Oregon Data Center News

Dec 24, 2025

10 biggest environmental stories of 2025

Columbia Insight (Chuck Thompson) published a year-end roundup listing the “10 biggest environmental stories of 2025,” summarizing major events and policy actions affecting the Pacific Northwest and broader U.S. environment.

Main summary: The piece catalogs federal rollbacks and regulatory changes (EPA 31 deregulatory provisions, President Trump’s memorandum withdrawing from a 2023 Columbia River salmon-restoration agreement), major weather and disaster events (record floods and drought-driven water shortages), and environmental incidents including Idaho’s copper treatment that left up to 90% invertebrate mortality in treated Snake River stretches.
Additional details and timelines: It documents the USDA plan to move the Forest Service Pacific Northwest headquarters to Fort Collins, Colo. (announced July), Washington State House funding cuts to the Gorge Commission for the 2025–27 biennium (27% reduction), data center expansion concerns (271 existing water-using data centers in OR/WA plus proposed new projects), and EPA actions described as the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history“ (March announcement of 31 provisions).

Dec 22, 2025

Top 5 Data Center Industry Trends and Predictions for 2026

Melissa Reali (Data Center Frontier) assesses top data center, AI and digital infrastructure trends for 2025 and issues predictions for what will determine winners in 2026.

Main assessment: The piece argues that data centers must secure power independence, policy alignment, connectivity, supply certainty, and sophisticated capital stacks to deliver AI-scale capacity. It highlights concrete metrics and commitments including ~30% of sites using onsite power by 2030 (Bloom Energy citation), >650 billion dollars in announced AI/data center capex across ~150 projects, and ~170 billion dollars of PE-owned assets in development or repositioning. It also notes state-level incentives (e.g., Texas committing over a billion dollars in data center subsidies in a single year) and that 15 U.S. states tie incentives to job or environmental metrics.
Background and details: The article documents measurable supply-chain and grid constraints—multi-year transformer and switchgear lead times, lengthening interconnection queues, and modular on-site generation deployments (gas turbines, fuel cells, batteries) as transitional solutions. It describes policy shifts: federal directives to streamline permitting and extend financial tools, encouragement to reuse federal lands/brownfields, and the rise of sovereign AI zones in countries including the UK, India, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia.

Dec 18, 2025

Climate Change Solutions - December 16, 2025

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) issues a Climate Change Solutions newsletter summarizing recent climate, energy, and environmental policy developments, briefings, and media coverage in the United States.

Newsletter content highlights articles on FEMA reform (FEMA Act, H.R.4669), ghost fishing gear in Hawaiʻi, and global green building standards (LEED, BREEAM), plus an EESI briefing on how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) changed 12 clean energy and efficiency tax incentives and how companies and consumers are adjusting.
Capitol Hill updates cover House passage or advancement of the Electric Supply Chain Act (H.R.3638), ePermit Act (H.R.4503), ESTUARIES Act (H.R.3962 / S.2063), and multiple PFAS bills (H.R.6668 / S.3457, H.R.6626 / S.3460, H.R.6667, S.3445, S.3446), as well as links to EESI legislative trackers, grid and industrial decarbonization briefings, and external media citations of EESI work on data centers, water use, and EERE investments.

Dec 16, 2025

Turning data centres from a ‘potential liability to a grid asset’: Calibrant on its first-of-a-kind BESS with Aligned

Calibrant Energy will deploy a 31MW/62MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Aligned Data Centers’ Hillsboro, Oregon campus to accelerate interconnection and bring a planned 100MW-demand data centre online, the company announced in October.

Deployment details: Calibrant to deliver a 31MW/62MWh BESS at Aligned Data Centers’ Hillsboro campus to accelerate interconnection and enable a 100MW data centre to be served sooner by the utility (announced in October). The project is described as the “first time in the US that a battery system is purpose-built to accelerate interconnection and bring a large-scale data centre online.”
Context and operational specifics: The data centre is already built but was awaiting utility power that could be delayed by years; Calibrant CCO Matt Barnes said the BESS addresses peak-hour demand constraints and will make the site a more flexible form of load so PGE (Portland General Electric) can serve the customer in an accelerated timeframe. No specific commissioning or commercial timeline was provided in the article.

