In Virginia: The state’s latest quadrennial Energy Plan lays out several game plans for the coming decades. These include A) Leaning into DERs and flexibility from data centers or B) adding more offshore wind, nuclear, and gas. Regardless of the precise path forward, more capacity is key—the VA energy system must “grow at a pace we have not seen in more than 80 years,” Gov. Abigail Spanberger wrote.

In Pennsylvania: The state PUC has proposed rules to protect the grid when supply is tight. How? In these circumstances, certain large loads could face curtailment (if they haven’t clinched enough new capacity to support their demand).

The details: Energy Sec. Chris Wright could announce the hefty loan as soon as today. This funding could help Vistra uprate “at least three” of its four nuclear plants, according to Reuters. That may include two plants in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania, Bloomberg reported.

Why it matters: Capacity-strapped PJM could use some extra gigawatts, fast—and uprating offers a quicker alternative to building new reactors.

New requirements? Under proposed rules from the Colorado PUC, Black Hills Energy and the Public Service Company of Colorado would have to file wildfire mitigation and public safety power shutoff plans every three years. Why? This would help the state 1) Assess the risks of wildfires sparking from utility equipment 2) ensure prevention efforts are effective and 3) communicate progress with the public.

The background: These two orgs have already voluntarily rolled out WMPs. PSCo has filed plans with the state since 2020, and Black Hills last updated its plan in June (but hasn’t submitted it directly to the commission). Now, these new rules would create uniform requirements for the IOUs—and Colorado would join the nine states that order utilities to file these plans.

Meanwhile, in Texas: Last year, the Lone Star State began requiring utilities to hand wildfire mitigation plans to the PUC. But, with just three months remaining until the deadline, only eight out of 161 utilities have done their homework. 😬

The deal: Tech giant Oracle has butted heads with local officials over its plan for a $15B data center in Port Washington, WI. Now, Oracle has offered what appears to be a conciliatory gesture: The company is committing to buying 10-20% of the energy generated from the 1-GW Point Beach Nuclear Plant (the state’s biggest power plant).

The savings: This agreement could cut We Energies customers’ bills by hundreds of millions. That’s because the utility buys most of the NextEra-owned plant’s output…and nuclear fuel ain’t cheap.

Speaking of NextEra: The company announced that it’s co-developing a 6.5-GW gas plant in Texas, which will power an adjacent 5-GW data center campus. The $22B project fits into a US-Korea trade deal, which is also set to include eight new “large-scale” nuclear plants (Westinghouse has reportedly signed onto the project).