Global Data Centers News

Louisiana energy leaders have announced a webinar titled “2026 Louisiana Energy Outlook” focused on the state’s energy and infrastructure future.

• The session will feature Phillip May, President and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, and Paige Carter, Chief Business Development Officer at Louisiana Economic Development; topics include AI data centers, nuclear energy, lithium development, and SpaceX operations.
• The page says the event is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 11 @ 12:00 PM EST and highlights Entergy Louisiana’s $1.9 billion grid resilience plan; it also notes LED has more than tripled its active project pipeline since June 2024.

The United Kingdom and the Sultanate of Oman have announced a broader upgraded partnership following Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s State Visit to the UK on 20-22 October 2026.

• The joint statement sets priorities across security, defence, trade, investment, green industries, advanced technologies, and climate action, and says the two sides will monitor progress through existing bilateral fora.
• Economic measures include support for the forthcoming UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement, a new Sovereign Partnership for Cooperation and Promotion of Investment, and strengthened cooperation on green growth, decarbonisation, AI, data centres, critical minerals, and space.
• The statement also says UK Export Finance increased its country limit for Oman by £1.6 billion, taking capacity to up to £7 billion for UK exports to Oman, and that Net Zero Industry Wales and the Oman Net Zero Centre will launch a partnership.
• Separate education and soft-power initiatives include the reopening of the Chevening Scholarship after 2021, a British Council pilot on AI-assisted education in Omani schools, and new Oman Net Zero Centre-Cardiff University scholarships.

DataBank is describing its community outreach around its Orangeburg-area data center, including festival participation and support for Pearl River Little League. This appears to be a company blog-style community relations post rather than a first-time infrastructure announcement.

• DataBank says employees from its nearby LGA3 data center joined Pearl River Day, staffing a booth to meet residents, answer questions, and distribute materials about data centers.
• The company says it invested nearly $20,000 in dugout sheds and field lighting for Pearl River Little League, and provides about $5,000 annually for sponsorship and student-athlete scholarships; it also mentions the “DataBank Dinger” home-run fundraiser tied to scholarships.

The UK Minister for Local Energy and Jobs, Martin McCluskey, delivered a speech at the ADE Heat Network Conference setting out government support for heat networks, new regulation, and zoning plans.

• He said government has allocated more than £200 million across four Green Heat Network Fund announcements in the past 12 months for 20 low carbon heat network projects, and nearly £35 million for the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme across 65 projects.
• He also highlighted new Ofgem regulation, consumer protections, work with the National Wealth Fund, and a commitment for at least 10 English towns and cities to receive support to establish heat network zones after regulations go live.

Troutman Pepper Locke partners William Derasmo and Vaughn Morrison appeared on a New Project Media podcast to discuss the US storage landscape and the role of data centers. - The October 13, 2026 NPM Interconnections (US) episode featured William Derasmo and Vaughn Morrison speaking with Andrew Burnes about storage market dynamics in the United States.

• They discussed headwinds and tailwinds, potential M&A in a capital-strained environment, the role data centers play in storage penetration, and whether the industry is peaking or still has room to grow.

MISO has announced that it selected a consortium led by Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois, GridLiance Heartland, and Dairyland Power Cooperative to develop, build, operate, and maintain the EASL transmission project in Iowa.

• The East Adair – Minnesota/Iowa State Line – Arbor Hill – York Avenue (EASL) project includes a 765-kV backbone, one new 345/765-kV substation, and two new 345-kV transmission lines; it has an estimated cost of approximately $1.23 billion and ownership stakes of 42.5% ATXI, 42.5% GridLiance, and 15% Dairyland.
• The project is part of MISO’s Long Range Transmission Planning Tranche 2.1 Portfolio (approved in December 2024); expected in-service dates are June 1, 2032 for the 345-kV scope and June 1, 2034 for the 765-kV scope, subject to regulatory review and stakeholder engagement.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has announced the launch of two new thematic indices and a licensing agreement with Southern Asset Management for ETF products.

• HKEX launched the HKEX Artificial Intelligence Index and the HKEX Semiconductor Index to expand its proprietary index suite and provide new benchmarks for technology themes.
• HKEX also entered a licensing agreement with China Southern Asset Management Company Limited to introduce ETFs based on the AI index in the Chinese Mainland; product launch timing was not disclosed.