The numbers: The country’s fossil fuel pipeline has reached its highest level in a decade (contributing roughly 30% of all planned capacity). Between 2026-2030, developers plan to build 68 GW of fossil fuels—mostly natural gas, according to a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund. That’s up from 47 GW in late 2025, a sign of the quickly ballooning data center buildout.

Yes, but: Supply chain struggles, like gas turbine shortages, could throw a wrench in developers’ plans.

The impact? This could leave ratepayers more vulnerable to fuel price swings, the report noted.

Stayin’ alive: Meanwhile, aging coal plants are holding on for longer—plant owners sought to retire 8.5 GW last year, but less than 1 GW actually went offline (the lowest level since 2009).

The proposal: The agency is hoping to “overhaul and accelerate” its assessments of natural gas projects’ air quality impacts. How? By no longer requiring applicants to share their simulations of how pollutants spread through surrounding areas, and instead relying on other info submitted by developers. 

Why? This will bolster “our mission to cut unnecessary delays and deliver regulatory certainty,” FERC Chairman Laura Swett said in a statement.

The pushback: This shift would leave FERC with “insufficient information about the severity of potential local air quality and human-health effects,” FERC Commissioner Judy Chang wrote in her dissent. She also claimed it would “deny the public an in-depth understanding of the extent of a project’s emissions and whether adverse impacts from those emissions will reach their communities.”

The throughline: The proposal fits into Chairman Swett’s push to streamline the agency’s reviews of natural gas infrastructure, which she views as key to energy affordability.

Hot grid summer: In July, PJM peaked at nearly 162.6 GW, ERCOT at 91.1 GW, and SPP at 58 GW. ERCOT saw the biggest jump from its previous record, landing 6.5% higher than its 2024 peak. 

Warm grid fall: On Tuesday, the DOE issued an emergency order to allow PJM to bring on backup generation. Why? Unusually warm fall weather is coinciding with planned maintenance, making supplies tight. 

The details: Venture Global has inked deals with GE Vernova and Baker Hughes to build up to 16 combined-cycle gas units at its export facilities. Venture Global plans to offer up to 10 GW of behind-the-meter capacity to data centers by late 2034.

While we’re on big deals: AEP is pouring $4B into a 700-MW fuel cell generation project, which will serve Google under a 20-year PPA. It’s expected to fully ramp up by late 2028.

The background: In 2024, nuclear developer Kairos announced a partnership with Google to build 500 MW of advanced nuclear reactors by 2035. But first, Kairos has to prove that its tech is ready for primetime.

Now, fresh funding will support the company’s 50-MW molten salt demonstration reactor (known as Hermes 2), which is planned to switch on in 2030. Together, investors including Google Ventures and Samsung C&T are providing $368M, while the DOE is supplying another $275M.

The city of Newberry, Florida is hiring a civil plans examiner.

Austin Energy is hiring a director of customer account management.

PacifiCorp is hiring a journeyman lineman.