Transition Finance Weekly - May 28, 2026
Alaska LNG; Shapiro’s Data Center Reversal; Anti-ESG Lawsuit
1. Alaska Governor Tries To Revive Subsidy For Struggling Pipeline
After a failed attempt to pass a massive tax break for pipelines, Gov. Dunleavy is trying again as pipeline backers admit the infrastructure requires massive public subsidies.
Late last week, legislators in Alaska returned to work after the close of their regular session as Governor Mike Dunleavy called a special session focused on the planned trans-Alaska Glenfarne Pipeline, which would carry gasre 800 miles from Alaska’s North Slope gas reserves to Anchorage, where it would be exported primarily to Japan. The special session is focused on a proposal to eliminate 90% of the property taxes that would be levied on pipeline-related infrastructure in the state.
The pipeline has faced significant opposition and is not a sure bet: despite efforts by Dunleavy and the Trump Administration to force through the pipeline, the project’s ever-increasing and unknown costs have put the project’s economics into question. Lawmakers have objected to the high costs, and did not pass the 90% tax break during Alaska’s regular session.
Glenfarne is still resting the final investment decision on “more offtake agreements” by customers, and the potential tax breaks. In any case, it’s unclear how Alaskans, who are facing an energy crisis as the Cook Inlet reserves face depletion, would benefit from a significant expansion in the state’s LNG export capacity.
Homer Electric Association Board Member Erin McKittrick said, “We had Glenfarne here last year saying that they were going to get their (final investment decision) by the end of 2025 before the legislative session. And then now we have Glenfarne saying they are completely dependent on a tax break that the legislature passes for them.”
2. Shapiro Wants To Condition Support for Data Centers
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announces his plan to require data centers to meet standards before receiving state help.
Governor Josh Shapiro released his new 2026-27 budget, which includes the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) principles, which will require data centers to meet certain standards on energy, transparency, workforce, and environmental standards before being eligible for Pennsylvania’s fast-track permit program.
It’s a big shift for Shapiro, who once boldly declared he was “all in on AI” when announcing a $20 billion Amazon data center in Pennsylvania. Shapiro also announced that Pennsylvania already has the “energy resources to support this technology.”
It’s also a sign of the evolving politics of data centers, which are drawing significant public backlash and increasingly bringing scrutiny from lawmakers seeking to restrict or pare back tax breaks for data centers.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro: “If companies want the Commonwealth’s full support — they must meet strong standards on energy affordability, clean energy generation, transparency, workforce development, community impact, and environmental protection.”
3. Red-State AGs File Anti-ESG Lawsuits Against ISS
Four Republican AGs announced they would sue Institutional Shareholder Services over its consideration of climate-related factors and ESG.
The Attorneys General of Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, and West Virginia announced lawsuits against major proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services, alleging its use of ESG criteria and consideration of climate-related factors violated state laws. The lawsuits were headlined by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a long-time anti-ESG stalwart candidate for Senate.
Paxton previously tried to enforce an unconstitutional law that included significant restrictions on the advisors’ ability to provide advice to shareholders, and argued that ISS tried to “obstruct” ExxonMobil’s move to Texas from New York. Exxon has attacked proxy advisors, and backed SB 2337, the Texas law restricting proxy advisors that was declared unconstitutional.
Despite the efforts to intimidate the proxy advisors, ISS has shown few signs of cowing under pressure: it has pledged to “vigorously defend” itself. The pressure from the anti-ESG state executives does not change the fact that climate-related financial factors are real, and are material to core business decisions.
4. NV Energy Announces Gigawatts of New Renewables, and Gas for Data Centers
In its new integrated resource plan, NV Energy files for approval of 4.3 GW of solar and 5.4 GW of storage, with 1.2 GW of gas.
NV Energy, the largest utility in Nevada, has filed its 2026 integrated resource plan, in which it is seeking regulatory approval for 4.3 GW of new solar development, 5.4 GW of storage, and 180 MW of new geothermal energy. NV Energy also says it needs 1.2 GW of new gas to power its growing base of data center customers.
The IRP represents a massive investment in new clean energy additions to the grid, in a state with significant renewable energy potential. Still, as advocates point out, the gas remains an ominous sign as it’s being built to serve data centers, which are projected to constitute a massively growing share of NV Energy’s customer base.
The utility warned in January that it would basically need to double its renewable energy generation by 2030 to meet its RPS as a result of the explosion of data centers in the state.
5. Public Financing Would Unlock $9 Billion In Savings For New England Transmission
New research shows that publicly-financed transmission would unlock significant long-term savings.
According to new research from the Acadia Center, shifting transmission financing and funding to government bonds and public-private partnerships could create more than $9 billion in long-term savings, as opposed to profit-driven financing.
ISO New England, the region’s grid operator, has already identified $16 to $26 billion in long term regional transmission investment to continue to ensure reliability through rising energy demand and decarbonization.
Public involvement also brings an element of long-term, coordinated planning, which can be used to unlock private industry competition and deliver cheap, renewable energy to the places it is needed.
Jamie Dickerson, senior director of climate and clean energy at the Acadia Center and one of the report authors, said, “It’s not every day that we unearth a solution that can deliver up to $10 billion in potential savings even though it is over a multi-decade period, so we’re really excited for policy makers and stakeholders to embrace this model.”
SPOTLIGHT: Insurers Are Reporting On Climate Risk, But Missing Key Substance
A new report this week by Ceres finds that insurers are continuing to participate en masse in the disclosure process across the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures pillars: Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, and Metrics & Targets. Ceres found that over 83% of insurance companies now disclose across all four pillars, up slightly from 2021.
Yet the quality of data doesn’t match the breadth of it: only 10.5% of individual disclosures meet the “fully met” standard, which is essentially flat since 2021. The data gaps are most stark in Metrics & Targets, where a majority of carriers are missing key data points, particularly in Scope 3 emissions. Still, industry leaders demonstrate that full compliance and fully meeting the TCFD standards isn’t due to a lack of capacity.
