The New York Times – Gift Article: “PJM, the nation’s largest electrical grid operator, on Tuesday released results of an electricity auction that would add $6.3 billion in costs to the bills of millions of households and businesses within the next three years, an increase driven by the power demands of data centers. During the annual auction, power companies supplied prices that they were willing to accept to supply electricity to PJM at times of peak demand. Those prices are then factored into the electricity rates that are eventually charged to the grid’s customers in 13 Eastern states and the District of Columbia. In a statement, PJM said data centers were increasing electricity demand throughout the region. “These auction results show that demand for electricity continues to grow faster than electricity supply,” David Mills, president and chief executive at PJM, said in an announcement of the auction results. “We are working with government and industry leaders on multiple fronts to restore that balance by bringing on new generation as fast as possible and managing the growth of new load on the grid.”…

• Ars Technica: “…In 2025 alone, the United States saw the cancellation of power projects totaling 266 gigawatts of generation capacity—equivalent to 25 percent of America’s current electricity generation capacity and more than the total electricity generation of Texas, according to Michael Thomas, CEO of the Cleanview data platform that tracks renewable energy and data center projects. Clean energy projects accounted for 93 percent of those project cancellations. The Trump administration’s cancellations of various wind power projects certainly represented one contributing factor. But other significant patterns included local opposition to renewable energy projects in states such as Ohio and Indiana that were also courting new data center development, along with a lack of new transmission lines, leading to high interconnection costs for new clean energy projects, Thomas said. If US states and the federal government are hoping to support local manufacturing, they may need to start making different choices in addressing the rising energy costs of the data center boom.
• TechRepublic: “New York has become the first US state to impose a one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data center development by temporarily pausing environmental permits for the largest projects. Under the terms of an executive order signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York is establishing what she characterized as “the strongest standards for data center development and creating a blueprint to support localities.” The temporary pause of state environmental permits aims to “build a nation-leading regulatory framework that protects ratepayers, the environment, the energy grid and communities across the state,” the ​governor’s office said…”