Today's issue is about the physical infrastructure behind load growth. PJM is rushing a reliability auction while still wrestling with data-center cost allocation. Storage is setting records because large loads need flexibility. Georgia, Virginia, and Southern California are running into the land politics of transmission. Meta is signing solar-plus-storage deals. And the fossil side of the market is hardly retreating, with a record federal oil and gas lease sale in the Permian.
Top Stories
U.S. STORAGE INSTALLS RECORD 9.7 GWH IN FIRST QUARTER
Reuters
U.S. energy-storage developers installed a first-quarter record 9.7 GWh, up 32% from a year earlier, with SEIA pointing to data centers, volatile power prices, and gas-turbine supply constraints as demand drivers.
GEORGIA POWER GRID EXPANSION FORCES SOME HOME SALES
WSB-TV
Georgia Power plans more than 1,000 miles of new transmission to meet demand from population growth and data centers, and some Coweta County families say the easement offers are not enough to replace what they are losing.
MOUNTAIN WEST STATES FORM GEOTHERMAL CONSORTIUM
Heatmap News
Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico are coordinating on geothermal permitting, financing, and offtake models as next-generation geothermal tries to move from technical proof to bankable power supply.
DEVON DOMINATES RECORD $4 BILLION FEDERAL OIL AND GAS AUCTION
Reuters
A New Mexico and Texas lease sale shattered the previous onshore federal auction record, with Devon Energy taking more than half the winning bids as the administration pushes its energy-dominance agenda.
U.S. SOLAR MANUFACTURING CAPEX COULD HIT $7 BILLION IN 2027
pv magazine USA
Domestic PV manufacturing investment could rise about 150% year over year in 2027, with crystalline-silicon supply-chain spending expected to dominate a breakout year.
Power & Grid
VALLEY LINK TRANSMISSION LINE DRAWS VIRGINIA PRESERVATION FIGHT
Virginia Mercury
Ten preservation and environmental groups warned that Dominion's largest planned transmission line could damage historic and natural resources across a nine-county corridor built to move power toward high-demand Northern Virginia.
NEBRASKA UTILITY NAMES FOUR CITIES FOR POTENTIAL SMALL REACTOR
Nebraska Public Media
Nebraska Public Power District identified Beatrice, Brownville, Norfolk, and Sutherland as the strongest candidates for a next-generation nuclear project after a state-funded siting study.
REPUBLICANS SPLIT OVER MORE ETHANOL IN U.S. FUEL MIX
Semafor
High gasoline prices are putting pressure on the Senate to raise ethanol blending levels, but the fight is dividing Republicans across farm-state, refining, and consumer-cost lines.
TEMECULA WINERIES FIGHT PROPOSED SDG&E TRANSMISSION LINE
Patch
Tourism and winery groups are pushing back on the Golden Pacific Powerlink, warning the transmission route could damage Temecula Valley Wine Country and its billion-dollar tourism economy.
OKLO TURNS TO AI TOOL FOR ADVANCED REACTOR DESIGN
Interesting Engineering
Oklo is using its Prometheus platform to design advanced reactors and next-generation fuel systems, putting AI tools directly into the reactor-design process.
Data Centers
PJM MOVES UP BACKSTOP AUCTION AS DATA-CENTER COST FIGHT GROWS
Utility Dive
PJM is accelerating a reliability auction while urging states to shield ordinary ratepayers from data-center-driven costs. Analysts say the hard part is still unresolved: how to charge hyperscalers for a grid-wide auction without spreading the bill.
HELION RACES TO POWER MICROSOFT DATA CENTERS WITH FUSION
Scientific American
Helion says its Orion machine will deliver 50 MW of electricity to Microsoft data centers by 2029, but physicists warn the company's commercial timeline is running ahead of what its fusion technology has proved.
ENBRIDGE TO BUILD 365 MW SOLAR-PLUS-STORAGE PROJECT FOR META
PV Tech
Enbridge will develop a Wyoming project pairing 365 MW of solar with 1.6 GWh of storage for Meta, another clean-power procurement tied directly to AI data-center load.
DUKE UNIVERSITY PLANS 1.5 MW DURHAM DATA CENTER
Inside Climate News
Duke University plans a $23 million data center on Central Campus that could expand from 1.5 MW to 3 MW, raising faculty and neighborhood questions about energy and water use and climate commitments.
FESTUS DATA-CENTER DEVELOPER SAYS $6 BILLION PROJECT WILL MOVE FORWARD
KSDK
Despite a lawsuit and a city-council backlash, the founder of the construction firm behind the controversial Festus, Missouri, data center says the project is still moving ahead.
Stat of the Day
50 MW
Fusion power Helion has pledged to deliver to Microsoft data centers by 2029
Scientific American reports Helion is targeting commercial fusion electricity for Microsoft, though physicists warn the timeline is running ahead of what the technology has proved.
Scientific American report ↗