Connecticut Data Center Intel

Recent Connecticut data center news

• Apr 1, 2026

  Carr's FCC Expected to Release Public Notice on Achieving U.S. Drone Dominance

  FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is seeking new ideas on ways to boost U.S. drone dominance.

  • Public Notice expected today: The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology are expected to issue a Public Notice seeking comment on regulatory and spectrum changes to strengthen U.S. drone technology, manufacturing, and operations; Carr visited Anduril Industries’ Texas test site on Tuesday with CEO Brian Schmipf and COO Matt Grimm to view drone and counter-drone demonstrations and tied the effort to President Trump‘s strategy for American drone dominance.
  • Background and related items: Other items in the briefing include Nexstar‘s claim that a judge created a ‘governance vacuum’ with the TEGNA TRO, Scripps closing an $83 million sale of its ABC Indianapolis station to Circle City Broadcasting, an Amazon Leo–Delta Airlines Wi‑Fi partnership, and reported concerns from Sen. Blumenthal about Big Tech data center risk concealment.
• Mar 17, 2026

  Berkeley Lab Takes Major Step Toward Doudna with Delivery of Early Access System, Cech

  NERSC has announced delivery and installation of the NERSC-10 Pilot Early Access System (EAS) named Cech at Berkeley Lab to prepare for the full-scale NERSC-10 production system, Doudna.

  • Main announcement: NERSC received the NERSC-10 Pilot Early Access System (EAS) called Cech, which is being installed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the EAS is a smaller test system to refine assembly, delivery, installation, and integration processes ahead of deploying the full production system Doudna in late 2026 (also referenced as “end of the year” in comments). Key technical details: 72 NVIDIA Grace CPUs, 144 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, 5.76 petaflop/s FP64 and 1.44 exaflop/s NVFP4 capability, networking via NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand, Dell IR7000 direct liquid-cooled racks, first U.S. deployment of Rittal in-row V3.5 coolant distribution unit, and Dell’s PowerCool Enclosed Rear Door Heat Exchanger (eRDHx) claiming up to 60% reduced cooling costs versus traditional options.
  • Background & implementation details: The EAS (Cech) is a public–private partnership involving NERSC, Dell Technologies, NVIDIA, and VAST Data; it will be used for software stack development (Omnia, OpenCHAMI), benchmarking, telemetry/monitoring, storage integration with Community File System and HPSS, and ESnet connectivity. The EAS is explicitly a testing/development milestone (not yet available to users) to ensure a smooth deployment of the full Doudna production system; the article is an announcement of this delivery and installation milestone.
• Mar 16, 2026

  How much do DTE, Consumers customers pay in utility profits? 

  The Energy & Policy Institute released a report and online calculator showing DTE Energy and Consumers Energy customers pay larger-than-average shares of monthly bills toward utility profits.

  • Key findings: EPI estimates a DTE customer with a $150 monthly electric bill pays 16.7% ($25.05) toward utility profits and a Consumers Energy customer pays 13.9% ($20.82); EPI calculated a 12.8% average of investor-owned utility revenues going to profits (2021–2024) and ranks DTE 33rd, Consumers 52nd out of 110 utilities.
  • Context and next steps: The piece cites supporting analysis and data sources (SEC, FERC, EPI), references related coverage (Grist, Canary Media), notes the MPSC sets returns on equity and lists MPSC meetings March 27, 2026 and April 17, 2026; it also flags related local actions (a proposed 100-megawatt Gibraltar data center, a Gibraltar City Council one-year moratorium, and an Ann Arbor municipal utility ballot effort) and states DTE plans to file a rate hike around April 27.
• Mar 13, 2026

  Krishnan & Associates Expands Vendor Management Services for Energy, Power & Industrial Clients

  Krishnan & Associates has expanded and refined its vendor management services for energy, power, oil & gas, industrial clients, and data center projects, announcing enhanced payment processing, financial oversight, and tailored vendor engagement offerings.

  • Main announcement: Krishnan & Associates (K&A) launched expanded vendor management capabilities including payment processing (payments executed to approved vendors on predefined schedules with audit-ready recordkeeping) and financial oversight (budget monitoring and detailed monthly reporting) tailored to energy, power, oil & gas, industrial, and data center engagements.
  • Background and details: The Stamford, CT-based consulting firm positions these services to cover vendor interactions such as advertisement/media placement, software and intelligence tool payments, press release distribution, and event/conference logistics; contact provided: Loredana Britka, INFO@KRISHNANINC.COM, +1 203-257-9232. The announcement is a press release dated March 13, 2026.
• Mar 12, 2026

  In an Unusual Move, FCC Chairman Carr Drops the Package at Amazon’s Front Door

  Amazon filed an FCC petition on March 6 opposing Elon Musk’s proposal to deploy up to 1 million solar-powered satellites intended as orbital data centers.

  • Main action: Amazon submitted an FCC filing (March 6) describing Musk’s proposal as “a lofty ambition rather than a real plan”, arguing it is a “speculative placeholder” and that the project “risks real harm”; Amazon cited concerns from astronomers and environmental groups and warned about potential “monopolization of orbital resources”.
  • Background and responses: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly responded on his X feed, stating Amazon will be “roughly 1,000 satellites short” of its own upcoming deployment milestone and criticizing Amazon for filing petitions against other companies; the story appears among other telecom industry items including Google’s GFiber merger with Stonepeak’s Astound Broadband, Brattle Group commentary on EchoStar, and studies from NTCA-Cartesian.
• Mar 4, 2026

  Tribes and environmentalists raise alarm over $2 billion Columbia River power line

  PowerBridge has proposed burying an 80-mile, high-voltage transmission cable under the Columbia River as the nearly $2 billion Cascade Renewable Transmission System.

