Good morning. In May, California went where no major economy on Earth has gone before: Solar generated over half the state’s electricity for a whole month, Ember noted. But this feat wouldn’t be possible without the 16 GW of batteries in CAISO territory—as President Trump noted, the sun doesn’t sparkle at night. ☀️
— Molly, Carrie, and the Energy Central editorial team
The grid is evolving—and so are cyber threats. Register now to learn how utilities can strengthen OT security, improve visibility, and build lasting operational resilience.
Here’s what the cyber threats to US water systems mean for power pros.
What happened: Over 12 states have reported potential cyberattacks on water and wastewater utilities, ABC News reported. So far, Michigan, South Dakota, and Minnesota have publicly confirmed incidents (and Wisconsin has raised alarms). But no communities have seen major disruptions.
More details: Hackers are remotely tampering with programmable logic controllers (PLCs), the FBI noted…the same tech that 50-80% of US grid control endpoints depend on. In April, federal officials warned of this specific threat to US water and energy systems.
Who’s responsible? The FBI hasn’t named any names…but federal agencies recently warned that Iranian hackers had their eyes on US water systems. Previously, Iran-affiliated hackers have allegedly targeted PLCs used in US and Israeli water systems.
What it means for electric utilities: As we add more internet-accessible tech to the grid, from PLCs to inverters, the risk (and stakes) of cyber attacks will continue to grow. “A coordinated and simultaneous attack against them could have a pretty significant effect on [power] supply,” Energy Central member Richard Brooks, a software engineer and cybersecurity expert, told us.
Brooks’s advice for power pros: 1) Follow zero-trust cybersecurity principles (get more info from CISA here) and 2) ensure you’re getting early warnings of vulnerabilities from equipment producers. “With AI, it’s very easy for these exploits to be exercised within minutes,” Brooks said. “It’s vitally important that these critical infrastructure operators get early-warning notices, so they can take mitigating action to prevent a disaster.”
Texas is pressing pause on data center approvals.
Hold your horses: New Texas data center projects can’t receive approval until the state PUC and ERCOT run “a comprehensive verification and audit,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. State officials must seek certain details from developers, including 1) info on tax incentives they’re receiving 2) plans for on-site generation and 3) specifics on water usage. It’s unclear how long this audit will take, but ERCOT said it’s pausing its new “batch zero” review process.
The background: ERCOT is considering roughly 474 GW of interconnection requests—nearly all from data centers. That’s over 5X ERCOT’s record peak demand. Meanwhile, Texans’ frustration with data centers is mounting. 56% of residents are opposed to data centers being built in their communities, according to a June poll.
Large-load customers must foot the bill for dedicated transmission infrastructure, Virginia officials say.
The details: The Virginia State Corporation Commission has ordered large loads like data centers to pay for substations and other “direct connect” facilities they need to link up to the grid. Substations alone can cost $25-50M each, so this order could net some serious ratepayer savings.
Dominion has “resisted” offers from tech companies to pay for such upgrades, US Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm said on LinkedIn. Now, the Virginia commission is directing Dominion to tweak its line extension policy to allow for these payments from data center developers.
The blueprint: Granholm called this order “a watershed decision that provides a critical national blueprint for consumer protection.”
The grid is changing fast. Register now to learn why the Third Grid is becoming critical to utility operations.
Federal meddling with offshore wind has cost Eversource $164M.
Pricey pauses: Construction delays on the 704-MW Revolution Wind project have racked up millions in costs for Eversource shareholders. The culprit? The utility blamed two Trump administration stop-work orders, issued in Aug. and Dec. 2025.
So close: The project is 97% complete (and started delivering energy in March). Construction should wrap up by the end of the year, Eversource chief executive Joe Nolan said in an earnings call. When fully online, it’ll send enough gigawatts to Connecticut and Rhode Island to power 350K homes.
Meanwhile: Dominion Energy pushed back the completion date for its 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project (citing slow-moving turbine installations and load-out times). It’s now slated to come online by late 2027, six months behind schedule. In the meantime, it’s currently producing around 450 MW of power.
The USDA is offering $410M in loans to rural utilities.
These partially forgivable loans are earmarked for hydro, geothermal, and biomass infrastructure, along with energy storage systems, the agency announced. Individual loans will range from $1M to $100M.
The fresh funds align with President Trump’s efforts to “revive US energy dominance” and reduce ratepayer bills, USDA Administrator Karl Elmshaeuser said in a statement.
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