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Good morning. It’s climate week in NYC and our very own Energy Central GM, Chloe Ginsberg, went out yesterday to test the waters. 🌊 Here were some of the highlights: “We should spend less time focused on single technologies more on systems reform that will unlock the most efficient supply,” said Brian Deese, former director of the National Economic Council under President Biden.
James Dozier, founding president of Citizens For Responsible Energy Solutions, had a similar takeaway: States should pull from a mix of different energy sources. “It’s important to have choice,” he said.
— Molly, Carrie, and the Energy Central editorial team
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Chris Wright at New York Climate Week: “I hope we’re very close to a deal.”
The White House is trying to wrap up a major deal that would expedite permitting for infrastructure projects. It’s TBD whether it will happen before the Senate goes on recess (and before midterm elections)...
But one thing is clear: “Trump wants a deal,” Wright said at a panel yesterday. So much so that he’s apparently willing to move onshore wind energy projects forward to appease Democrats (after freezing them for over a year). Negotiations are “going well,” according to Wright.
Speaking of: Nine states are now suing the Trump administration over its wind lease cancellations.
Amazon’s data center boom is driving plans for 17.5 GW of new gas generation.
Why? Amazon is developing 44 GW of data centers, fast. In the past year, the hyperscaler nearly doubled its data center capacity in the US, according to a new Cleanview report. And it needs a lot of electrons.
What it means for utilities: Amazon once favored sites with spare grid capacity. But then, utilities “simply ran out of power,” Cleanview CEO Michael Thomas wrote. Now, utilities are scrambling to build more generation—like Pacifico Energy’s nearly 8 GW gas plant planned for West Texas.
The big picture: US utilities are planning to build 140 GW of new gas capacity in the next decade to power data centers. It’s not going to be cheap: The cost of constructing a new gas plant has ballooned 22% since 2023.
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Transmission wins and woes: New York regulators approved a $3.3B transmission line, while a Wisconsin line is facing pushback.
The NY PSC approved a 90-mile transmission line that will send energy downstate from sources including offshore wind. Some argued the line wasn’t necessary, because of federal wind lease cancellations—but NY leaders are holding strong to their goal of reaching 9 GW of wind power by 2035. “The need for the project continues to exist,” the PSC wrote.
Meanwhile: Bipartisan lawmakers in WI are looking to slow the roll on a 190-mile, 765-kV line. The reason? Residents and Congress members cite concerns about farmland, electricity prices, and plans to serve data centers.
States challenge transmission incentives and push for outage refunds.
New England states are backing Maine’s complaint to FERC that transmission owners should not receive an extra 0.5% return on equity. The ROE boost “no longer serves to incent any action” and should be removed, the states wrote.
In Ohio: Two representatives from either side of the aisle have introduced a bill to increase accountability from FirstEnergy and other state power companies. Following similar actions in Connecticut, New York, and Michigan, the law would require utilities to reimburse customers for food and medicine lost in prolonged outages, and to issue automatic bill credits.
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Thanks for reading. Until we meet again!