In New Jersey: Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a hefty package of energy legislation to lower household costs. These laws will 1) reduce ratepayer burden via a new rate structure for data centers 2) fast-track review for grid projects utilizing advanced transmission tech and 3) order NJ utilities to join PJM (meaning no more ROE bumps for transmission owners that join voluntarily).

In Maryland: State officials filed a complaint with FERC to nix that same financial incentive (a 0.5% ROE bump) for joining PJM. Their argument: Maryland’s Utility RELIEF Act, enacted in May, makes membership mandatory.

Plus, out West, 11 governors are calling for a study to upgrade the region’s grid…which they say must “promote open, competitive markets by reducing bottlenecks that restrict choice and limit access to lower-cost power.”

PJM’s POV: Ahead of the extreme heat forecast around July 4, the grid operator predicted it would see peak demand exceed 166 GW (1 GW above the 2006 record). That didn’t happen…mostly thanks to demand response, PJM said. It activated around 6 GW in DR resources, and saw demand peak at roughly 163 GW on July 2. 

Meanwhile, VPP software developer Leap said it helped deploy 20K DER devices (and dispatch 900MWh) throughout the East from June 30 to July 4.

More deregulation ahead: The agency is rethinking how it develops energy conservation standards for fridges, washing machines, and other home products. The goal? To “permanently end home appliance and equipment mandates that raise costs and disrupt consumer choice,” according to the DOE…but it’s uncertain whether the White House will actually end the appliance efficiency program as a whole.

Digging deeper into fossil fuels: Separately, the DOE is offering up to $150M for fracking and unconventional oil and gas recovery, among other projects. This cash injection comes just over a month after President Trump announced $700M in funding for US coal production. 

A bitcoin landlord: Crypto mining company TeraWulf has inked a 20-year lease agreement with Anthropic for a new data center campus in Kentucky (which is set to reach 400 MW of capacity by 2028). The deal is predicted to bring in $19B in revenue.

Co-location negotiation: National Grid Ventures announced it’s investing $1.75B for a 35% stake in Joulent LLC, which builds “across-the-meter” generation for data centers that can eventually link to the grid. 

A battery boost: Fuel cell developer Bloom Energy and investment firm Brookfield are upping their partnership from $5B to $25B. The expansion “reflects strong and sustained demand from hyperscalers and AI infrastructure,” the companies wrote in a statement. Clearly, you can put a (huge) price on speed-to-power.

Just in time: This past weekend, Aalo Atomics’ design reached criticality. It’s the fourth reactor in the DOE pilot program to hit that breakthrough (following Deployable Energy’s announcement on July 1, which fulfilled President Trump’s goal for three critical reactors by Independence Day).

HALEU-lujah: Meanwhile, Centrus Energy has finalized an agreement to receive $900M from the DOE to scale up HALEU production at its facility in Ohio.

While we’re on nuclear: The NRC is looking to scrap the controversial “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) radiation standard for nuclear plants, which many experts say lacks solid evidence. This would be replaced with “more objective“ rules, according to the agency.

The island nation lost power again on Monday amid a US oil blockade that has threatened its (already tight) fuel supply since January. Cuba produces 40% of its required fuel, and for decades it has relied on supplies from Venezuela. To keep the lights on, the country is now scrambling to import solar panels and batteries from China.