, terms, and conditions for co-located load (a data center plus its own on-site generation, sitting at the...
Gibson Dunn — analysis of Dec 18, 2025 FERC order to PJM ↗
PJMMISOCAISOSPPInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →What the bill does. SB 730 combines four mechanisms that target the cost-shift question from different angles:
• Cost-share minimum: data centers must pay a minimum share of the infrastructure costs they cause (transmission upgrades, generation capacity...
Carolina Journal ↗
PJMFERCVirginiaNorth CarolinaAir permitRatepayer protectionFERC action
Read why it matters →Plain-English version of what FERC is and why this matters: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the federal body that approves the rules governing the interstate transmission grid — the high-voltage lines that move bulk power between states....
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — official notice of June 2026 action ↗
FERCTexasVirginiaInterconnectionBehind-the-meterRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing of two related deadlines. ERCOT (the Texas grid operator) has historically used a process called the Large Load Interconnection Study, or LLIS, to evaluate new electrical loads above 75 MW. A developer building a new hyperscale data...
ZeroEmissionGrid (Batch Zero Readiness 06-11-26) / EPE Consulting / Foley & Lardner / Keentel Engineering ↗
ERCOTTexasVirginiaAir permitInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. A 'backup generator' at a hyperscale data center is a diesel or natural-gas engine that turns on if utility power fails. A typical 100 MW hyperscale campus has 40-80 of them. Historically, these were treated as 'emergency' generators —...
Virginia DEQ Guidance Memo APG-578 / HB 507 / Data Center Knowledge / Hunton Andrews Kurth / DediRock ↗
ERCOTEPATexasVirginiaAir permitInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing of why annexation exists. In Michigan, most rural land is governed by townships, while cities provide municipal services (water, sewer, police). When a developer wants city utilities but the site is in a township, there are three...
WKAR Public Media / WLNS / WILX / Finviz (Microsoft attribution) ↗
TexasVirginiaGeorgiaHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. Nassau County is the far northeast Florida county adjacent to Jacksonville, with Jaxport and St. Marys River frontage. The 12-month moratorium is a 'study moratorium' — it freezes new applications while the County does the research...
First Coast News / Yahoo News / Nassau County Chamber / News4Jax / Jax Daily Record ↗
TexasVirginiaFloridaMoratoriumInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. The PUCT (Public Utility Commission of Texas) and ERCOT are the appointed regulator and the grid operator, respectively. The Governor of Texas does not directly run either one but appoints PUCT commissioners and signs ERCOT-related...
Governor's Office press release / Houston Public Media / Community Impact / Texas Scorecard ↗
ERCOTFERCTexasVirginiaInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. Hood County sits about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, on Lake Granbury. It's a rural county with a small planning staff and limited industrial base. The county was the first in Texas to enact a data-center moratorium — passed quietly...
Texas Tribune / KRGV / Salon ↗
TexasVirginiaNorth CarolinaIllinoisMoratoriumInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. (Recap from yesterday for new context.) FERC committed in April to act by end of June on the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking covering large-load interconnection to the interstate transmission system. The substantive ruling could...
FERC / Holland & Knight / Power Magazine ↗
ERCOTMISONYISOFERCInterconnectionBehind-the-meterHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. New York's state legislature wraps each year in early June. In that final-hour rush they passed a bill that, if Hochul signs it, freezes any state agency from issuing a permit to a 20 MW+ data center anywhere in New York for one year....
Data Center Dynamics / Earthjustice / Spectrum News ↗
TexasVirginiaIllinoisGeorgiaMoratorium
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. Seattle's threshold is 20 MVA (megavolt-amperes), which is functionally similar to 20 MW for data center loads — both round to the same 'roughly 20 megawatts of incoming utility service' floor. The moratorium pauses any permit...
KOMO / MLQ Infrastructure / Seattle DCI ↗
TexasVirginiaNorth CarolinaWashingtonMoratoriumInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. Charlotte is the second-biggest US banking center after New York (Bank of America HQ, Truist HQ, Wells Fargo's east coast hub) and the dominant Carolina metro. Until this week the assumption was that bank-anchored cities would be...
Axios Charlotte / WBTV / WCNC ↗
VirginiaNorth CarolinaWashingtonArizonaMoratorium
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. The 'Public Staff' in North Carolina is a permanent state agency that represents residential and small-business customers in utility rate cases — separate from the elected Attorney General, separate from the Utilities Commission. When...
WFAE / Duke Energy testimony filings (NC Utilities Commission) ↗
VirginiaNorth CarolinaOhioOregonRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing. There are two kinds of local government in the U.S. — home-rule (broad authority to legislate locally unless state law specifically forbids it) and Dillon's-rule (only the powers state law expressly grants). Texas counties are...
