The Daily Mine — Saturday, March 28, 2026

SANDERS, AOC PUSH NATIONWIDE DATA CENTER FREEZE
Los Angeles Times
The "AI Data Center Moratorium Act" would halt all new construction until Congress establishes worker protections, ratepayer safeguards, and environmental standards.

FERC: TRANSMISSION IS AI POWER'S MAIN BOTTLENECK
Argus Media
Commissioner Judy Chang says the aging US transmission network, not generation capacity, is the primary obstacle to meeting surging AI electricity demand.

NEXTERA WINS APPROVAL FOR 10 GW GAS BUILDOUT
Utility Dive
Trump signed off on NextEra's plan to build a 4.3 GW hub in Pennsylvania and a 5.2 GW hub in Texas, totaling roughly $33 billion in gas generation for data centers.

GRID STRESS FORCES DATA CENTERS TO CUT DEMAND
Energy Now
Grid operators are pushing tech companies to scale back consumption during peak periods, with Google among the first to commit to demand response programs.

DATA CENTERS COULD HIT 12 PERCENT OF US POWER BY 2028
Belfer Center
A Belfer Center analysis projects data center electricity use jumping from 4.4% of US consumption in 2023 to as much as 12% by 2028, driven by AI expansion.

EIA PROJECTS RECORD 86 GW ADDED TO GRID IN 2026
RTO Insider
Solar leads at 51% of planned additions, with battery storage at 28% and wind at 14%, as the US races to keep pace with record-setting power consumption.

WEST NEEDS 60 BILLION IN NEW TRANSMISSION BY 2035
NW Council
A WestTEC 10-year study identified 12,600 miles of needed upgrades across the Western Interconnection to relieve congestion and absorb surging load growth.

MICHIGAN UTILITY WINS APPROVAL FOR GRID HARDENING PLAN
PR Newswire
Consumers Energy's Reliability Action Plan, approved March 27, directs 75 cents of every customer dollar toward tree trimming, line burial, and cyber protections.

COAL PLANT RETIREMENTS STALL AGAIN ON RELIABILITY FEARS
Enerknol
Federal policy shifts and DOE emergency orders kept 11 GW of scheduled retirements online in 2025. The EIA now expects further delays for coal and gas units in 2026.

BILL WOULD MANDATE BETTER CONDUCTORS ON NEW POWER LINES
House.gov
Rep. Fedorchak's High-Capacity Grid Act, backed by tech and energy industry leaders, would require best-available conductors on all new and rebuilt interstate transmission lines.

PENNSYLVANIA BOROUGH KILLS 18-BUILDING DATA CENTER CAMPUS
WVIA
Archbald's council voted 5-0 to deny Project Scott, a Provident Data Centers proposal, following months of organized community opposition to six planned campuses in the borough.

TAYLOR TEXAS APPROVES 2.5 BILLION DATA CENTER PROJECT
San Antonio Express-News
The city council unanimously approved Project Comal, a 220-acre, six-building KDC campus projected to deliver $145 million in local revenue and 3,000 construction jobs.

GOOGLE EYES WEST VIRGINIA FOR HYPERSCALE DATA CENTER
Tribune Chronicle
A hyperscale project attributed to Google is in development in West Virginia, adding to a list of tech giants targeting the state for its available land and energy resources.

TWELVE STATES NOW HAVE ACTIVE DATA CENTER MORATORIUM BILLS
Good Jobs First
Good Jobs First counts at least 12 states with moratorium legislation in play and 54 local governments that have already enacted short-term construction freezes.

PENNSYLVANIA TOWNSHIP ZONES DATA CENTERS OUT OF NEIGHBORHOODS
TribLive
Hempfield Township rewrote its zoning code to restrict new data centers to industrial areas, a move other Pennsylvania communities are studying as a local defense strategy.