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Washington Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across Washington — updated daily.
Recent Washington data center news
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US reviving shuttered nuclear plants to meet growing electricity demand and to power data centres
The United States Department of Energy is supporting the restart of three shuttered nuclear plants to add power for rising demand, including data centres.
- The Energy Department is lending up to USD 4.4 billion to restart Palisades in Michigan, Crane Clean Energy Centre at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, and Duane Arnold in Iowa, for a combined 2.25 gigawatts of electricity.
- The article says Palisades could be the first nuclear plant in the world to resume generating power after entering decommissioning; Holtec says Palisades must be in service by March 2027, Google is collaborating on Duane Arnold, and Constellation announced a USD 1.6 billion restart plan for Three Mile Island under a 20-year agreement with Microsoft.
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Grid Forward Releases 100th GridPulse Podcast Episode Tackling the Big Questions for Today’s Electric Grid
Grid Forward has announced the release of the 100th episode of its GridPulse podcast.
- The episode, titled “Our Big 100th Episode Tackles the Big Questions for Today’s Grid,” features Jigar Shah, Audrey Zibelman, and Herman Trabish, with Bryce Yonker guiding the discussion over a 50-minute episode.
- The podcast launched in May 2020 and the episode covers AI and distributed energy resources, grid planning, rate structures, public trust, and domestic energy supply chains; the release also notes sponsors and past guests across utilities, technology firms, data center developers, universities, and government organizations.
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Trump Honors Microsoft’s CEO After Vance Drops an H-1B Visa Hammer on the Company
The White House honored major technology leaders while Vice President JD Vance separately criticized Microsoft over H-1B visa use and said the company was being suspended from a program for skilled foreign workers.
- JD Vance said Microsoft had abused the visa system, citing 6,000 U.S. worker layoffs last year alongside 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards; Microsoft said most H-1B applications were to extend or change status for existing employees.
- President Donald Trump awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Satya Nadella and gave National Medal of Science awards to Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, and Lisa Su; he also praised AI and data center investment as helping the U.S. economy.
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The 2026 US-India Subnational Innovation Competitiveness Index
ITIF and the Institute for Competitiveness, India have released a new subnational innovation competitiveness report comparing 87 regions in India and the United States.
- The report benchmarks 36 Indian states and territories and 51 U.S. regions across 12 indicators in three pillars: knowledge economy, globalization, and innovation capacity.
- It finds the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and California top the U.S. list, while Chandigarh, Maharashtra, and Delhi lead India; it also discusses AI policy, FDI concentration, renewable energy, Internet access, R&D, business creation, and patenting.
- The article is a report summary/analysis and appears to be the first public release of this index, with a downloadable report PDF; it includes multiple monetary figures such as $57.2 billion in India FDI equity and $1 billion for New Hampshire’s biofabrication cluster.
- The piece is substantively about innovation, infrastructure, digital connectivity, AI, and clean energy, and is relevant to data centres because it discusses AI infrastructure, GPUs, digital infrastructure, and power/renewables.
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Climate Change Solutions - October 6, 2026
EESI has published a climate and energy newsletter summarizing recent congressional action, upcoming briefings, and related resources.
- Senators Shelley Moore Capito, Sheldon Whitehouse, Mike Lee, and Martin Heinrich introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S.5653), a permitting package focused on transmission, grid capacity, and data center energy costs.
- The newsletter also notes the Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act becoming law, the Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act being signed, the Senate advancing the Agricultural Act of 2026, and an upcoming Oct. 7, 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT online briefing on interregional transmission co-hosted with WRI.
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Climate Change Solutions - September 22, 2026
Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) has published a climate-focused newsletter previewing an upcoming Super El Niño briefing and summarizing recent Capitol Hill activity.
- EESI announced an online briefing on Friday, September 25 at noon EDT about Super El Niño, with welcome remarks from Reps. Mike Flood and Eric Sorensen and RSVP links provided.
- The newsletter also notes the House and Senate action on several bills, including the Water Resources Development Act of 2026, the Ratepayer Protection Act affecting data center-related grid upgrades, and the Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act; it also promotes EESI resources and a new podcast episode.
- This is a newsletter/update, not a standalone corporate deal announcement; it references prior and current legislative developments and upcoming events rather than announcing a new funding commitment.
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US energy dynamics extend far beyond Washington
adelphi, Atlantik-Brücke, and adelphi global co-hosted an event in Berlin titled Understanding US Energy Dynamics: Opportunities for Germany to Engage.
- The discussion focused on US state policy, regional electricity markets, rising power demand, and the role of battery storage, with participants including Jennifer Morgan, Heiko Willenberg (RWE), Zachary Karas (PowerCo), Jamie Long (Minnesota Representative and DFL Floor Leader), and Tom Opdyke (R Street Institute).
- Speakers said long delivery times for gas turbines strengthen the near-term case for faster-deployable technologies; they also highlighted the impact of data centre-driven electricity demand, renewables, permitting, siting, and grid infrastructure on future growth.
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Mobilizing for Techno-Economic War, Part 7: Transforming Regulatory Policy
ITIF has published a policy report arguing for a major transformation of U.S. regulatory policy to support national techno-economic competition with China.
- The report says Congress should centralize national issues such as AI regulation, preempt many state privacy/AI laws, and reduce federal barriers for nationally important projects such as industrial parks, infrastructure, and data centers.
- It also argues for NEPA repeal, Section 404 repeal, size-neutral rules, antitrust reform, and a new Commerce Department process to designate up to 100 projects per year for streamlined approval; it also proposes federally designated industrial readiness zones of 50–100 sites of at least 3,000 acres each.
- Monetary values mentioned include $98 billion–$112 billion annually in potential out-of-state privacy compliance costs, $1 trillion+ over 10 years, $650 million in a Facebook BIPA-related settlement cited in the report, and $100 billion a year for carbon removal referenced in a supporting example.
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Microsoft inks long-term PPA for Washington solar project
Microsoft has become the long-term offtaker for electricity and environmental attributes from Cypress Creek Energy’s Ostrea Solar project in Washington, which has reached commercial operation.
- The Ostrea Solar project in Yakima County, Washington adds 104 MWdc / 80 MWac and is owned and operated by Cypress Creek for up to 40 years; the terms of Microsoft’s agreement were not disclosed.
- Cypress Creek said the project reflects approximately $180 million in private investment, will generate an estimated $13.3 million in state and local tax revenues, and helped conserve about 275 acres of shrubsteppe habitat; Microsoft’s involvement comes as it expands its AI/data center footprint and reported higher emissions in 2025.
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AI Is Outgrowing the Grid
MCJ has published a newsletter article highlighting DG Matrix’s multi-port solid-state transformers and the role of behind-the-meter power in AI data centers.
- DG Matrix says it has commercialized the world’s first multi-port solid-state transformer and can replicate a 5,000 square foot work cell that produces up to 400 megawatts a year in double shift with 20 people.
- Haroon Inam says the company could reach 4 gigawatts of annual capacity in about three months once a facility and power are secured; the article also discusses the shift toward grid power, batteries, natural gas, and fuel cells for AI data centers.
- The piece is an opinion/commentary-style newsletter feature dated Sep 04, 2026, and includes related portfolio updates and podcast mentions rather than a standalone corporate press release.