Kentucky Data Center News

Mar 6, 2026

AI Infrastructure Brief: Power, Capital, and Silicon Collide in the Next Phase of the Data Center Buildout

Data Center Frontier summarizes multiple AI infrastructure announcements and projects scaling to gigawatts across North America.

Main announcement/action: The article reports an industry-wide acceleration of hyperscale AI data center development, including CoreWeave’s plan to add roughly 5 GW of capacity by 2030, xAI’s $659 million permit filing for Memphis “Colossus,” Nebius’s $150.6 billion Chapter 100 bond approval, and a $2.4 billion B&W/Base Electron design-build agreement to deliver 1.2 GW of natural-gas generation to supply Applied Digital AI campuses; it also cites La Caisse’s C$240 million commitment to Cologix’s MTL8 and Google’s $40 billion investment pipeline in Texas through 2027.
Context and additional details: The report documents wider trends: institutional capital flows (Blackstone exploring a public data-center vehicle; HighBrook targeting 300 MW), growth in dedicated/behind-the-meter generation (the “power island” trend), and rising political and community scrutiny (Birmingham 180-day moratorium, Oregon HB 4084 proposal, project withdrawals/controversies in Apex NC and West Louisville).

Feb 24, 2026

Soluna CEO on Stranded Renewables, AI Data Centers, and a 'Grid Revolution'

Soluna Holdings is expanding its co-located renewable-powered data center model from bitcoin mining into AI, announcing a multi-site buildout including Project Kati and Project Dorothy and a 3-gigawatt project pipeline.

Main announcement/action: Soluna is transitioning from bitcoin-focused facilities to AI/high-performance computing campuses co-located with utility-scale wind and solar plants; key project details include a 3-gigawatt pipeline, Project Kati (166 MW planned over two phases; Kati 1 initial energization with phased commissioning through 2026; 83 MW bitcoin side; starting with 100 MW AI capacity and planned scale to >300 MW), and Project Dorothy (operational, providing 98 MW for Bitcoin hosting at two Texas sites; expanded partnership with Blockware adding 6 MW to Dorothy 1).
Background and implementation details: The model monetizes curtailed/stranded renewable generation by buying excess power from host plants, Soluna claims its builds are 18% cleaner than traditional data centers, targets single-tenant hyperscalers and neo-clouds on long-term contracts, and prioritizes AI training workloads (batchable, remote) rather than low-latency inference; utilities and transmission constraints (e.g., California 3.4 TWh curtailed cited) are central to the rationale.

Feb 20, 2026

Trump EPA to weaken rule limiting harmful mercury, air toxics from coal plants

The Trump administration announced it will roll back air regulations for coal-fired power plants limiting mercury and other hazardous air toxics.

Main action: The EPA under President Trump is rescinding/weakening elements of the Biden-era Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) and rolling back related regulatory requirements, arguing easing standards will reduce costs for utilities and boost baseload energy to meet rising power demand (including from data centers). The administration previously issued an “energy emergency” proclamation and invited coal plants to request temporary exemptions; 68 plants received two-year exemptions under that process.
Background and concrete details: The Biden-era MATS update would have cut allowable mercury pollution by 70% and reduced emissions of nickel, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals by two-thirds, with estimated health cost savings of $420 million through 2037 (Environmental Defense Fund). The EPA has also repealed the “endangerment finding”, and the White House directed the Pentagon to purchase power from coal plants; coal plants produce less than 20% of U.S. electricity (EIA).

Jan 27, 2026

Pumped hydro, high-temperature thermal storage, and geothermal LDES projects make key advancements across the US

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a 40-year license to Rye Development and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners for the 1,200MW Goldendale pumped hydroelectric Energy Storage Project in Washington, US.

Main announcement and project details: The FERC license grants a 40-year approval for the 1,200MW Goldendale pumped hydro project developed by Rye Development for fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CI V) on private land at a former aluminium smelter near Goldendale, Washington. The project is expected to have a 4–5 year construction period, an MOU requires union labour via agreements with the Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council and the Columbia Pacific Building & Construction Trades Council, and Rye Development projects over 3,000 family-wage jobs during construction and more than US$10 million each year to Klickitat County upon operation.
Other milestones and background: Electrified Thermal Solutions has commissioned a 20MWh Joule-Hive thermal battery at Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio, Texas) that stores heat up to 1,800°C, serves 1–5MW thermal loads and targets 2GW of thermal power capacity by 2030; Sage Geosystems closed US$97 million in Series B funding led by Ormat Technologies and Carbon Direct Capital to advance its first commercial Pressure Geothermal plant at an Ormat facility and its EarthStore solution (claims of unlocking over 130× more geothermal potential in the US).
- Event: Energy Storage Summit USA — 24-25 March 2026, Dallas, TX
  - Agenda/subject: keynote speeches and panel discussions on FEOC challenges, power demand forecasting, and managing the BESS supply chain.

Jan 26, 2026

EPA moves toward changing particulate matter standard as manufacturers urge action

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to revisit and ask the court to vacate the Biden-era annual PM2.5 standard of nine micrograms per cubic meter.

Main action: The EPA filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court to vacate the March 2024 PM2.5 annual standard (lowered from 12 µg/m3 to 9 µg/m3). The agency said the Biden EPA took a “regulatory shortcut” and failed to adequately consider compliance costs; EPA urged vacatur before the initial nonattainment determinations due on Feb. 7 and states’ implementation plans due in April.
Background and details: Industry groups including NAM and 15 trade associations (e.g., SMA, Aluminum Association, American Cement Association) have pressed the Trump administration to revert the standard; EPA previously estimated the 2024 rule could prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, with monetized benefits of $22 billion to $46 billion and $590 million in estimated costs by 2032. A 2025 ACA report estimated 1 million metric tons of cement needed for AI data centers by 2028 and projects U.S. data centers rising from 5,426 to 6,000 by 2027.

