Big demand: The record arrived in the early evening on July 2, when the PJM region recorded its hottest-ever average air temp (97 degrees Fahrenheit). Extreme heat plus equipment outages made it difficult to keep demand in check, PJM said. 

Big dollars: The cost to regulate PJM’s supply and demand ballooned over 100 times higher than the 2026 average, per a Reuters analysis, largely due to reserve deficits and power line congestion.

The latest: The Texas PUC unanimously approved rules that order computational loads >75 MW (including data centers) to stay online during short-term grid disruptions. And if facilities don’t comply? ERCOT can cut them off…until they show proof they’re following orders. Last month, CAISO proposed similar rules.

The context: Data centers on the East Coast and in Texas experienced GW-scale load drops in 2024 and 2025. Power pros want to avoid a dangerous domino effect that takes substations and generators offline. And as Texas-sized, GW-scale data centers crop up in the Lone Star State, things could get ugly quickly.

The pushback: Data center operators don’t seem too keen on the idea—staying online during electricity disturbances can damage equipment or shut off entire facilities. Plus, these ride-through rules could cost them up to $1M per megawatt of power. 

What’s next: Data centers and crypto-mining facilities that got ERCOT approval to come online on or after Nov. 15, 2025 must follow these rules. But litigation is likely incoming: Some large-load customers have claimed that ERCOT didn’t have the authority to make this call.

The clog: Last year, storage contributed just 370 MW of MISO’s new 3.1 GW of capacity, per Potomac Economics’s recent report. The mismatch? Battery storage makes up 21% of the grid operator’s roughly 220-GW interconnection queue, as Rao Konidena pointed out on his Substack. “The pipeline is there. The market entry isn’t,” he wrote.

The plunger: To speed things up, the market monitor thinks MISO should update its planning models to capture storage’s growing value (and shrinking installation costs).

Terravanta Power Systems broke ground on a 200K-square-foot facility that will make and assemble advanced screw and turbine expander systems—key components of geothermal power plants. The facility is scheduled to be fully operational in 2029. 

A first: Terravanta will become the only US company to make these kinds of geothermal components, CEO Keith Schumacher told WKRG News.

And another geothermal first: Fervo Energy set a company drilling record at its Sawtooth 7 well in Utah, reaching target depth in 21 days. That’s 70% faster than Fervo’s previous well design at the same site—but the new design is deeper, longer, and reached higher temperatures. 

The tariff: Florida’s PSC has allowed the proposal—which has sparked criticism from consumer advocates—to move toward a hearing next month. Why they’re against it: The tariff would hold off on establishing data center-specific fees or rates…which Duke says it’ll propose in the next rate case. 

The issue: Critics say Duke’s proposal clashes with Florida’s recent law, which bars utilities from handing data center costs to other customers.

What we’re watching: Florida’s PSC will hand over a verdict in late August. 

Aratina 2, which will include 150 MW of solar capacity and 452 MWh of storage, is slated to go online by year’s end. This marks the second phase of the Aratina Solar Center, which will deliver 350 MW of solar capacity and 952 MWh of storage.