PJM Fast-Tracks 2.1 GW as Senators Tally Data Center Grid Costs — October 12, 2026
The Data Center DailyShow Notes
PJM cleared its first 2.1 GW of fast-track capacity, Engie batteries and an LS Power gas uprate, as a Senate Democratic report says hyperscalers resist paying for shared grid upgrades and Meta's infrastructure chief puts 2026 spend above $100 billion.
In this episode: Top stories: 1. PJM fast-tracks first 2.1 GW of capacity as data centers strain supply - Newzino — Newzino https://newzino.com/story/engie-ls-power-land-2-1-gw-in-fast-track-interconnection-approval-from-pj-ee7360 2. Meta's infrastructure chief says Meta's 2026… · Slicast — Slicast https://slicast.com/article/1fo19vf 3. US senators release report on data centre costs and transparency | Digital Watch Observatory — Digital Watch Observatory https://dig.watch/updates/us-senators-probe-data-centre-costs-transparency 4. $366M Data Center Project Longhorn Filed in Texas - Energy.Media — Energy.Media https://energy.media/energy-deals/366m-data-center-project-longhorn-filed-in-texas/
Follow and rate The Data Center Daily on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Feedback? Email [email protected]
More from The Data Center Daily
Google expands its Voltus bring-your-own-capacity deal in PJM tenfold to 1,070 MW under a contract running through 2040, while Nvidia locks in substrate, packaging, test and optics capacity with six suppliers. Plus Bernstein's estimate that only about 35% of announced US data center capacity gets built, and a Pennsylvania county ordering a developer to stop work on a substation.
Entergy Arkansas and Google amend their West Memphis power deal to resolve an accounting fight over ratepayer charges while adding a 440 MW solar PPA, 1.4 GWh of batteries and new transmission. Also: Musk's 10 GW compute claim for SpaceXAI, TCEQ pulling its permit portal offline, and $35 billion of Chinese orders for an Nvidia workstation GPU.
PJM filed a FERC study agreement to evaluate roughly 9.6 GW of new data center load and 10.2 GW of generation at SB Energy's Flagship site in Pike County, Ohio, outside its interconnection queue. Also: AEP, X-energy and Amazon eye 960 MW of Xe-100 reactors in Indiana, Texas's data center permit freeze draws scrutiny, and Memphis deadlocks on a moratorium.
NiSource signs a 20-year, 1,100 MW supply deal with Microsoft, funded by Microsoft, and NERC's computational-load standards clear their final ballot. Plus AEP's $4 billion fuel cell plant for Google in Wyoming and a 7.5 GW gas campus in a Utah water filing.
Oregon's governor has paused air and water permits for data centers until July 2027, and DOE issued a heat-driven emergency order for PJM. Plus FERC's split vote on Duke's large-load transmission rules and Microsoft's multi-gigawatt plan for its Maia inference chips.