Texas Tribune / KWTX / KERA News ↗
TexasVirginiaNorth CarolinaOhioMoratoriumInterconnection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing: a 'statewide moratorium' is a single state legislature voting to freeze data-center development across every jurisdiction inside the state — much bigger blast radius than the city-by-city pauses above. Maine got within one veto of being...
Maine Morning Star / Press Herald / TechCrunch / Data Center Knowledge ↗
TexasVirginiaOhioGeorgiaMoratoriumRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing: where Wisconsin's tariff change was a regulator (PSC) tightening one utility's rate plan, North Carolina is a state legislature pre-emptively writing the rules for the whole state across every utility — Duke, Dominion-NC, ElectriCities....
WRAL / WUNC / Data Center Knowledge / Data Center Dynamics ↗
VirginiaColoradoNorth CarolinaWisconsinBehind-the-meterRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Plain-English framing: under the Clean Air Act, a 'major source' of air pollution (which any data center with significant backup-generator capacity is) cannot start physical construction until its air permit is issued. The permit specifies what control...
Virginia DEQ / Bloomberg Law / E&E News / Data Center Knowledge ↗
FERCEPAVirginiaAir permitInterconnection
Read why it matters →Cheyenne is the weakest of the four outcomes for the pause camp. A motion failing to get a second in committee is the procedural equivalent of zero councilors other than the sponsor being willing to publicly support advancing the proposal. The 'no...
Cap City News / Wyoming News / Cowboy State Daily / Wyoming Public Media ↗
VirginiaColoradoNorth CarolinaArizonaMoratoriumHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Three structurally different state-level outcomes in one week, all in the ratepayer-protection family. Oklahoma is the cleanest version: statute-only, no PUC tariff layer, 75 MW threshold, effective July 1, and the 60-day pre-acquisition notice provision is...
KGOU / OKCFOX / Fox23 / Oklahoma House / Oklahoma Voice / The Gazette CO / Colorado Newsline / Westword / Virginia Mercury / WYDaily / Office of the Governor of Virginia ↗
PJMVirginiaColoradoWisconsinMoratoriumRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Hyperion is the largest single-site hyperscaler gas-fleet buildout in US history. The 10-gas-plant, 7+ GW figure is roughly 2x the next-largest hyperscaler gas commitment on the public tape (Microsoft's Quincy WA campus, ~3.5 GW gas commitment) and roughly...
Yahoo Finance / The Cool Down / WinBuzzer / EnergyNow / Energy Connects / Utility Dive ↗
ERCOTTexasVirginiaTennesseeMoratoriumInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Cheyenne is the first city anywhere west of the Mississippi to introduce a data-center moratorium ordinance at the council level in 2026 (the Wisconsin/Michigan/Ohio/Indiana cluster is Midwest; the GA/NC/FL/AL cluster is Sun Belt; Texas has no moratorium tape...
Cowboy State Daily / KGAB / Cap City News / Wyoming News / Casper Star-Tribune ↗
ERCOTTexasVirginiaColoradoMoratoriumHyperscaler
Read why it matters →PJM's 'Powering Reliability Through Market Design' paper is the most significant single regulatory-process document in the PJM footprint since FERC's December 18, 2025 order on co-located generation (which Cliff has been tracking via the pjm-er26-1088 page)....
PJM Inside Lines / Utility Dive / Modo Energy / PR Newswire / ROI-NJ / Daily Caller (yournews) ↗
PJMFERCVirginiaWisconsinInterconnectionBehind-the-meterCapacity market
Read why it matters →The North Carolina cluster has reached critical mass through the May 4-10 window in three layered ways. Layer 1 (local moratoria): Harnett County's unanimous 1-year approval on May 4 — driven by Sen. Jim Burgin's disclosure that a developer was 'earnestly...
NC Newsline / Sanford Herald / Axios Charlotte / WBTV / Spring Hope Enterprise / NCleg ↗
VirginiaNorth CarolinaWisconsinMaineMoratoriumRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →Two updates on the local-moratorium tape that fill in the May 11 picture. (1) Kingsland GA: the City Council votes tonight on a 90-day moratorium that City Manager Lee Spell publicly recommended on April 24. The political context shifted last week when...
Georgia Public Broadcasting / The Current GA / Marengo Township / Bridge Michigan / WKAR Public Media ↗
TexasVirginiaWisconsinOhioMoratoriumBallot initiative
Read why it matters →HB 1030 was Colorado's primary 2026 attempt to attract data-center investment via tax incentives — the bill was first introduced in January and modeled loosely on the sales-and-use exemption regimes that Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, and...
