What happened: As we covered, California legislators recently shot down Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to reduce costs for utilities when their equipment sparks wildfires. This sent PG&E and Edison International stocks plunging. Officials then settled on a compromise bill...which hit the bin on the CA legislative session’s final day.

The stakes: Edison International has warned that lawmaker inaction could hurt California IOUs’ credit ratings. Right now, the state’s wildfire liability structure “continues to create financing risks,” which raise customer bills and curtail grid investments, PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said in a statement. “Something has to change so that we can better serve our customers.” 

What’s next: The company said it will defer some $2B of work for 2027 to lower its “debt financing needs” (but PG&E will continue to spend on “critical safety programs”). The company is also launching a strategic review to create “a financially strong, investment-grade company.” 

The big picture: California is facing longer, more intense fire seasons—but utilities, survivors, insurance companies, and politicians are butting heads over who covers the worsening fallout. Now, the legislative dead end takes the fight back to square one.

The NRC has floated changes to rules around radiation protection at a “scale and speed” that is “deeply concerning,” according to the AGs, who represent states including IL, CA, NM, and CO. They also noted that the NRC has denied requests to extend comment periods for several of these changes.

The background: In response to an executive order, the NRC has suggested scrapping ALARA (the “as low as reasonably achievable” principle). Now, the agency aims to “address unnecessary conservatism and excessive subjectivity in regulatory requirements.”

The concern: These suggested switch-ups, including higher permitted levels of radioactive pollution and reduced monitoring requirements, could have “serious impacts on state programs and worker and public safety,” the AGs wrote. The coalition is urging the NRC to reverse its proposal.

The threshold: MISO wants to define large loads as projects with >50 MW of demand, and carve out a category for “computational loads” with >25 MW of demand from IT equipment. 

The requirements include: 1) Providing real-time and day-ahead load forecasts and 2) demonstrating that these facilities can ride through an unexpected drop in grid voltage.

Plus: The grid operator has proposed a fast-track large-load interconnection process for projects >250 MW (with contracted generation). By studying the load and generation in parallel, MISO could offer approval within 120 days.

Nope: Officials in DE, DC, IL, MD, and NJ are asking FERC to reject PJM’s Reliability Backstop Procurement (RBP) plan. Under the RBP, PJM hopes to close a nearly 7-GW capacity gap for the 2028/2029 delivery year (at a cost of up to $20B).

The risk: They claim the auction could raise ratepayers’ bills for projected data center-driven demand…which might not fully materialize. In Maryland alone, ratepayers could get saddled with over $500M in costs over the next 15 years. Plus, as energy market expert Rao Konidena pointed out, the auction would leave out cheaper residential DER capacity.

What’s next: If given the green light by FERC, PJM aims to hold the auction from Sept. 30 to Oct. 21 (and announce the results in early December).

The New York Department of Public Service is asking the state PSC to put the kibosh on the Community Choice Aggregation program, which enables municipalities to buy power in bulk for homes and small businesses. NY is one of 11 states that permit this arrangement.

A no-go: NY’s Community Choice Aggregation program was created to boost renewable use and lower power prices. It did neither, according to the NY DPS. CCA participants paid around 16% more for electricity, on average, than utility customers. Why? The program’s high renewable ratio comes with a pricy premium…yet it hasn’t moved the needle on state clean energy targets.

The deal: One Nuclear has inked a letter of intent with “a prominent Louisiana landowner group,” according to a press release. All that energy will sit next to a “high-capacity data campus.”

Zoom out: It’s not the only mega-facility slated for the Pelican State, which is drawing in tech companies with big tax breaks—and hush-hush deals. Meta is planning a $50B, 5-GW data center in Richland Parish, and has touted its benefits to local tax revenue (including up to 400% bonus increases for teachers).