1. Shapiro To Require Data Centers To Receive State Approval
Moving against “predatory” data centers, the Pennsylvania Governor is taking a sharp turn to limit new data centers.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to establish “strict guardrails for data center development.” Among the new rules are new environmental permitting requirements, a ban on NDAs between state agencies and data centers, and new grid rules to protect ratepayers. Shapiro’s new rules fall short of a full moratorium, like those in place in Texas and New York.
The executive order makes official voluntary principles Shapiro proposed in May that the Pennsylvania General Assembly refused to codify in law. The new executive order doesn’t make the GRID standards mandatory, but requires the Department of Environmental Protection to withhold permits from projects that do not agree to the GRID requirements. Those projects, under Shapiro’s new plan, would also be ineligible for state sales-tax exemptions.
Shapiro, at one point, declared he was “all in on AI” and was among the most vocal supporters of new data center development. Since then, the politics of data centers have turned sharply, and politicians who were previously supportive are becoming more vocally critical of data centers.
Governor Josh Shapiro said,
“My message to data center developers is clear: if you can’t agree to our strict requirements and get the community where you want to build to say ‘yes,’ you’re not going to have the Commonwealth’s support either. These are some of the biggest companies in the world — they can afford to be good neighbors, follow the rules, and do this right.”
2. Becerra Plans ‘Power Hour’
The California gubernatorial hopeful wants to give low-income residents two hours of free electricity a day.
California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, who is likely to win the race in November, argued for a program to give low-income Californians two hours of free electricity per day, timed with solar’s peak production on the grid. The proposal tries to take advantage of midday in high solar markets, like California’s, when demand is relatively low and production is extremely high.
The program wouldn’t be novel: it’s highly similar to programs in Australia, which give residents three hours of free electricity during peak solar production hours. In Texas, too, some utilities offer similar programs. These utility plans, like Becerra’s, are a form of load shifting to “flatten” the total electricity demand curve.
Becerra’s plan, however, could borrow another facet of Australia’s program structure, by promoting residential batteries and EV adoption, thereby allowing residents to take even more advantage of low prices and abundant clean energy.
3. Massachusetts Appoints Heat Resilience Officer
Massachusetts follows Arizona as the second state to appoint a dedicated officer for extreme heat adaptation.
Late last week, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced the appointment of a statewide Heat Resilience Officer, a new post within the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience. In 2024, Arizona named a Chief Heat Officer, becoming the first state to do so.
Massachusetts isn’t normally what comes to mind when it comes to extreme heat: the state ranks 37th in the country for average temperature. However, increasing temperatures and extreme heat waves are proving to be a significant challenge, especially for places like Massachusetts that are less adapted to extreme heat.
Extreme heat is a significant public health hazard and is the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States. It also has a massive economic impact: record-breaking heat in 2026 reportedly decreased GDP in the US by 0.6 percentage points. As extreme heat becomes more common, more places will need to figure out how to adapt, especially to keep people and workers safe.
Governor Maura Healey said, “Extreme heat is becoming more common, more intense and more dangerous in Massachusetts. We need to be ready for what that means for our families and communities.”
4. Virginia Tells Dominion To Charge Data Centers Directly
Virginia’s utility regulator ordered Dominion to assign certain infrastructure costs to data centers.
The Virginia State Corporation Commission ruled that utility giant Dominion Energy will have to directly assign the costs of some infrastructure to new large-load customers that it’s designed to serve. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger’s administration intervened in the case, calling on data centers to pay their “fair share.”
The order requires Dominion to charge large energy users to cover “direct connect” infrastructure, meaning transmission substations, dedicated high-voltage lines, and specific network extensions. The new order prevents Dominion from “ratebasing” these more specific infrastructure upgrades and having non-data center customers pay for them.
For now, the order excludes larger transmission system upgrades, but said it may use a new upcoming docket to consider whether “higher-level costs” should be covered directly by new large-load customers. It’s a strong start, however, in adhering to strong principles of rate design to avoid requiring other customers to pay for their associated costs.
5. Ohio Legislator Pushes For Public Hearings On Buyout
As a private equity consortium looks to take utility AES private, Rep. Tristan Rader called on the state to run public hearings in the utility’s service territory.
Ohio Representative Tristan Rader sent a letter to the Chair of the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO) requesting that the body hold hearings on a proposed buyout offer of AES, which would impact the utility’s 1.1 million Ohio customers.
A consortium of groups including BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, California pensions, the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, and a Swedish private equity firm offered to buy AES for $10.7 billion “in cash.” While PUCO has yet to make an official determination in the case, August 13 was the deadline to submit comments, and a staff review called the buyers “suitable.”
AES isn’t the first utility targeted for acquisition by private equity: Minnesota regulators approved the $6.2 billion sale of Northern Minnesota utility Allete to BlackRock and a Canadian pension fund. Private equity giant Blackstone also wants to buy New Mexico and Texas utility TXMN Energy, pending regulatory approval. Private equity firms are reportedly looking to “capitalize” on load growth.
6. California Contemplates Wildfire Liability
With the end of session looming, a potential deal to protect utilities from wildfire-related liabilities cause a storm.
As the clock ticks closer to the end of California’s two-year legislative session on August 31, Governor Gavin Newsom released a new fact sheet outlining potential details of a “package” to address growing wildfire risk and the wildfire liability process that led to the creation of California’s $21 billion backstop for utilities, which was supplemented with $18 billion last year. The Wildfire Fund is funded half by utility ratepayers and half by utility shareholders.
Newsom’s fact sheet cited the state-commissioned SB 254 Study Report, released in April, which outlined 28 separate “options” to reduce wildfire risk and reform the state’s liability system. Among those options were suggestions to modify or wholly eliminate “inverse condemnation,” a principle enshrined in the California Constitution, which places strict liability on entities that damage private property “for a public use,” regardless of negligence or criminal intent.
Consumer advocates and the insurance industry are advocating against the yet-to-be-seen package, arguing against any legislation that attempts to “shift liability” away from utilities. Ultimately, the only long-term way to bring down costs for all stakeholders is by investing in risk reduction and resilience.