California Data Center Intel

Recent California data center news

• Jun 30, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - June 30, 2026

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) recaps Expo2026 panels and highlights recent policy developments.

  • Main announcement: EESI summarizes the 29th annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum (Expo2026), providing links to full recorded panels on topics including permitting reform, energy affordability, data centers, and building and grid resilience; the newsletter links to EESI’s YouTube recordings and lists speakers and organizations for each session.
  • Policy and event updates: The newsletter reports the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft Farm Bill (PDF link provided) and notes the House passed H.R.7567 in April; it also records recent congressional actions including passage of S.629 (Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act) through the House, passage of S.4822 (Saving the Ocean Observatories Initiative Act of 2026) in the Senate, reintroduction of S.4867 (Small Farm Conservation Act), and introduction of S.4870 to reauthorize Earth MRI; it lists upcoming EESI briefings on July 16, 2026 (Nitrogen pollution research roadmap) and July 24, 2026 (drought impacts).
• Jun 30, 2026

  The 250-year history of U.S. energy consumption

  The U.S. Energy Information Administration published an explainer on the 250-year history of U.S. energy consumption.

  • The article summarizes how U.S. energy use shifted from wood in the 18th and 19th centuries to petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydropower, wind, solar, and biofuels by 2025.
  • It notes that in 2025 U.S. total energy use was 96 quads, up 2% from 2024, and that fossil fuels still accounted for 82% of energy consumed.
  • The piece also states that electricity demand is expected to grow faster than any time since 2000 through the end of 2027, mostly because of data centers; it also references EV electricity consumption of 24 billion kWh in 2025.
• Jun 29, 2026

  Cadwalader Strengthens Data Center and Digital Infrastructure Practice With New Partner Nika Silva

  Cadwalader has announced it has added Nika Silva as a partner in its Capital Markets practice and named her U.S. Head of Digital Infrastructure Finance for the combined Hogan Lovells Cadwalader upon completion of the merger in July 2026.

  • Main announcement: Cadwalader has added Nika Silva as a partner in its Capital Markets practice; she will be initially resident in New York, and after the merger closing in July 2026 will be based in Los Angeles and serve as the combined firm’s U.S. Head of Digital Infrastructure Finance. Nika brings 20+ years of experience in structured finance and represents issuers, financial institutions, underwriters and institutional investors on data center and fintech asset-backed securitizations and structured lending.
  • Background and deal context: The move comes ahead of the Hogan Lovells Cadwalader combination in July 2026; the release cites the combined platform’s track record, including Hogan Lovells’ landmark €640 million securitization that financed four energy-efficient stabilized data centers in Germany, and notes Nika has practiced in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Los Angeles, New York, London and Australia.
• Jun 26, 2026

  Unnamed data center developer eyeing former Crystal Geyser bottling site in Mount Shasta, California

  An unnamed developer has contacted Mount Shasta city officials about potentially buying the former Crystal Geyser bottling site and applying for permission to build a data center there.

  • Main announcement/action: The city was “contacted by an entity” interested in using the former Crystal Geyser site to build a data center; City Manager Todd Juhasz said the city would meet with them later in the week to discuss the proposal. The developer is unnamed and no formal application, contract, sale, or permitting decision has been announced.
  • Background and other details: The property was purchased by Crystal Geyser in 2013 and Crystal Geyser gave up plans to open the bottling facility by 2021 due to environmental concerns; City Council Member Tessa Clure said the party had “expressed interest in purchasing the property” and that there are “other offers on the table that are more appealing (to the environment, the community, and the seller).” A Change.org petition titled ‘Stop the potential of data center project at the Crystal Geyser plant in Mount Shasta, CA’ has received more than 7,500 signatures.
• Jun 25, 2026

  Who’s Protecting the Piedmont?

  The Piedmont Environmental Council profiles three individuals protecting the Virginia Piedmont.

  • Main announcement: PEC spotlights three local stewards — volunteer Barry Buschow, community partner Greg Pirio, and legacy donor George Grayson — describing concrete actions such as Barry installing a riparian buffer in 2023 and pursuing a goal to plant more than 1,000 trees, Greg organizing the Sterling Community Action group after a gas-turbine power plant opened ~1 year ago 150 yards from homes (community-installed noise monitoring and an PEC-supported air quality study), and George’s long-term support including joining the PEC Board in 2015 and participating in PEC’s Bill Backer Legacy Society (first gift in 1992).
  • Background & details: The profile references PEC programs including Plantings for the Piedmont, Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative, and the Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows; it states PEC and partners have collectively preserved over 440,000 acres, notes media coverage (Smithsonian Magazine, BBC), and identifies community actions (meetings, noise monitoring, air quality study) already underway with PEC facilitation.
• Jun 25, 2026

  Tesla, Sunrun, Renew Home announce 16GW VPP framework, focus on PJM

  Sunrun, Renew Home and Tesla have announced a framework to aggregate residential batteries and smart thermostats into a national virtual power plant (VPP) to deliver more than 16GW of flexible energy capacity to hyperscalers and utilities (announcement dated 24 June).