Jan 21, 2026

Virginia proposes 20.78GW storage mandate as Trump, governors call for emergency PJM grid measures

Virginia state delegate Richard C. ‘Rip’ Sullivan, Jr has introduced HB895 to raise mandatory energy storage procurement targets for Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia.

Main announcement: HB895 would require Appalachian Power to add 780MW short-duration by 2040 and 520MW long-duration by 2045, and Dominion Energy to add 16,000MW short-duration and 3,480MW long-duration by 2045; the bill is nearly identical to HB2537 (vetoed May 2025) but raises Dominion’s short-duration target from 5,220MW to 16,000MW within the same timeframe.
Background and related actions: The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors urged PJM (16 January) to hold an emergency procurement auction and to build more than US$15 billion of baseload generation; PJM responded by initiating a “Reliability Backstop Procurement” and directed immediate process discussions and deadlines to be considered at the 22 January Members Committee meeting. The bill and procurement push are motivated by rapidly rising demand in Virginia—driven largely by data centres—and recommendations from groups such as MAREC Action, NRDC, and Environment America.

Jan 21, 2026

Irate Sen. Rand Paul Ready to Strip YouTube's Legal Immunity over Controversial Maduro Video

Sen. Rand Paul has announced he no longer defends Google/YouTube’s legal immunity under Sec. 230 after receiving death threats tied to a YouTube video he calls defamatory and wrote about in a New York Post Op-Ed.

Main action: Sen. Rand Paul changed his position on Google/YouTube liability, citing death threats and labeling the video a “ludicrous accusation” spread by “paid trolls”; he wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Post describing these events.
Context and other details: The newsletter lists multiple telecom industry items: FCC policy positions (cable market consolidation and transition to all-IP), a Texas broadband grant tied to flood monitoring, a claimed U.S.-Australia subsea optical route (single longest continuous path), rising fiber deployment costs (FBA), and vendor moves including altafiber using Nokia 25G PON and AT&T Business expanding a 30-day offer.

Jan 16, 2026

Meta Builds a Nuclear Supply Chain for the AI Era

Meta has announced a package of multi-gigawatt nuclear agreements and related support to secure firm, long-duration power for its AI data center buildout.

Main announcement: Meta signed a set of deals that together could support up to 6.6 GW of new and existing clean power by 2035, including a 20-year PPA for more than 2,600 MW tied to three Vistra plants (Perry, Davis-Besse, Beaver Valley), an agreement with TerraPower to support up to eight Natrium plants (Meta funding for two Natrium units totaling up to 690 MW with delivery targeted as early as 2032, plus rights to energy from up to six additional units ~2.1 GW by 2035), and a deal with Oklo to enable a prepay-backed, scalable up-to-1.2 GW nuclear power campus in Pike County, Ohio.
Background and implementation details:DOE announced $2.7 billion to bolster domestic uranium enrichment over the next decade (including HALEU support); Oklo has a DOE Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for an Aurora fuel facility at Idaho National Laboratory; TerraPower’s initial two-unit site is expected to be identified “in the coming months”; many elements remain in early site-selection, licensing, fuel-qualification, and interconnection stages, with explicit timelines ranging from 2026 (Meta’s Prometheus data center) through 2032–2035 for advanced reactor deliveries.

Jan 16, 2026

Soluna Expands Texas Campus With 100 MW AI-Ready Data Center

Soluna Holdings has signed a co-development partnership with Metrobloks to build Project Kati 2 in Willacy County, Texas.

Partnership structure & project specifics: Soluna and Metrobloks intend to form a project company to own and operate Project Kati 2. Metrobloks will lead design, development, leasing, and day-to-day operations, while Soluna will provide site control, power entitlements, electrical equipment, and development expertise. The initial development for Kati 2 is a 100+ MW AI and HPC data center, as the first phase of a roadmap supporting more than 300 MW of total capacity. A target completion date has not been confirmed.
Background & related assets: Project Kati is a 166 MW wind-powered campus in Willacy County that broke ground in September 2025 and is being developed in two phases (Kati 1 expected to open later this year supporting Bitcoin hosting alongside AI/HPC; Kati 2 planned as dual-purpose for cryptomining and AI/HPC). The site has a non-binding letter of intent from a potential Neocloud tenant. Soluna’s broader portfolio includes the 25 MW Sophie data center, Project Dorothy 1A/1B (50 MW), Project Herdy (120 MW collocated with a 200 MW wind farm), and Project Annie (75 MW colocated with a 114 MW solar farm).

Jan 15, 2026

PJM Dials Back Near-Term Load Outlook but Maintains Steep Long-Term Growth Trajectory

PJM Interconnection issued its 2026 Long-Term Load Forecast on Jan. 14, 2026, trimming near-term peak-demand projections while reaffirming steep long-term growth driven by data centers and electrification.

Near-term adjustments: PJM reduced projected summer peak demand by 2,564 MW for 2026 (-1.6%), 4,414 MW for the 2028 summer peak used in the capacity auction (-2.6%), and 1,630 MW for the 2031 summer peak used in transmission planning (-0.8%); the 2026 update attributes near-term declines to large loads (-0.7%), economic activity (-0.5%), and EVs (-0.1%) and notes updated economic inputs from Moody’s Analytics (Sept 2025).
Long-term framework and scope: The report projects average annual summer peak growth of 3.6% (next decade) and roughly +85,000 MW over 15 years, formalizes a new “firm” vs “non-firm” vetting framework via the Load Adjustment Request Implementation document (published July 2025) that requires Electric Service Obligations or Construction Commitments for near-term (<=3 years) large loads, and reports adjustments across 15 transmission zones (14 influenced by data center development).

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