‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan

Facility would require more power than entire state uses and suck up vast amount of water in drought-stricken area…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/13/utah-approves-datacenter-backlash

 

Solar booms in industrial US midwest as energy crisis persists

Electricity has become one of the most important commodities in the region thanks to demand from datacenters, Iran war and rising utility charges…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/02/solar-midwest-energy-crisis

 

I just got back from Cuba. Here's what I saw:

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uadzJv_88h8

The Culture Wars Are Coming for Your Electricity – Mother Jones

Utah Republicans celebrated last week when PacifiCorp, one of the largest utilities in the West, announced it would stop serving customers in Washington state. PacifiCorp mainly operates in Utah, but also in Wyoming and Idaho—and, to the chagrin of some Utah legislators, blue states like California and Oregon. Utah legislators had previously pressured to break their utility's ties with states with more aggressive climate policies. … 

"We want a divorce from the three states that don't look like Utah," said Mike Schultz, Utah's Republican House Speaker. "This is the first step forward."

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/energy-fossil-fuel-wind-solar-renewables-political-identity-woke-electricty-bills/

‘Pay for your own power’: Shapiro digs in on data center energy costs - POLITICO

"Pay for your own power, so it's not saddling local businesses or homeowners with higher costs," Shapiro said in an interview with POLITICO earlier this month from a union hall in Philadelphia…https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/19/shapiro-tests-democrats-data-center-strategy-00767682 

Trump launches bid to tame electricity prices in the Northeast - POLITICO

The governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia and other states in that market have long feuded with the grid operator, called PJM Interconnection, over its handling of power supply and demand mismatches that have spiked prices across the region. Others in the market include all or part of Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia...

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/16/trump-tame-electricity-prices-00733422 

 

Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules

Win for Memphis activists who say 'Colossus' facilities add extra pollution to already overburdened communities…

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/15/elon-musk-xai-datacenter-memphis

 

There is no electricity in Moscow and Russians are not happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwWXCsCe-hM

 

Democratic senators investigate data centers’ effects on electricity prices

Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Van Hollen demand answers from tech firms including Google and Amazon…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/16/data-centers-consumer-prices

 

Data center boom creates political conundrum for the GOP - POLITICO

"I think people have very legitimate concerns, and that is: Who is going to pay the bill for the additional energy that's demanded from this?" said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.). "They go, 'My power bill's gone up because somebody down the road is building a data center.'"…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/14/data-center-boom-creates-political-conundrum-gop-00680635 

 

Utah Leaders Hinder Solar Efforts Despite Need for More Energy — ProPublica

Cox signed a pair of bills passed this year that will make it more difficult and expensive to develop and produce solar energy in Utah by ending solar development tax credits and imposing a hefty new tax on solar generation. A third bill aimed at limiting solar development on farmland narrowly missed the deadline for passage but is expected to return next year...

https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-solar-energy-operation-gigawatt-spencer-cox 

 

US judge strikes down Trump order blocking wind energy projects

"From the beginning of its time in office, the Trump administration put a halt to the wind energy projects that are needed to keep utility bills in check and the grid reliable," Kennedy said. 

The wind order "has been a devastating blow to workers, electricity customers, and the reliability of the power grid", she said, adding that the Trump administration "should use this [ruling] as a wake-up call, stop its illegal actions and get out of the way of the expansion of renewable energy"...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/09/judge-blocks-trump-order-wind-energy

 

More than 200 environmental groups demand halt to new US data centers

Exclusive: Congress urged to act against energy-hungry facilities blamed for increasing bills and worsening climate crisis…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/08/us-data-centers

 

 

 

What will happen to Northern Michigan residents?

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NCMzEbycT-k

 

Electricity prices jump after Trump rejects disaster aid for Michigan utilities - POLITICO

The president denied the state's request for federal aid to rebuild power lines after a fierce ice storm last March, a move that could force thousands of rural electricity customers to pay the entire tab...

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/30/electricity-prices-jump-after-trump-rejects-disaster-aid-for-michigan-utilities-00665572 

 

China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds

Rapid increases in the deployment of solar and wind power generation – which grew by 46% and 11% respectively in the third quarter of this year – meant the country's energy sector emissions remained flat, even as the demand for electricity increased…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/11/china-co2-emissions-flat-or-falling-for-past-18-months-analysis-finds

 

US electricity bills increased by 11% in Trump’s second term, data shows

"In effect, you have created a massive cut in energy supply," the senators say...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/31/us-electricity-bills-increased-trump 

 

The real reason electricity prices are rising, and it’s not data centers - The Washington Post

It's not AI. It's not even data centers...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/10/25/data-centers-electricity-prices-rise/

As James Carville says: when it comes to rising electricity prices, “it’s the economy, stupid."

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/__DfE2DVF7k

 

How Trump’s assault on US wind industry threatens jobs and power for nearly 5m homes

"At least a third or maybe 40%, of building trade members, we are pretty sure, voted for this President and his administration … now thousands are losing work," said David Langlais, who leads the Ironworkers Local 37, whose members were among the more than 1,000 workers whose jobs were threatened by the attempt to halt Revolution Wind in Rhode Island. 

"The administration came out saying they're supportive of working people, working Americans, but they just continue to show the opposite of that."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/24/trump-wind-power-threats-homes