Today’s headlines: ERCOT revamps data center interconnection, Three Mile Island restart advances, and more

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

DATA CENTERS

• Texas grid operator ERCOT votes to speed the interconnection of data centers to the grid by evaluating batches of projects at once, and to require that data centers and cryptocurrency-mining facilities stay online during brief power disruptions to avoid cascading outages. (Houston Public Media, E&E News)

• The New York state legislature is poised to pass a bill that would put a one-year moratorium on data center development, create a new electricity rate for the facilities, and impose renewable energy requirements on them. (Politico)

• A new survey shows Americans are rapidly turning against data centers in their area, with the percentage of respondents indicating strong opposition more than doubling since September. (Heatmap)

NUCLEAR

• Federal regulators grant a waiver allowing the nuclear plant at Three Mile Island to start delivering power as soon as 2027. (Reuters)

UTILITIES

• Public Service Co. of New Mexico looks to offset the loss of coal power from a retiring plant by adding 800 MW of wind, 240 MW of solar, and 40 MW of natural gas generation, along with 610 MW of battery energy storage. (PV Tech)

• Alabama’s utility commission races heat up as one GOP incumbent is ousted in a primary and another is sent to a runoff, and as a Democratic nominee sues to block a new law that she says would give the state’s executive branch too much power over the commission” (Inside Climate News, Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIFICATION

• The historic, 175-acre Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, becomes the first cemetery in the country to use entirely battery-powered equipment. (WGBH)

CARBON REMOVAL

• Carbon removal technology has advanced dramatically over the past two years, but it’s still not growing fast enough to make a significant dent in global climate goals. (Heatmap)