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District of Columbia Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across District of Columbia — updated daily.
Recent District of Columbia data center news
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US data centre power goes distributed: Sunrun signs VPP deal with Google supplier Voltus
Sunrun has announced a new agreement with Voltus to support Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) programmes for AI hyperscalers using residential solar-plus-storage resources.
- Sunrun will provide energy capacity from a portion of its thousands of residential solar-plus-storage systems to support electricity demand in PJM and MISO.
- The article also references prior Voltus deals, including a three-year BYOC agreement with Google for 100MW in PJM and Sunrun’s earlier partnership with Renew Home and Tesla for over 16GW of flexible capacity.
- The story is a news article summarizing the agreement and related context; it points readers to the original PV Tech piece and does not present a direct company press release in the excerpt.
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Zayo Reaches Fiber Reserve Deal with Corning
Zayo has announced a long-term fiber supply agreement with Corning to support its projected fiber needs through the rest of the decade.
- The companies said Zayo will secure “a significant portion” of the fiber it projects it will need through the rest of the decade.
- The deal was announced Thursday in Washington, Aug. 20, 2026; the companies declined to disclose financial terms and the article cites a Business Wire announcement.
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Capitol Hill Conference on AI, Cyber, & Tech Policy Priorities
The Lexington Institute hosted the Capitol Hill Conference on AI, Cyber, & Tech Policy Priorities on July 24, 2026 in Washington, DC.
- The forum examined AI, cybersecurity, data centers, antitrust enforcement, and competition with China, with 10-minute speeches by policymakers, industry executives, scholars, and subject matter experts.
- Daniel Castro, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, spoke about the importance of accelerating AI adoption in the U.S. economy.
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Space Solar Power Is Coming Home to the Energy Industry
The article is an opinion/commentary piece arguing that space solar power is becoming relevant to the energy industry, while also reporting several company updates shared at a panel and an upcoming symposium.
- Virtus Solis Technologies said it had signed terms for its first 500-MW deployment agreement, with pilot deployments targeted within 24 months; the company is building a commercial SSP system scalable from 100 MW to 20 GW.
- Overview Energy described plans to power utility-scale solar farms at night using near-infrared laser transmission from geosynchronous orbit, while Reach Power discussed terrestrial wireless power systems; the article also notes a Sept. 30, 2026 Space Solar Power Symposium in Washington, D.C. and cites an Overview Energy and Meta capacity reservation agreement announced a week later.
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Infocast’s Transmission & Interconnection Summit 2026
Troutman Pepper Locke has announced it will be a Gold Sponsor of Infocast’s Transmission & Interconnection Summit 2026 and will have partners moderating panels.
Main announcement: Troutman Pepper Locke is a Gold Sponsor of Infocast’s Transmission & Interconnection Summit 2026 (June 23–25) at the Hamilton Hotel, Washington, D.C.; the firm will have Partner Chris Jones moderating “Easing Transmission Challenges in the West – Impacts of New Reforms and Regional Collaboration” on June 24 at 11:00 a.m. ET, and Counsel Anne Dailey moderating “Cost Allocation & New Tariff Structures — Avoiding Rate Increases and Customer Blowback” on June 24 at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Background & details:Conference focus: grid impacts of unprecedented load growth and regulatory change, including the claim that new data centers alone are driving an estimated $1.1 trillion in transmission investment; agenda topics include CAISO’s EDAM, SPP’s WEIS, WECC-wide planning, WestTEC 10- and 20-year studies, lessons from SunZia, and FERC Order No. 1920 cost allocation processes.
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How Microsoft and Google Plan and Place AI Workloads
Microsoft and Google described a shift in hyperscaler workload planning toward range-based forecasts and late-binding decisions at Data Center World 2026.
- Main announcement/action: Microsoft (Julianne Carroll, senior director of M365 capacity management) and Google (Shen Jackson, director of energy) said they now use range-based forecasting instead of point estimates, delay binding decisions as late as practical, and run frequent (at least weekly) planning reviews to rebalance capacity against volatile demand. The session was presented as part of Data Center World 2026 (session: “Landing Data Center Workloads: How Hyperscalers Plan, Scale, and Adapt”).
- Details & background: Both firms highlighted modular/fungible architectures, use of internal workloads to absorb unused capacity, and AI-driven changes to resource ratios (compute, storage, network) after launches like Microsoft Copilot; Microsoft maintains six- and 12-month forecasts but emphasizes short-term adaptability, while Google focuses on affecting outcomes one to two years out and designing campus-level coordination for power, cooling, and networking.
