NERC Will Issue a May Alert on Data Center Load Volatility — The Grid's Reliability Overseer Says the Current System Can't Handle What's Being Built

US Grid Reliability / Data Centers / Federal Oversight
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation — the federal-designated body responsible for keeping the U.S. bulk power system reliable — will issue a new alert in May escalating its previous warnings about data center load behavior. The short version, in NERC's own language: utilities and …

AEP Ohio Will Build a Substation on Google's Property in Allen County — Public Open House May 6

OH Transmission / Data Centers / Hyperscaler Infrastructure
AEP Ohio announced Tuesday it plans to build a new electric substation on property Google already owns for a data center campus in Sugar Creek Township, Allen County, and to construct four miles of 345-kilovolt transmission lines connecting that substation to the existing grid. The project is …

Texas Losing $3.1 Billion in Data Center Tax Revenue — Senate Finance Chair Considers Repeal

TX Fiscal Policy
Texas will forgo at least $3.1 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years from its data center tax exemption, according to the state comptroller's office. The exemption cost $5–30 million per year from 2014 to 2022. By 2023 it hit $150 million. This year: $1.3 billion and climbing.

North Carolina's Short Session Opens With Bipartisan Push to Repeal Data Center Tax Breaks — Up to $450 Million a Year on the Line

NC · Fiscal / Data Centers / State Legislation · April 22, 2026

The North Carolina General Assembly returns to Raleigh today for its 2026 short session, and one of the few measures with visible bipartisan momentum is a proposal from Gov. Josh Stein (D) to modify or repeal the state's sales tax exemptions on data …

Amwell Township to hold public hearing May 14 on proposed data center zoning ordinance

PA · Data Centers · April 21, 2026

Amwell Township in Washington County, Pennsylvania will hold a public hearing on May 14, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. on a proposed zoning amendment that would, for the first time, define "data center" in township code and set out where such facilities could …

Weaverville, N.C. holds April 27 hearing on data center and crypto mining zoning amendment

NC · Data Centers · April 21, 2026

The Weaverville Town Council, in the Asheville metropolitan area, will hold a public hearing on Monday, April 27, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. on a proposed zoning text amendment "related to crypto mining, data centers." The notice states that "action may be …

Sterling, Va. residents press Loudoun County over gas-turbine data center running off-grid next to homes

VA · Data Centers · April 21, 2026

Residents near the Vantage II data center in Sterling, Virginia are pressing Vantage Data Centers and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors over round-the-clock noise and air-quality impacts from eight natural-gas turbines running as a microgrid …

Trump White House helps kill Utah AI child-safety bill as federal preemption fight reaches state legislatures and primary ballots

UT NY · AI Policy · April 21, 2026

Utah State Rep. Doug Fiefia — a former Google employee running for state senate — has seen his signature AI bill blocked with help from the Trump White House. Fiefia's proposal would have required AI companies to include child-safety protocols for …

Pennsylvania township supervisors urge colleagues statewide to adopt data-center zoning before proposals land

PA · Data Centers · April 21, 2026

At its annual conference in Hershey Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS) convened a panel specifically to help township officials build data-center zoning ordinances before a developer proposal arrives. That's the …

The Big 3 — April 21, 2026

April 21, 2026

Today's throughline: the zoning window. Three communities showing three positions on the timeline. A North Carolina town has its public hearing in six days. In Pennsylvania, the state township association spent yesterday urging colleagues to write …

Data Centers Are Now a Midterm Election Issue — NPR Documents the Political Shift from Local Zoning Fights to National Campaign Terrain

NATIONAL · Data Centers / Elections · April 20, 2026

NPR published a sweeping analysis arguing that data center opposition has crossed the threshold from local land-use dispute to viable midterm campaign issue. The evidence is mounting fast. In Festus, Missouri, voters ousted all four incumbent …

AEP Ohio Files 345-kV Transmission Plan for Licking County Data Center Corridor — 10 Days to Intervene

OH · Transmission / Data Centers / Public Participation · April 20, 2026

AEP Ohio filed notice this week with the Ohio Power Siting Board for a new 345-kilovolt substation and a cluster of transmission lines in Licking County, serving a large customer development near New Albany. The filing is in two parts: - Case No …

Signals — April 20, 2026

April 20, 2026

Portage County's Moratorium Wave: Kent and Streetsboro Pause Data Center Applications

OH · Local Zoning / Data Centers / Community Voice · April 20, 2026

Two Portage County cities voted within a week of each other to pause new data center applications while they write zoning they can actually defend. Streetsboro City Council approved a six-month moratorium last Tuesday. Kent City Council followed …

The Big 3 — April 20, 2026

April 20, 2026

Also today: Rhode Island's first data center fight has become a governor's race issue as Helena Foulkes backs H7270/S2427 and Gov. McKee stays silent. LaPorte, Indiana held a "heavily attended" public hearing on April 13 — we're trying to learn what …

Data Centers Drove Half of All U.S. Electricity Demand Growth in 2025 — and the IEA Says That Won't Change Through 2030

NATIONAL · Energy & Grid · April 20, 2026

The International Energy Agency reported that data centers accounted for roughly half of all electricity demand growth in the United States in 2025 — far surpassing the rise in residential, industrial, and transportation sectors combined. U.S …

Rhode Island's First Data Center Fight Becomes a Governor's Race Issue

RI · State Siting / Political Economy · April 20, 2026

The most complete single piece of data center reporting filed anywhere this week was Patrick Anderson's front-of-the-paper story in the Providence Journal on the proposed Hanton City campus — a roughly 500-acre site in Smithfield, Rhode Island that …

Lebanon County, PA Residents Push Back on $1.7 Billion Data Center — $17 Million Per Permanent Job

PA · Data Centers / Local Government · April 19, 2026

More than 30 residents attended a Lebanon County commissioners' workshop to voice objections to a proposed $1.7 billion, 99-acre data center in South Annville Township. The project would include five buildings and employ an estimated 50 to 100 …

Get alerts for your state

We'll email you when there's a story about energy or data center development near you.