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

PA Data Centers
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 shift worth naming: what has looked until now like a …

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

VA Data Centers
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 — powering the facility off-grid while the serving …

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

NC Data Centers
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 taken" at the hearing — meaning the Council may …

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 · April 22, 2026

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 …

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 …

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 …

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

OH · Transmission / Data Centers / Hyperscaler Infrastructure · April 21, 2026

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 …

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 …

Signals | April 19, 2026

April 19, 2026

Trump-branded Fermi America data center stalling (TX). CEO Toby Neugebauer departed abruptly; shares down 75% in six months. The Texas Panhandle project, co-founded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, has no publicly confirmed anchor tenant. An …

Louisiana Regulators Vote 4-1 to Fast-Track 5,200 MW of New Gas Plants for Meta — 43% More Than Entergy Currently Generates for the Entire State

LA · Data Centers / Utility Regulation · April 19, 2026

Update: This story builds on our April 15 coverage of Louisiana's regulatory fast-tracking. The numbers have gotten bigger. Louisiana Public Service Commission members voted 4-1 to allow Entergy Louisiana to bypass a formal administrative law judge …

FERC Delays Data Center Grid Connection Rules — Stakes Rise for State-Level Ratepayer Protections

FEDERAL · Data Centers / Grid · April 19, 2026

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced it will take action in June on proposed reforms for connecting data centers and other large loads to the transmission grid, missing the Department of Energy's original April 30 deadline. The delay …

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