  • Project details: PowerBridge proposes the Cascade Renewable Transmission System to bury a roughly 12-inch cable bundle for 80 miles along the Columbia River, buried 10 to 15 feet beneath the riverbed, to transmit 1,100 megawatts from The Dalles to a substation in Northwest Portland; the company says the method has been used near New York and New Jersey for nearly two decades.
  • Approvals and timeline: PowerBridge filed permit applications with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state agencies in Oregon and Washington; the article states construction is not expected to start until at least 2028 if reviews pass and funding is secured.
• Feb 19, 2026 · Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

  The Grid Act Is the Wrong Way to Protect Consumers from Price Spikes

  Senators Hawley (R-MO) and Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Guaranteeing Rate Insulation from Data Centers Act (GRID Act), proposing strict obligations and penalties for large data centers to prevent alleged increases in residential electricity rates.

  • Main action: The GRID Act would require data centers with demand of 20 megawatts or more to either fully supply their own electricity (on-site generation/microgrids) or pay “rate effect credits” equal to any measured increase in local residential rates as determined by an annual DOE study; facilities that fail to comply face civil penalties up to $1 million per day.
  • Background and context: The article is an opinion/analysis piece arguing the bill misattributes market-design failures to hyperscalers; it contrasts the GRID Act with Texas SB 6 (2025), which conditions access for loads above 75 megawatts on automated curtailment, offers faster interconnection priority, and provides capacity-style payments; the piece cites an example where utilities might otherwise wait to build $500M+ in transmission upgrades.
• Jan 21, 2026

  FuelCell Energy, SDCL Connect for 450 MW Fuel Cell Power Plan

  FuelCell Energy and SDCL have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on delivering up to 450 MW of behind-the-meter fuel cell power for data center applications.

  • Main announcement: The companies signed a letter of intent to collaborate on fuel cell solutions to deliver up to 450 MW of fuel cell power to support global data centre energy needs; the announcement positions fuel cells as behind-the-meter generation to relieve grid pressure for AI and high-performance computing workloads.
  • Technical and market details: FuelCell Energy’s Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFC) are offered in 2.5 MW and 1.25 MW configurations, can run on biogas, natural gas, and blends with up to 50% hydrogen, and support deployment in AC today with transition to DC over time; Research and Markets projects global fuel cell revenues of $18.6 billion by 2030 (from $5.6 billion in 2025).
• Jan 16, 2026

  US ROUNDUP: Duke Energy, Elevate, Fluence with BrightNight and Cordelio progress BESS projects

  Duke Energy has brought online a 50MW/200MWh BESS at the former Allen coal plant in North Carolina.

  • Main announcement: Duke Energy commissioned a 50MW/200MWh battery energy storage system at the former Allen coal plant on Lake Wylie, North Carolina, costing around US$100 million, finished under budget and ahead of schedule, began serving customers in November with final testing ongoing; construction of a second 167MW/668MWh BESS will start in May on a 10-acre site, and both systems are eligible for federal ITCs covering 40% (including an additional 10% for reinvestment into an energy community).
  • Additional project actions and timelines: Fluence Energy will supply its Gridstack Pro BESS (US-made cells/modules/enclosures/thermal systems) for BrightNight and Cordelio Power’s 300MW/1,200MWh Pioneer Clean Energy Centre in Yuma County, Arizona (PPA with APS; commercial operations expected April 2027); Elevate Renewables has acquired the 150MW/600MWh Prospect Power BESS in Virginia (scheduled operations mid-2026).
    • Energy Storage Summit USA: 24-25 March 2026, Dallas, TX; agenda includes FEOC challenges, power demand forecasting, and BESS supply chain management.
• Jan 14, 2026

  Vistra to Bolster Gas-Fired Fleet by 5.5 GW With $4B Cogentrix Acquisition

  Vistra Corp. has executed definitive agreements to acquire Cogentrix Energy from funds managed by Quantum Capital Group in a $4 billion transaction announced Jan. 5, 2026, adding 10 natural gas plants (5,496 MW) across PJM, ISO New England, and ERCOT.

  • Main announcement & deal specifics: Vistra will acquire 100% ownership of the Cogentrix portfolio for $4 billion, adding 5,496 MW of modern natural gas capacity (10 plants) and increasing Vistra’s total generation footprint toward ~50 GW; the transaction is subject to FERC, DOJ (HSR), and state regulatory approvals and is expected to close mid-to-late 2026. The deal includes acquiring the remaining 25% interest in the Patriot and Hamilton-Liberty plants and excludes Cogentrix’s Cedar Bayou 4 (550 MW), which Cogentrix will retain.
  • Background, financing, and timing context: The acquisition follows Vistra’s October 2025 purchase of Lotus Infrastructure gas assets for $1.9 billion (2,600 MW) and is supported by capital markets actions including $2.25 billion in senior secured notes (Jan 2026) and a prior $2 billion secured notes issuance (Oct 2025); Vistra expects mid-single-digit accretion in 2027 and high-single-digit average accretion (2027–2029) to Ongoing Operations Adjusted Free Cash Flow before Growth per share. Regulatory reviews (notably FERC Section 203) will examine competitive impacts in PJM and ISO-NE.