Dec 16, 2025

Did Hyperscalers Solve the Power Problem in 2025 – or Rethink It?

DatacenterKnowledge reports that cloud giants accelerated hyperscale construction in 2025 while rewriting energy, network, and risk playbooks because GPU scarcity and grid connection delays made electricity the limiting factor.

Main announcement/action: Cloud giants shifted strategy to build at unprecedented scale and to prioritize time-to-power, combining owned campuses and leased colocation to manage capacity; notable financial moves include Google’s $9B Virginia commitment, a $9B Stillwater, Okla. campus, and a $600M expansion in The Dalles, Ore., while Q2 2025 enterprise cloud infrastructure spending reached $99B and neoclouds exceeded $5B in the quarter.
Background and details: Analysts (Synergy, JLL, Moody’s) flagged that power availability is the chief bottleneck, with JLL projecting ~10 GW of new capacity starting construction in 2025 and Moody’s warning of overbuild and credit risks; hyperscalers are responding with direct solar procurement, utility partnerships, phased builds, and subsea cable co-investments to secure supply and resilience.

Dec 11, 2025

Dual Feed: NextEra Energy, TotalEnergies, ENGIE, NIPSCO, ProPetro, Claibrant Energy, DTE Energy, Redwood Materials, KULR, Honeywell

NextEra Energy is repositioning as a bespoke energy-infrastructure partner for AI-scale data centers, announcing large partnerships (notably with Google Cloud) and plans including a restart of the 615 MW Duane Arnold nuclear plant under a 25-year PPA targeted to return to service by 2029.

Main announcement & actions: NextEra is sharpening focus on data-center customers with a backlog ~6 GW earmarked for technology/data centers and an operating+backlog >10.5 GW; it is pursuing a diversified portfolio (renewables, nuclear restart at Duane Arnold 615 MW targeted 2029 under a 25-year PPA, long-duration storage, gas) and announced a landmark partnership with Google Cloud to build multiple gigawatt-scale campuses with dedicated generation and capacity infrastructure.
Background & other concrete details: Other 2025 industry moves include TotalEnergies–Google 15-year PPA for 1.5 TWh (Montpelier, Ohio); ENGIE–Meta 600 MW Swenson Ranch Solar (Texas), online 2027; NIPSCO/GenCo plan up to 3 GW dispatchable for Amazon including two 1.3 GW gas units + 400 MW / 1,600 MWh BESS with ~$7 billion estimated capex; PROPWR (ProPetro) 60 MW hybrid BESS + reciprocating engines for a Midwest hyperscaler; Aligned + Calibrant 31 MW / 62 MWh on-site BESS coming online 2026; DTE Energy seeking approval to serve a proposed 1.4 GW AI data center in Michigan (linked to Oracle/OpenAI); vendor announcements include Redwood Energy (battery repurposing), KULR‘s AI Datacenter BESS platform, and Honeywell + LS Electric integrated microgrid solutions.

Dec 10, 2025

Top Environmental Victories of 2025

The Sierra Club announces a roundup of its top environmental victories in 2025.

Major announced actions: The article catalogs specific legal, legislative, and advocacy wins including: stopping a proposed public-lands sell-off after Congressional withdrawal; passage of the Climate Change Superfund Act in New York (following Vermont in 2024) and introduced bills in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Maine; legal victories blocking Commonwealth LNG (coastal use permit terminated) and two lawsuits creating guardrails on data centers in Kansas and Michigan; NEVI program restart unlocking $2.7 billion for EV charging; and a $744 million jury verdict against Chevron for coastal damages in Louisiana.
Background and additional details: The piece lists species and land protections (Northern Rockies wolves, Colorado bison, Rice’s whales), closure of Merrimack Station (final New England coal plant) and repeal of an Ohio coal-bailout that would have cost nearly half a billion dollars, passage of Utah’s balcony solar law allowing small plug-in systems without utility approval, a coalition delivering ~500,000 public comments to defend the Roadless Rule (including 40,000 from Sierra Club advocates), and a world-record origami action sending more than 86,000 paper fish to oppose Enbridge’s Line 5.

