6 articles
Index of editorial tags and filtered coverage.
After the House’s 417–3 vote on 16 September 2026 for H.R. 9340 (the Ratepayer Protection Act)—directing state commissions to consider making data centres over 100 MW pay their incremental grid costs—30 September coverage puts the procedural fight in the Senate. Guthrie, Latta and Evans sell it as consumer armour that still lets the AI race run.
In late September 2026 Oracle sent a force majeure notice to a Blue Owl/STACK Infrastructure subsidiary on Project Jupiter in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, citing power delays, air-quality permits for the microgrid and a gas pipeline. Reuters, Bloomberg and local press report Oracle is protecting contractual rights against a ~2028 operational target, without abandoning the project.
New Scientist on September 11, 2026 reports that Colossus 2 in Tennessee—the largest operational U.S. data center serving xAI/SpaceXAI AI—centers an environmental debate: satellite analysis suggests a NOx spike tied to dozens of temporary gas turbines in Mississippi. The company promised to remove 69 temporary turbines by July 2027 and replace them with 41 permanent ones (MDEQ permit March 2026). Company and local authorities dispute the claims. Verification disputed. We prefer xAI / Colossus 2 naming; press sometimes says SpaceXAI.
UN News / UNECE on September 8, 2026 warn that AI data centres are growing faster than electricity infrastructure; consumption is nearly doubling toward a ~945 TWh context from related UN work; Ireland (Dublin) faces connection restrictions; the Netherlands faces siting constraints; voltage-oscillation and cascading-failure risks; volatile AI demand versus renewables; fragmented environmental rules.
On September 9, 2026, Google announced at least €13 billion (~$15.1B) in AI infrastructure in Finland for 2027–2028—its largest single EU investment: new data centers in Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala, expansion in Hamina, and a 22-year PPA with Fortum for up to 50% of Loviisa nuclear output.
Electric demand from training and inference clusters strained grids, PPAs, and climate agendas.