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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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Amazon Data Centers Aren’t Raising Your Electric Bills—They May Be Lowering Them
Amazon Web Services commissioned an E3 study finding its data centers generate surplus revenue and are not subsidized by other utility customers.
Main finding and scope: The E3 study projects $33,500/MW in surplus value in 2025 rising to $60,650/MW by 2030; for a typical 100‑MW data center this equates to $3.4 million in 2025 and ~$6.1 million in 2030. The study assessed multiple utility territories including PG&E, Dominion Energy, Entergy, and Umatilla Electric Cooperative, concluding revenues above regulated returns can fund grid modernization without shifting costs to residential ratepayers.
Partnerships, structures, and project details: AWS and utilities are using innovative models (e.g., NIPSCO GenCo: 3 GW investment with 2.4 GW for data centers and 600 MW reserved for grid reliability); NIPSCO projects ~$1 billion in cost savings returned as bill credits over a 15‑year duration. Other specifics include Entergy Mississippi’s $300 million Superpower Mississippi grid campaign, AWS’s >600 renewable projects (claimed to power 8.3 million U.S. homes), investments in nuclear and 11 solar-plus-battery projects, and AWS efficiency metrics (Graviton up to 60% less energy, Inferentia2 up to 50% better performance per watt, PUE 1.15 in 2024, 35% embodied carbon reduction).
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Starcloud Launches Orbital AI Data Center With NVIDIA H100 GPU
Starcloud launched its first orbital AI data center (Starcloud-1) into orbit on November 2, 2025, carrying a single NVIDIA H100 GPU and successfully running inference with Google’s Gemma LLM.
- Deployment details: Starcloud launched Starcloud-1 (a ~60-kilogram satellite, roughly the size/weight of a dorm-room refrigerator) aboard a SpaceX rocket on November 2, 2025; it carries a single NVIDIA H100 in a custom package and has successfully returned inference responses from Google’s Gemma LLM, demonstrating a data-center-class GPU operating in orbit.
- Background and roadmap: The company positions this as a proof-of-concept for its broader Project Suncatcher and gigawatt-scale ambition; Aetherflux is pursuing a complementary space solar-power architecture described as “an American power grid in space” and a “Galactic Brain” orbital data-center concept with a first node targeted for early 2027. Additional context: NASA issued an RFI on December 15, 2025 seeking AI for Earth-independent space operations; conference research (ISPARO/2025) and small-scale space AI demos (e.g., Astrobee autonomy papers) illustrate parallel advances.
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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).
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A Fast Solver-Free Algorithm for Traffic Engineering in Large-Scale Data Center Network
The authors present a new Sequential Source-Destination Optimization (SSDO) algorithm as a fast, solver-free method for traffic engineering in large-scale data center networks, evaluated on Meta DCNs and wide-area networks.
- SSDO decomposes traffic engineering into sequential SD subproblems, optimizes per-demand split ratios using a Balanced Binary Search Method (BBSM) to minimize Maximum Link Utilization (MLU), and dynamically reorders SDs based on real-time link utilization to speed convergence and improve solution quality.
- In a Meta data center topology, SSDO achieves 65% and 60% lower normalized MLU versus TEAL and POP respectively, and delivers a 12× speedup over POP; the work is accepted to NSDI ‘26, to be held in Seattle, USA, May 4–6, 2026.
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X-energy, Doosan Lock In 16-Unit Xe-100 Component Reservation as Doosan Commits to New SMR Factory
Doosan Enerbility and X-energy have signed a binding reservation for Doosan to manufacture main power system steel components for 16 Xe-100 SMRs, and Doosan has committed to build a new dedicated SMR fabrication facility in Changwon, South Korea to support X-energy’s 11-GW commercial pipeline.
- Primary announcement:Doosan Enerbility will manufacture 16 complete sets of Xe-100 main power system components (including reactor pressure vessels and steam generator pressure vessels) under a binding reservation agreement, and has committed to build a new SMR fabrication facility in Changwon expected to produce capacity sufficient for approximately 20 Xe-100 reactors annually at full production; follow-up manufacturing agreements are expected to commence subsequently.
- Background & implementation details: X-energy’s reservation ties to initial U.S. deployments including the four-unit Long Mott Generating Station (Seadrift, Texas) and the 12-unit Cascade Advanced Energy Center / Energy Northwest (Richland, WA) — a 5-GW project X-energy and AWS plan to deploy by 2039; the four-party MOU with Amazon, Doosan, KHNP and X-energy signed in Aug 2025 committed to mobilizing up to $50 billion in public and private investment by 2039, and X-energy’s UK JV with Centrica targets a 12-unit (~960 MW) Hartlepool project with first electricity in the mid-2030s and initial project capital activities beginning in 2026.