Dec 2, 2025

Data Center Jobs: Engineering, Construction, Commissioning, Sales, Field Service and Facility Tech Jobs Available in Major Data Center Hotspots

Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza, posted a monthly roundup of active data center job openings on the Pkaza jobs board.

Main announcement: Data Center Frontier and Pkaza published a list of open roles (examples: Data Center Facility Technician, Electrical Commissioning Engineer, Construction Project Manager, Electrical Engineer, Critical Power Sales Associate, Sr Mechanical Engineer, Site Selection Manager/Director/VP, Electrical Project Manager, MEP Superintendent, Mechanical Commissioning Engineer, Engineering Design Director, Navy Nuke Facility Technician) posted on Pkaza’s jobs board; positions are available across many US cities including Ashburn, VA; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Montvale, NJ; Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; New Albany, OH; Phoenix, AZ.
Background and details: Roles are for mission-critical data center employers (developers, colo providers, contractors, commissioning firms) and frequently emphasize reliability, energy efficiency, sustainable design / LEED expertise and commissioning; some listings explicitly accept Navy Nuke / military veterans and many positions list multiple alternative locations or hybrid/remote options. Author: Kathy Hitchens (Data Center Frontier).

Dec 2, 2025 · RMI

The Five Types of Electro-Industrial States

Rocky Mountain Institute presents a typology classifying US states into five electro-industrial archetypes.

Main announcement/action: RMI authors classify states into five archetypes — Momentum Hubs (Arizona, California), Fast‑Track Builders (Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio, Idaho), Policy Champions (New York, Michigan, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania), Open‑Door Starters (Vermont, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa), and Early‑Stage Starters (Missouri, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maine, Alabama, Louisiana, Indiana, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas). The typology is based on policy reliability, regulatory ease, economic capacity, physical infrastructure (power and interconnection), and market momentum.
Background and details: The analysis highlights that market momentum and policy reliability should operate in tandem; low regulatory burdens accelerate short-term investment but may strain local housing and infrastructure without accompanying policy ambition. The authors reference the report GREASE Lightning as a policy playbook for designing investment-led, state-driven electro-industrial strategies.

Nov 6, 2025

NuScale Power Reports Third Quarter 2025 Results

NuScale Power Corporation announced Q3 2025 financial results and emphasized its selection under a landmark agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority and ENTRA1 for a major U.S. SMR deployment program.

Main announcement/action: NuScale highlighted that its SMR technology was selected by ENTRA1 and the Tennessee Valley Authority as part of what the company calls the largest SMR deployment program in U.S. history, and reiterated readiness for commercial deployment of NuScale Power Modules (NPMs) for customers including AI data centers, mining, and semiconductor manufacturing; the company also hosted a conference call today at 5:00 p.m. ET (dial-in: (888) 550-5460, conference ID 4347254; live webcast available on the Company’s Quarterly Results page; replay available for 30 days).
Background and financial details: Q3 highlights include cash, cash equivalents and short- and long-term investments of $753.8 million, sale of 13.2 million shares via an ATM generating $475.2 million in gross proceeds, recognition of Milestone Contribution 1 of $495.0 million under the ENTRA1 Partnership Milestones Agreement (which materially increased G&A by ~$502.2 million in Q3); revenue growth tied to engineering services supporting RoPower’s plan for a six-NPM SMR plant in Romania; NuScale describes each NPM as 77 MWe (250 MWt) and scalable up to 924 MWe (12 modules).

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