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ICYMI: Mission First, AI Forward
Dell Technologies announced initiatives to help federal agencies, research institutions, and communities move AI from pilot to production by supplying mission-ready infrastructure, partnerships, and secure solutions.
- Main announcement: Dell is partnering with U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Navy / Naval Postgraduate School, NVIDIA, and research centers to deliver mission-ready AI infrastructure, including the delivery of Cech — a Dell-powered early-access system for NERSC ahead of full deployment later this year, shipment of a desktop with NVIDIA GB300 technology, and co-engineering an air-gapped solution for classified environments. Michael Dell’s participation in the Dell Federal Symposium and his appointment to PCAST were highlighted as part of federal engagement.
- Background and other details: Activities span events and programs: Dell Federal Symposium (Washington, D.C.) promoting practical, secure AI; NVIDIA GTC debut of GB300 desktop and air-gapped solution; RSA 2026 announcements on quantum-ready security; community efforts include TCU university AI environment, a United Way Institute launch in North Texas with an AI Day of Learning on April 20 (North Texas), and a Power Up Philly AI Discovery Zone at Temple University. External recognitions cited include Ethisphere, Forbes, Fast Company, and Nextgov/FCW.
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Panel discusses how energy demand from data centers nationwide will impact Pennsylvania
The Clean Energy Group, Clean Air Council and Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania released a report titled “The High Cost of AI: How Data Centers are Reshaping Pennsylvania’s Energy Landscape.”
- Main finding: The report finds Pennsylvania will export electricity to surrounding PJM states to meet growing data center demand, with PJM relying on Pennsylvania to supply energy to high-demand importers like Virginia (35% of hyperscale data centers); it projects an additional 24 to 44 million metric tons of CO2 by the end of the decade and an estimated $20 billion public health burden in 2028.
- Background & local context: The report was discussed at a University of Scranton event with local officials and residents; Archbald has six proposed data center campuses under local opposition, the groups support Sen. Katie Muth’s three-year moratorium (co-sponsored by Sen. Rosemary Brown), and utilities such as PPL Electric Utilities perform system upgrade studies that can socialize costs across ratepayers.
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Six Emerging Environmental Entrepreneurs Selected for National Fellowship
E2 and 1 Hotels have announced the 2026 E2 1 Hotels Fellows, awarding six early-career environmental entrepreneurs funding and support to implement projects advancing sustainability, clean energy, and environmental policy.
- Main announcement: The 2026 E2 1 Hotels Fellows were announced on April 1, 2026, with six fellows each receiving $10,000 to execute projects addressing urban solar, community microgrids, K-12 climate and clean energy workforce development, data center siting and policy toolkits, and the environmental/social impacts of AI. The fellows named are Alex Hill, Alexis Cureton, Danielle Lee, Jolie Villegas, Nathaniel Burola, and Sonali Anderson.
- Background and details: The fellowship is in its eighth year, started with a donation from 1 Hotels founder Barry Sternlicht and the Sternlicht Sustainability Fund; fellows also receive mentorship from E2 members and membership in E2’s Emerging Leaders program. The press release notes E2 members have collectively managed more than $100 billion in venture and private equity capital and supported over 2,500 companies.
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‘Interconnection remains the big bottleneck’: Zenobē Energy on US deployment strategies, grid connections, and data centres
Laurence Copson of Zenobē Energy discusses US energy storage policy ahead of the Energy Storage Summit USA and the article references a bipartisan call by the Trump administration and 13 governors urging PJM to overhaul market rules to support more than US$15 billion of reliable baseload power.
- Main announcement/action: Copson outlines near-term policy levers—notably PJM’s Critical Issue Fast Path (CIFP) and the reliability backstop procurement—as the single largest immediate opportunity for storage to compete with new generation; PJM projects a ~30GW capacity shortfall by 2030 rising to ~55GW by 2035, and the procurement process is expected to yield 15-year contracts and could materialise within the next 12 months.
- Background and event details: The discussion situates rising data centre-driven demand and interconnection/permitting bottlenecks as primary deployment constraints; additional factual details:
- Event: Energy Storage Summit USA 2026
- Date: 24-25 March 2026
- Location: Dallas, TX
- Session: “Policy Pathways for Meeting Load Growth” featuring Laurence Copson, Huiyi Jackson (Edison Electric Institute), Marshall Coover (Texas Energy Buyers Alliance), Aaron Klien (Lincoln International), Matthew Bos (Advanced Energy United), moderated by Daniel Spitzer (Hodgson Russ LLP).
- Event: Energy Storage Summit USA 2026