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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.
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How the 2026 Washington Legislature Can Right-Size the Power Grid
Washington State lawmakers are being urged to overhaul transmission planning and permitting to expand grid capacity and connect more clean energy by 2026.
- Main reforms proposed include creating a state transmission authority with revenue bonding power, broadening EFSEC expedited processing to avoid trial-like adjudicative hearings, clarifying or mandating that transmission lines be allowed in most/all local zones, and targeted SEPA exemptions or substitutions where impacts are minimal or already covered by EFSEC standards, all while preserving Tribal consultation and privacy.
- Context and details: Article cites New Mexico, Colorado, and California public or quasi-public transmission models, highlights decade-long stagnation in Washington grid build-out, documents multi-year local conditional use permit delays (e.g., Energize Eastside) and their cost pass-through to PSE customers, and references recent historic flooding in Washington as evidence of escalating climate risks that make faster grid expansion urgent.
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US ROUNDUP: Shell immersion cooling partnership, PNNL begins utility-scale battery tests, ON.Energy in 5GW transformer deal
EticaAG has partnered with Shell to integrate Shell’s MIVOLT ester-based dielectric liquids into EticaAG’s immersion-cooled BESS; PNNL has begun 100kW utility-scale battery testing at the Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL); ON.Energy signed a 5GW transformer supply agreement with Prolec GE to support AI UPS deployments starting in 2026.
- Main announcements:EticaAG + Shell will combine EticaAG’s non-flammable immersion cooling with Shell’s MIVOLT ester-based dielectric liquids for commercial, industrial, grid-scale and mission-critical BESS; PNNL’s GSL is now testing up to 100kW systems (facility construction began 2022; cost quoted at US$75 million; dedication Aug 2024) and will first test an Invinity VRFB; ON.Energy signed a 5GW transformer supply agreement with Prolec GE to enable deployment of ON.Energy’s AI UPS across data-centre campuses from 2026.
- Background and details:GSL testing addresses previous limits below 10kW and will evaluate services such as peak shaving and frequency regulation; Invinity’s partnership with Guangxi UESNT aims to reduce VRFB costs; ON.Energy previously secured a US$77.6 million construction credit agreement (Pathward, NA and BridgePeak Energy Capital) to develop a 160MWh Palo de Agua BESS portfolio across Texas (multiple 9.9MW/20MWh projects).
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Nvidia chip exports to China risk US tech decline
The Trump administration has opened up exports of advanced Nvidia chips to China, a policy shift Policy Circle argues undermines a coherent US AI containment strategy.
- Main action and implications: The administration’s decision to allow advanced Nvidia GPU exports to China is framed as a commercial realism but is criticised as strategic drift; the piece cites the World Bank estimate of $4.4 trillion in potential AI-led productivity gains by the end of the decade and warns that export carve-outs weaken export-control credibility (sources cited: CSIS, LSEG data on inflows).
- Background and concrete details: The article highlights software and infrastructure constraints over semiconductor design, noting Jensen Huang’s point that building a large AI data centre in the US can take close to three years, the IEA projection that global data-centre power demand could more than double by 2030, and examples of China’s deployed models (Alibaba’s Qwen, Tencent’s Hunyuan, DeepSeek); it also notes Chinese regulators are considering limits on which domestic firms may buy imported chips.
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US Coal Plants Closing Fast Amid Renewables Surge and Regulations
US coal-fired power plants are closing rapidly due to cheaper renewables, natural gas, and stricter regulations; closures and conversions are reshaping local economies and generation mix.
- Main announcement/action: The article documents accelerated retirements and early shutdowns (e.g., Brayton Point Power Station closed three years early) with coal’s share of U.S. electricity at about 13% in 2025 (down from 51% two decades ago). It notes specific operational shifts such as TransAlta pivoting its last Washington coal plant to natural gas under an agreement with Puget Sound Energy, and that the nation’s newest large coal plant is offline until 2027 per IEEFA. The piece also reports 15 coal plants delayed retirements due to rising demand from data centers/AI and cites projections of coal falling to ~5% by 2030 (S&P Global) and 7% by 2035 (EIA outlook).
- Background and details: The article references international and policy context: South Korea announced a coal phase-out by 2040, pressuring exporters like Australia; West Virginia regulators (PSC) have stated they won’t approve shutdowns to protect grid reliability. It cites job and economic figures reported in analyses tied to Project 2025 (e.g., Pennsylvania could face up to 37,700 job losses by 2030 in some scenarios), and highlights reliability concerns as AI-driven data center demand strains the grid.