  • Primary announcement: The companies will aggregate “hundreds of thousands” of Sunrun- and Tesla-operated home battery systems together with more than 8 million smart thermostats and devices managed by Renew Home into a VPP that the companies describe as creating the largest VPP in the country; it requires no additional hardware, software, interconnection, water, or land from offtakers. The framework provides a single procurement point and national coverage across major electricity markets, with available capacity allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Background and implementation details: The arrangement reports >300MW available immediately in Virginia (home to “Data Centre Alley”) and projects at least 500MW in Virginia by 2030 as residential deployments grow; the parties have committed capacity to PJM’s proposed Reliability Backstop Procurement, which they say could immediately unlock over 1GW if accepted. The companies cite The Brattle Group analysis that improved grid utilisation could reduce US electricity bills by US$110 billion to US$170 billion over the next decade. Participating residential customers will receive compensation and rewards under grid-supporting programmes.
• Jun 25, 2026

  Carolina West Wireless to Transfer Mobile Network to Verizon

  Carolina West Wireless has announced it will shut down its wireless service by Sept. 30, 2026 and transition its network to Verizon.

  • Main action:Carolina West Wireless (CWW) will cease wireless operations by Sept. 30, 2026 and is transitioning its network to Verizon; customers who switch to Verizon before July 30 will receive a $150 Mastercard gift card per line and Verizon will not charge mobile line activation fees. CEO Slayton Stewart said the decision reflects rising infrastructure demands and the company pledged support for employees via severance and career services. CWW did not disclose the fate of its FCC-overseen wireless licenses.
  • Background and reaction: CWW was founded in 1991 and is owned by a partnership of Skyline Telephone and Surry Communications; the Competitive Carriers Association President & CEO Tim Donovan urged sustainable USF operational expense support for rural carriers and called on Congress and the FCC to act promptly. Links to CWW customer transition FAQs and local reporting are cited in the article.
• Jun 25, 2026

  ees Europe 2026: Grid-forming PCS, DC-coupling, C&I and data centre solutions among product launches and market debuts      

  Energy-Storage.news reports highlights from ees Europe / Intersolar / Smarter E 2026, summarising multiple company product launches and European debuts.

  • Main announcement/coverage: The article aggregates several first-time product launches and European debuts, including CATL’s 30MWh+ sodium-ion block (live launch covered separately), Fluence Smartstack 10MWh (site-level density ≈680MWh/acre; up to 40% reduced balance-of-plant costs), Trina Storage Elementa + Electra 13.8MVA/25MWh (first EU deployment: 40MW / 160.48MWh in Izvoarele, Romania for LSG, commissioning targeted Q3 2026), Sungrow PowerStack 255CS (C&I units: 125kW PCS, 257kWh / 514kWh unit capacities; scalable to 6MWh), Nidec UniQube PCS for LDES, and Envision Gen 8 4.X MWh LDES and AI Power System for AIDCs.
  • Background and timing details: The article is a roundup rather than a single press release; it records product specs, certifications and timelines: PVFARM RE PILOT BESS update due Q3 2026, FranklinWH European market entry planned 2027, SMA to begin quoting customer pricing for its hybrid solution at the end of July (2026 implied), and Hithium systems deployed as part of a 366MWh AI-enabled industrial project across 15 facilities (over 130MWh already installed). All bullets reflect verifiable facts from the article.
• Jun 24, 2026

  FERC show-cause orders aim to speed large-load integration

  FERC has issued tailored show-cause orders to six regional RTOs/ISOs requiring them to justify or reform large-load interconnection rules and to provide generation-availability details.

  • Main action: FERC issued tailored show cause orders to ISO-NE, NYISO, PJM, MISO, SPP and CAISO giving them 60 days to “justify or reform” interconnection rules for data centers, manufacturing facilities, and other large energy users,” and requiring grid operators and their transmission owners to provide details on how they make adequate generation available within 30 days**.
  • Background & specifics: FERC identified five reform categories to address (1) transmission application and study processes including alternative technologies, (2) preventing cost shifting and increasing cost transparency, (3) accommodating co-location agreements and behind-the-meter generation, (4) new transmission services for flexible large loads, and (5) studying generation proximate to large loads. Grid Forward solicited commentary from Bruce Grabow (Sheppard Mullin) and Ray Gifford (Wilkinson Barker Knauer) who emphasized that the order aims to “facilitate speed to power,” noted jurisdictional limits, and compared the action to historic FERC oversight efforts.
• Jun 24, 2026

  Polaroid ads attack data centers for water use

  Polaroid has launched an advertising campaign criticizing data centre water use and promoting analogue/less-screen time behaviours.

  • Campaign details: The ads run on billboards and social channels with the slogan “Go jump in some water before the data centers drink it all up”, appearing at Coney Island (US), King’s Cross, Bethnal Green, and Hackney (UK), and in South Korea, and extend to Polaroid’s social media; creative director Patricia Varella is quoted explaining the campaign’s pro-human positioning.
  • Context and factual details: The piece cites Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (data centres used 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023), compares that to 200 billion for swimming pools and 476 billion for golf courses, references Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella‘s claim that a data centre’s use is roughly that of a single restaurant, AWS‘s reported 2.5 billion gallons (2025), Nvidia’s DSX claim of zero water consumption for its reference design (quote from Ali Heydari), and notes the broader anti-data centre movement and a Gallup poll about resource concerns.