New York officials just passed what could become the country’s first state data center ban—but the bill still needs Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature. This one-year pause would give lawmakers time to regulate data centers. The bill also orders the state environmental agency to measure how much electricity, water, and land these facilities gobble up.

The move has broad support: Heatmap polling found that a majority of US voters—both Democrats and Republicans—back a national AI data center moratorium (which has been proposed by Senate Democrats). 

And in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker announced plans to temporarily suspend tax breaks for data centers (beginning July 1). The state has the fourth-highest number of planned and operating data centers, and residents have voiced concerns over high utility bills, a strained grid, and drained local resources.

Antares Nuclear’s Mark-0 demonstration microreactor has gone critical—it’s the first reactor in the DOE’s pilot program to reach this milestone. President Trump hopes that “at least three” of the program’s designs can reach criticality by July 4, per his 2025 executive order…so the time is ticking.

Speaking of the DOE, the Government Accountability Office has determined that the agency “illegally steered funding away from clean energy” last year. The damage: The wind industry only got 22% of the $137M allocated by Congress (and the solar industry got just 13% of $318M in earmarked funds). Meanwhile, geothermal received nearly $30M extra.

Easier said than done: To speed things up, developers are turning to interesting pieces of equipment (like turbines designed for planes and gas generators plopped on semitrucks). But bringing high-polluting generation near neighborhoods is a sure-fire way to drum up local backlash. 

The alternative? Google is building a data center in Texas with over 1GW of co-located capacity—and avoiding the increasingly prevalent (and controversial) gas bridge. From day one, the company says it will run mainly on wind, solar, and battery storage.

ERCOT is forecasting an unprecedented 92-MW summer peak—nearly 10% higher than last summer. But since then, the state has added plenty more generation: nearly 11 GW of capacity (mostly from solar and battery storage). Now, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said the grid has “fairly adequate capacity” and a “low likelihood of emergency conditions”

The deal: Talen is acquiring one Indiana plant and two Ohio plants from Energy Capital Partners. The IPP recently got the OK from FERC and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for the deal, which Talen says will “substantially expand” its western PJM footprint.

The drama: In January, PJM’s market monitor urged FERC to reject the deal. Their reasoning? Talen is already the region’s fourth-largest capacity owner (controlling >13 GW), so this deal tightens its grip on PJM prices. “Ownership of generation is being consolidated in a small group of owners,” Monitoring Analytics wrote to FERC.

Down to the wire: Yes, according to National Grid Ventures US President Will Hazelip. In a Utility Dive piece, he argued against utilities’ push to curb competitive bidding for MISO and SPP transmission projects. Hazelip’s take: “Disrupting the established competitive frameworks will inject uncertainty into regional transmission development and spur lengthy regulatory delays, when time is of the essence.”

While we’re on clogged lines: A lack of transmission infrastructure out West could slow the rollout of Fervo’s 42-GW geothermal pipeline, Jefferies noted. Fervo is relying on third-party transmission lines for all of its revenue and contracted PPAs…and is short on interconnection and transmission rights for phase two of its Utah Cape Station development. One solution? Sending power to customers behind the meter.