Energy
Lawmakers fear AI data centers will drive up residents’ power bills
Roughly a dozen proposals in state legislatures nationwide seek to ensure that data centers don’t result in increased rates for other electric customers.
Competing Senate bills try to answer the question, how should Utah power new data centers?
While Rocky Mountain Power may have to brace for competition, lawmakers debate whether they should regulate some energy resources.
Ohio lawmakers mull energy overhaul as data center demand piles up
Ohio lawmakers on the House Energy Committee began discussion this week on a measure to overhaul the state’s energy landscape as a supply and demand imbalance is emerging between the state's aging fossil fuel plants and manufacturing and data center development.
Washington governor orders team to study data centers’ impact on energy use, job creation and tax revenue
Data centers receive some of Washington’s largest corporate tax breaks and require enormous amounts of electricity, a need that is only expected to grow with increasing reliance on artificial intelligence.
Developers plan to build Kentucky’s first ‘hyperscale’ data center in Louisville
The operation could eventually use as much electricity as one of the state’s power plants produces.
As data center boom continues, Va. legislators broach new regulations
A bipartisan coalition of Virginia lawmakers seeks to balance economic growth with energy fairness and environmental protections.
How utilities are working to meet AI data centers’ voracious appetite for electricity
Utilities have options for addressing surging power demand from AI data centers, but there’s no silver bullet.
Massive data centers consuming large amounts of energy have eyes on South Dakota
‘Utilities are getting calls every week,’ state regulator says.
Under pressure from the SCC, Dominion reveals the true cost of data centers
COMMENTARY | With state leaders avidly chasing more data centers in the name of economic development, ordinary Virginians are left to watch the assault on their energy supply, their water and their environment.
Data centers, which require massive amounts of energy and few jobs, have downsides for Alaska
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has invited big tech companies, including affiliates of Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon, to build data centers in Alaska.
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‘Renewable energy growth is truly a 50-state story now’: New report shows big jump in solar, wind, EVs
A coalition of environmental groups finds U.S. renewable energy development has tripled in the past decade.
Nuclear power could solve US electricity needs. But at what cost?
State lawmakers are increasingly eyeing nuclear power to boost clean energy. But as Three Mile Island and a Michigan reactor aim to restart, critics question whether the cost makes sense.
The states where climate progress is on the ballot
Getting laws passed is one thing. Protecting them from Republican opposition is another.
Why people aren’t buying heat pumps—and what states can do about it
COMMENTARY | New research from the coldest part of the country finds we need to tell people what heat pumps are before telling them why they should buy them.
Fight over transmission towers for reliable energy rages across the Midwest
A proposed massive federal power transmission corridor would stretch nearly 800 miles across the Midwest.
States are falling behind in using IRA funding to advance climate action
Two years after the IRA passed, a new report found that states have only captured a tiny fraction of the funding available.
Biden administration announces more than $2 billion in grants to boost US power grid
The grid is overburdened, under-resourced — and vital to the energy transition. New federal funding aims to increase capacity and get more clean energy built.
A fifth of U.S. green hydrogen projects eyed for water-stressed areas
As the federal government pours billions into hydrogen production to lower greenhouse gas emissions, critics worry water shortages in the Southwest could worsen.
Data centers demand a massive amount of energy. Here’s how some states are tackling the industry’s impact.
As the draw on the grid from these computer warehouses undergoes explosive growth, states that offer tax exemptions to support the industry are considering whether their approach still makes sense.
Governments, get your refundable tax credits here
COMMENTARY | The Inflation Reduction Act includes green tax credits that state and local agencies can use on clean energy vehicles, infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