KUNC / CPR News / The Colorado Sun / The Durango Herald ↗
ERCOTPJMMISOTexasMoratoriumTax incentiveRatepayer protection
Read why it matters →SB 484 (sponsored by Sen. Bryan Ávila with companion in the Florida House) cleared both chambers earlier in the 2026 session and was signed at a Lakeland press conference May 7 alongside several other technology-related bills. The statute directs the Florida...
WFSU / Florida Politics / Tallahassee Reports / Florida Senate (SB 484 bill text) ↗
TexasVirginiaOhioFloridaTax incentive
Read why it matters →Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's APG-576 (Diesel Engine-Generator Set Procedure for Writing New and Modified Permits) became effective April 9, 2026, with the new BACT (Best Available Control Technology) requirements applicable to air permit...
Virginia DEQ / Trinity Consultants ↗
EPATexasVirginiaAir permitInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →WRAL and Data Center Knowledge confirm North Carolina lawmakers have moved HB 1004, the Ratepayer and Resource Protection Act, into the 2025-2026 General Assembly. Filed April 27, 2026. Threshold: facilities with peak electricity demand of ≥40 MW...
Data Center Knowledge ↗
ERCOTPJMFERCTexasMoratoriumInterconnectionBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Amazon Web Services filed suit in May 2025 against King George County after the new Board of Supervisors voted to renegotiate the 2023 performance agreement for AWS's 7.5M sq ft / $6B data-center campus. Amazon is seeking enforcement of the original zoning...
Washington Post (paywalled) via DCD ↗
VirginiaMoratoriumHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Bloomberg, DCD, and CoStar all confirmed April 29–30 that Compass Datacenters is pulling out of the Prince William Digital Gateway data center corridor in Northern Virginia. Sequence: Virginia Court of Appeals blocked the project March 31 after years of...
Bloomberg ↗
ERCOTVirginia
Read why it matters →Per yesterday's update, the Virginia General Assembly rejected most of Governor Spanberger's substantive amendments to HB 1393 (Bolling) / SB 253 at the April 22 reconvened session, returning the bills to her desk as-passed. The constitutional clock to sign,...
Virginia Mercury ↗
VirginiaTax incentive
Read why it matters →Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft all reported Q1 essentially simultaneously this past week. Final guidance: Amazon ~$200B (vs $125B in 2025), Google $175–185B (vs $91B), Meta $115–135B (vs $72B), Microsoft $110–120B (vs $90B). Total Big Four 2026 capex...
Tom's Hardware ↗
PJMMISOVirginiaOhioMoratoriumHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Dominion Energy reported Q1 2026 operating EPS $0.95 vs $0.86 consensus, revenue $5.02B vs $4.47B. Commercial sales +8.4% YoY led by data centers; weather-normalized sales +4.3% LTM. Total contracted data center capacity reached ~51 GW as of March 2026, a...
Dominion Energy Q1 2026 earnings (Investing.com) ↗
PJMVirginia
Read why it matters →The Virginia legislature on Apr 29 rejected all three of Governor Spanberger's substantive amendments to HB 1393 (Bolling) / SB 253: (1) striking the explicit cost-shift mechanism that assigns capacity + distribution infrastructure costs to high-load...
Inside Climate News ↗
VirginiaAir permitHyperscaler
Read why it matters →QTS Realty Trust filed an appeal Apr 30 (hours before the deadline) to the Virginia Supreme Court asking it to overturn the Court of Appeals ruling that nullified Prince William County's 2023 zoning amendments authorizing the 22M sqft Digital Gateway...
Washington Post ↗
VirginiaMoratoriumInterconnection
Read why it matters →NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) gained over 10% Apr 30 on Amazon's announcement of three new SMR-backing deals, including a $500M investment in X-energy. The broader nuclear sector rallied; Amazon's structuring is similar to its prior June 2025 MOU with Dominion...
CoinCentral ↗
PJMVirginiaAir permitInterconnectionHyperscaler
Read why it matters →Virginia DEQ's revised guidance APG-576 ('Diesel Engine-Generator Set Procedure for Writing New and Modified Permits') became effective April 9, 2026. New sections set presumptive BACT for both emergency and non-emergency gen-sets at data center stationary...
Hunton The Nickel Report ↗
VirginiaAir permitBehind-the-meter
Read why it matters →Reconvened session Apr 22 (vote count finalized through Apr 29): General Assembly bucked Spanberger on the Dominion-backed energy / data center package. Her three proposed weakeners — SCC sole discretion over undergrounding, halved spending cap, opt-out...
Inside Climate News ↗
TexasVirginiaInterconnection
Read why it matters →PJM issued the RFI Apr 16 to LSEs, large load participants, hyperscalers, generation developers, DR/DER aggregators, EDCs, and state commissions. Two-phase backstop procurement for 14.9 GW: bilateral phase Sept-Mar (PJM + Charles River Associates as...
Utility Dive ↗
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