Big #Tech Signs Trump #Data Center Pledge. Fulfilling It Is the Hard Part.
@rambotalabong.bsky.social and @cpaullinva.bsky.social report for @insideclimatenews.org
#news #environment
EJ Today Headlines: sej.org/headlines/list
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insideclimatenews.org/news/0403202...
President Trump signed his "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" to have data centers pay for their own power.
Rambo Talabong and I spoke with many who said it doesn't actually do anything other than attempt to fix Big Tech's PR problem.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0403202...
President Trump said he has a deal for big tech's data centers to power themselves and protect ratepayers.
But details are sparse, and complex arrangements could still leave everyday ratepayers on the hook for higher costs.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0403202...
Wondering what's driving up electricity rates and how clean energy may be involved?
Marianne Lavelle and @dangearino.bsky.social break it down.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0203202...
The fight over Dominion's natural gas plant in Chesterfield County continues.
The @selc.bsky.social is appealing the approval to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
It's the first appeal under the state's 2020 clean energy and environmental justice laws.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2402202...
Less than a week later, Senate Finance and Appropriations Chairperson @senlouiselucas.bluesky.bot said she wants to end the exemption Jan. 1.
Asked how firm she is on holding that date, Lucas said "as firm as concrete."
insideclimatenews.org/news/2302202...
A Va committee quickly advanced a bill to ban Paraquat, a pesticide linked with causing Parkinson's disease.
The bill was then suddenly continued to next year, effectively killing it for now.
@abigailspanberger.com declined to say if she supported the delay.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2102202...
Virginia's tax exemption for data centers helped the state become the data center capital of the world.
The House of Delegates passed Del. Sullivan's bill tying the billions exempted for the industry to clean energy requirements.
Onto the Senate now.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1802202...
The Virginia General Assembly is moving along on a "standards bill" that aims to open up solar development after years of pushback from rural and local government interests.
House and Senate versions are on their way to opposite chambers for more debate.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0602202...
Data centers in Va can run off their backup generators through Saturday because of the cold.
Some research shows that could mean a whole lotta pollution in the air.
Va DEQ doesn't need to be notified when a generator starts.
A bill could change that.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2901202...
.@jonesjay.bsky.social took a step that could end a lawsuit that halted Virginia's return to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon market.
@governorva.bsky.social likes RGGI. Del. Herring is taking steps to rejoin.
Senate Republicans don't like it.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2301202...
In line with two other court rulings this week, a judge granted Dominion Energy a preliminary injunction, pausing a stop work order from the Trump administration and allowing the utility to resume construction on its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1601202...
Dominion's regulators approved in November a rate increase, but not by the requested amount.
Changes include how data centers will pay for their needs, potentially reducing speculative projections.
Some want more residential customer protections.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0701202...
It's 2026 alright. Before we take off more, here's some thoughts on stories and what stood out to me in 2025:
lnkd.in/eAryA8-Z
Thank you to @insideclimatenews.org, @cardinalnews.org, Virginia Business, @whropublicmedia.bsky.social and everyone for all the help last year.
Virginia's enviromental regulators are considering defining a "sudden and reasonably unforeseeable" emergency to include a "planned outage."
The change would allow data centers to run diesel generators more often than cleaner alternatives.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1512202...
"...Virginia’s legislative watchdog agency found that households there could see their bills increase by an estimated $14 to $37 monthly by 2040 as a result."
From @laurendalban.bsky.social.
.https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08122025/environmental-groups-demand-data-center-construction-freeze/
The State Corporation Commission approved Dominion's new natural gas plant proposal, the first since passage of Virginia's decarbonization law in 2020.
The project still needs an air permit.
It comes as the state sees rising demand from data centers.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0512202...
Tenaska's 1.5 gigawatt gas plant proposal in Fluvanna County will now have all three planning commission votes in January.
It's part of PJM's Reliability Resource Initiative seeking to add electricity generation to the grid to power data centers.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2611202...
Before the public can act, they must know. But China is silencing independent journalists reporting on the environmental impacts of its massive Belt and Road Initiative—mines, ports, dams, power plants etc in mostly poor countries.
Here’s how they’re doing it and why it matters.
Texas has no regulations to protect workers from the state’s blistering heat and overturned city ordinances that required rest breaks. What does that mean for workers in one of the hottest parts of the country? @keertigopal.bsky.social and I spent months investigating for @insideclimatenews.org (1)
New research shows how low-income communities of color bear the brunt of pollution past and present, and how that legacy of injustice is likely to reverberate for generations as seas rise. We have the story at @insideclimatenews.org A thread. 1/ insideclimatenews.org/news/2011202...
More data centers are coming and so more gas pipelines could be here too.
Mountain Valley Pipeline and Williams Companies's plans to run pipe next to each other from Southwest Virginia into North Carolina are among many proposals across the state.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2011202...
A timeline cleanser: My recent newsletter is about rise of "repair cafes" around the world, where communities come together to fix each other's beloved things. The goal: reduce consumer waste, and maybe make some buddies in the process 🔧👭
insideclimatenews.org/news/1111202...
A new unifying issue: Just about everyone hates data centers.
I looked at examples in Indiana, but it's almost everywhere, with resistance to data centers coming from left, right and center.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...
Democrats in Virginia won trifecta control of state government.
A lot of action is expected to happen in the next session in 2026.
One of the questions before lawmakers: keep with clean energy goals on the books, or ease them for a little more gas?
insideclimatenews.org/news/0511202...
More background on what Virginia voters are weighing today in the energy and environmental world:
insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202... (3/3)
Outside the polling location this morning, Charles Sparks, 45, voted Democrat, saying, "fossil fuels suck, I hate them."
Joshua Miller, 46, voted Republican, saying he supports a clean energy transition, but "not like we got to be entirely solar by 2030. Not as fast." (2/3)
The location of Dominion's proposed gas peaker plant in Chesterfield County is within the Elizabeth Scott voting precinct.
There, Harris received about 52% of the votes in 2024.
There, incumbent GOP Del. Carrie Coyner is facing a challenge from Dem. Lindsey Dougherty. (1/3)
Virginia voters will hit the polls tomorrow with electricity bills, data centers and renewable energy front of mind.
One potential outcome? A Democratic triefcta control with questions over a commitment to the state's decarbonization law.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0311202...
A CSX train carrying coal from West Virginia to Newport News, Virginia derailed just past Richmond in New Kent County.
About 4,000 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into wetlands near the Chickahominy River.
insideclimatenews.org/news/3110202...
