LBNL studied 22 utilities’ distribution costs, 15 of which flag existing distribution costs as their biggest capex category through 2030—despite the frenzy to bring more capacity online, quickly. These costs include spending on asset replacement, safety and reliability, and resilience.

Still, the incentive question is getting harder to ignore: Evidence suggests that utility ROEs—while still low by historical standards—may be higher than financial theory deems necessary, creating a tilt toward capex over potentially cheaper opex solutions. 

The Trump administration has spent months mulling over an order that would (reportedly) push advanced transmission tech, Latitude Media reported. FERC would direct utilities and grid operators to show where these tools can avoid or delay new wires—and gridmax existing line capacity by 10–100% in a few years.

While this order lags, the DOE is already offering nearly $2B in advanced transmission tech funding. 

Permitting has moved from a box-checking exercise to one of the top development hurdles. Now, around a quarter of US communities have a rule or ban slowing clean energy projects—developers can’t assume local approval will follow just because the economics pencil out.

The market is pricing that risk in: Early-stage BESS projects that once sold for up to $20K/MW now often fetch under $10K/MW, while fully permitted projects are commanding that higher premium.

The smarter play? Public meetings (six months to a year before handing in permits), community benefit agreements, and fire department training to quell safety concerns.

GE Vernova and Blue Energy are planning a 2.5-GW Texas gas-plus-nuclear station for a data center project. The idea: use gas to get power online sooner, then add nuclear once the reactors begin splitting atoms.

Separately, heavy-hitter investment firm Brookfield and The Nuclear Company are partnering to develop Westinghouse AP1000 and AP300 reactor projects.

The throughline: Nuclear may be back in a big way, but nobody’s pretending it’s easy. The market is hunting for ways to de-risk the slog—bridge it with gas, wrap it in infrastructure capital…or why not both?

Commercial electricity sales in VA jumped by nearly 30 million MWh from 2019 to 2025, per EIA data. Only Texas added more, at just over that amount…but the Lone Star State is much bigger. Data centers are driving most of VA’s surge, with EV adoption and building electrification adding more pressure.

Moment Energy has raised over $100M to expand second-life battery manufacturing in North America. The company says the cash will help serve data centers, utilities, and industrial customers that need storage faster than new battery supply chains can deliver.

Redwood Materials is already putting that logic to work. Near Reno, NV, its second-life EV batteries are paired with solar to power a Crusoe modular data center (little reliance on the grid required). Currently, Redwood says it has nearly 3 GWh of used batteries ready to roll.

The takeaway: As data center load strains the grid, old EV packs are becoming a domestic storage resource that can move quickly, cut supply chain exposure, and squeeze more value out of existing batteries.

The California Energy Commission has subpoenaed Golden State Wind over its recent agreement with the Interior Department to abandon a floating offshore wind lease (in exchange for some $120M in lease fees).

The deal fits in with a broader Trump administration strategy to pay offshore wind developers a total of nearly $2B to ditch leases and steer matching investment into fossil fuel projects. In Congress, Democrats are also investigating this strategy.

California says it has spent about $100M preparing for offshore wind…and wants to know whether taxpayer dollars are being used to make clean energy projects disappear. 💨