Data centers

Corporate procurement

Despite big Texas solar purchase agreement, Meta still uses lots of gas

The new solar project is less than half the size of a gas plant planned for Meta’s El Paso data center.

By Lauren Nutall, Inside Climate News . 1 October 2026

Person in jeans, blue shirt, white cap walking alongside rows of computers — A Meta worker leads a tour of the company’s data center in Temple, Texas, on July 22. (Mikala Compton/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images via Inside Climate News)

Electrification

The Senate wants to pass a permitting reform bill. So what’s the holdup?

A bipartisan group of senators has a plan to speed up energy permits to meet rising demand, but data center backlash and environmental rollbacks are sticking points.

By Austin Corona, Grist . 28 September 2026
Virtual power plants

Should we get excited about California’s latest virtual power plant?

Google and PG&E will enlist Silicon Valley homes with batteries and other devices to help the grid. But they’re ignoring the data center elephant in the room.

By Jeff St. John . 23 September 2026
Fossil fuels

Duke Energy wants to build a new gas plant. Regulators said not so fast.

The 255-MW plant in North Carolina was meant to help meet data center demand. Regulators took the rare step of rejecting the permit amid a growing national backlash.

By Elizabeth Ouzts . 21 September 2026
Green steel

Google backs Swedish green-steel project to tackle rising emissions

The tech giant intends to buy certificates from Stegra’s hydrogen-fueled steel mill to support the scale-up of cleaner construction materials for data centers.

By Maria Gallucci . 17 September 2026
Batteries

xAI has quietly built a massive battery at its Memphis data center hub

Company and utility execs called it the nation’s biggest battery, but details are scant. A July satellite image shows 720 Tesla Megapacks at the controversial site.

By Julian Spector . 11 September 2026
Fossil fuels

Virginia kept its climate law. Dominion sees a loophole.

To power data centers, the state's largest utility is proposing a massive 3-gigawatt gas plant that tests the limits of the Virginia Clean Economy Act.

By Elizabeth Ouzts . 9 September 2026
Data centers

Questionable data center forecasts are driving up Ohio power bills

Critics question sky-high electricity demand predictions for Ohio, which rely on ambitious data center plans and put upward pressure on utility bills.

By Kathiann M. Kowalski . 9 September 2026
Fossil fuels

America's big but uncertain gas boom

Data centers are driving plans to build tons of dirty gas plants. Experts say it’s nearly impossible to distinguish pie-in-the-sky proposals from realistic ones.

By Dan McCarthy . 28 August 2026
Energy markets

PJM has finally greenlit a lot of new clean power. Can it get built?

More than 50 GW of solar, wind, and batteries can now connect to PJM’s grid. It could help drive down costs — if states, utilities, and hyperscalers make it happen.

By Jeff St. John . 24 August 2026
Data centers

PJM wants data centers to bring their own power. Pennsylvania’s on it.

The biggest U.S. energy market hopes to make data centers find their own power resources or face grid cutoffs. Gov. Shapiro is aligning his state with that plan.

By Jeff St. John . 20 August 2026