Happy Monday. Researchers tested whether swapping gas stoves for electric ones would improve people’s asthma symptoms. The verdict? It did—by a lot. The peer-reviewed study found a 70% drop in hospital admissions, and suggested that going electric has similar benefits to common asthma medications (if not more).
Whether for health reasons or the sake of efficiency, more people are expected to opt for electric stoves in coming years. The question is: Can the grid keep up as we electrify more of our daily lives? ⚡
— Molly, Carrie, and the Energy Central editorial team
Your smart meter network shouldn't have to choose between coverage and battery life. Register now to discover how eSIM delivers resilient, future-ready connectivity.
PJM’s Technical Conference raised more questions than it answered.
We think we did pretty well with our conference predictions, TBH.
What happened: Last week’s long-awaited, super long meeting gave everyone (including FERC) a space to vent their frustrations with PJM’s decision-making processes. As we predicted with our bingo board—see above—discussions kept circling back to states’ lack of power.
Red card: The conference also highlighted how PJM members can “effectively fire” people from the board, as Utility Dive reported. An apt post-World Cup analogy from FERC Commissioner David LaCerte: “The players should not be able to fire the referees if they don’t like their calls.” ⚽
What’s next: FERC says PJM has until the end of September to land on stakeholder and governance reforms. And if they can’t? FERC will do it for them…that is, if they actually have the legal authority to do so.
To properly digest what unfolded in D.C. last week, we called Frank Felder. He’s an electricity market consultant, and he works with Pennsylvania officials to address ratepayers’ concerns. (This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
What was your major takeaway from the conference?
Given the FERC commissioners’ strong views, my read is that some fundamental changes need to happen. Some of the stakeholders realize that they need to agree to something, or it could get a lot worse.
In your opinion, is PJM responding to states’ criticisms?
PJM’s market reforms proposed in May don’t address higher capacity prices and the costs not being allocated to data centers. In fact, I think the reforms could exacerbate them. For example, PJM is considering long-term capacity requirement contracts. During a time of scarcity, this could lock in high prices.
Now, maybe PJM gets the message from the recent FERC conference and the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge update. But with the path I think PJM is going down, the Ratepayer Protection Pledge is not the primary focus—the focus is on certain limited market reforms.
Do you think PJM can agree on stakeholder reforms by the September deadline—or will FERC have to do it for them?
PJM will have to use its stakeholder process to do that…and the concern is that this takes too long and never gets to any sufficient consensus. So, I appreciate the irony there.
The White House admitted it targeted Blue states when slashing nearly $8B in clean energy grants.
The context: In Oct. 2025, the Trump administration axed funding for nearly 300 clean energy projects. The motivation? To save taxpayer money, the DOE originally claimed.
The truth bomb: This move was actually “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” according to court documents shared by The New York Times. In fact, these documents reveal that the decision didn’t reflect the “DOE’s past or current agency priorities.”
How confident are you in your capital plan? Explore practical strategies for improving transparency and defensibility in IFS's latest white paper.
Georgia Power and OpenAI are teaming up on a $30B data center. 🤝
The details: Georgia Power will provide the electrons for OpenAI’s 3.2-GW data center, which is slated to fully ramp up by 2032. This agreement comes with grid protections: During high demand, the facility will curb its consumption. OpenAI will also offer up to 1 GW of flexible demand response.
Who’s paying? The companies cut straight to the chase. “Georgia families will not subsidize this project. OpenAI will pay all infrastructure and electric-service costs,” OpenAI wrote on X. Why? Georgia PSC rules (implemented in 2025) prohibit passing those costs onto ratepayers. OpenAI also says the facility will provide $80M in community benefits.
With fossil fuel production, the Trump administration wants to go big and go home.
On the coal side: A recent Interior Department report claims that coal resources under federal lands (over 356B tons) could supply “all the nation’s needs” for over six centuries. But the report is scant on specifics…like how much all that extraction would actually cost.
On the gas side: The DOE is handing out $65.5M to boost domestic oil and natural gas production. This fresh funding follows the $150M announced earlier this month for fracking and unconventional oil and gas recovery.
The pushback: As President Trump continues his drive for US “energy dominance,” critics say the administration is picking favorites. Wind energy, for example, “would enhance American energy independence and support national security” while also lowering ratepayer bills, 55 Democrats wrote in a letter to the White House.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is holding state officials to their ratepayer priorities.
Progress report: ERCOT and the state PUC are 1) making data centers pay for new transmission 2) preventing these facilities from “diverting existing power” and 3) doubling down on long-term infrastructure planning, among other measures.
What's next: TX officials want to “clarify” their authority to add more reliability requirements for data centers—and get more info on their water and electricity use.
The sheer scale of committed capital suggests these [big tech] companies view guaranteed access to firm, carbon-free power as a competitive necessity for the AI race, worth underwriting risk that utilities alone have historically been reluctant to take on.
What if every smart meter could strengthen the grid? Register now to see how AMI 2.0 is driving smarter operations.
📍 Pressure is stretching risk models beyond their limits. Utilities are now expected to show, with increasing rigor, how investment decisions affect customer outcomes. Hear how high-tech grid models can enable more confident planning decisions—our partners at Engineered Intelligence, Inc. have all the details.
Thanks for reading. Make your Monday a great one!