The Piedmont Environmental Council has called on Virginia state leaders to declare a moratorium on data center grid connections, new transmission lines, backup generation permitting, and new water withdrawals.

• PEC says the pause is needed so the Spanberger administration, General Assembly, state agencies, utilities, counties, and communities can develop rules on energy costs, grid reliability, air quality, potable water, transmission impacts, and community protections.
• PEC Chairman David Aldrich and President Chris Miller made the case in an op-ed published today in the Richmond Times Dispatch; the group also cites billions of dollars in new ratepayer expense, hundreds of miles of transmission lines, and concerns over diesel generators and gas power generation.
• Media contact listed: Mike Doble, mdoble@pecva.org. PEC points readers to its data center information page at pecva.org/datacenters.

The Pembina Institute has published an opinion article calling on Alberta to build a full demand-side management framework for electricity planning.

• The article argues Alberta should treat demand-side management (DSM) as a utility resource, alongside generation and transmission, to reduce costs, manage peaks, and defer infrastructure.
• It cites examples from Wisconsin, Ontario, and Texas and says DSM was included in the October 2025 mandate letter for Alberta’s Minister of Affordability and Utilities.
• The piece is commentary and policy advocacy, not a first-time project announcement or deal.
• It references quantified comparisons, including 2.55 billion USD in Wisconsin life-cycle benefits, 3.57 TWh saved in Ontario, and 197.34 MW plus 411.94 MW of peak reduction in Texas.

New Zealand’s Government says its electricity strategy is delivering lower wholesale prices and stronger renewable generation, while it is also procuring an LNG import facility to back up the system in dry years.

• MBIE data for the three months ended 30 June showed record solar generation of 242 GWh, record geothermal generation of 2,621 GWh, and 92% of electricity generation from renewable sources; wholesale electricity prices fell 66% year on year.
• Energy Minister Simeon Brown said the lower prices reflect, among other factors, the decision to procure an LNG import facility; he also said the Government has fast-tracked eight renewable energy projects and reversed the previous oil and gas exploration ban.

GridLiance West, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Transmission, has announced the start of construction on the GridLiance West Core Upgrades Project in Nevada.

• The project covers approximately 155 miles of new 230-kilovolt and 500-kilovolt transmission lines plus new and upgraded substations, with completion expected in mid-2028.
• The company says the project will create 500 construction jobs, generate an estimated $90 million in property and sales tax revenue, and deliver an estimated $553 million in annual economic impact; officials also said it will add 1 gigawatt of capacity to Nevada’s grid.

Florida Power & Light Company has urged customers to finalize hurricane preparations as the Atlantic hurricane season reaches its meteorological peak on Sept. 10.

• FPL said it is reminding customers to stay vigilant and complete storm plans, while its meteorology team warned that a quiet start to the season does not reduce later hurricane risk.
• The utility highlighted its storm-resilient grid, saying nearly all main power lines serving critical facilities are hardened or underground, about 85% of main power lines are storm-hardened or underground, and more than 240,000 intelligent devices helped avoid about 800,000 outages during 2024 hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton.
• The article is a preparedness advisory / company statement, not a new project announcement; it also points customers to FPL.com/Storm and mentions FPL’s Lightning Lab simulation work.

Piedmont Environmental Council sent a Loudoun County update email highlighting new and pending actions on data center regulation, transmission lines, rural zoning, transportation, and state legislative wins.

• The newsletter says Loudoun is considering new data center regulations, including whether to end grandfathered by-right status early, increase rules for backup generators, and possibly pause local data center and substation applications while zoning amendments are completed.
• It also notes a Vantage Data Centers town hall on Aug. 24, a 3.25 million square foot Spring Valley Tech Park rezoning request, proposed 765kV Valley North transmission routes, and the Golden-Mars line still under Virginia Supreme Court review.
• The email includes upcoming meetings and public hearings in September 2026, plus state-level updates such as SB 340/HB 508 agrivoltaics legislation, a new Oak Hill state park, and funding for a Fauquier/Loudoun groundwater study.

Antonio Tajani has outlined Italy’s push to strengthen its economic and industrial partnership with Brazil during a visit to São Paulo.

• He said he is leading a system mission with around 100 Italian companies and Confindustria President Emanuele Orsini, focused on expanding cooperation across priority sectors.
• He cited EU-Mercosur opportunities, said bilateral trade in 2025 exceeded €11 billion, and highlighted cooperation in critical minerals, energy, renewables, biofuels, green hydrogen, AI, agritech, fintech, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and health technologies.
• The piece is an editorial/interview published in O Globo on 9 September 2026, and it references previous participation in COP Belém and Italy’s internationalization plan prioritizing Brazil and Latin America.

Google has announced a new expansion of its digital infrastructure and clean energy strategy in Finland, including new data centers, energy partnerships, and community investments.

• The company said it will expand in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala, and it announced a life extension PPA with Fortum for the Loviisa nuclear power plant; it also said it is supporting two onshore wind projects and a 94 MW battery system near its Kajaani site.
• Google said the battery system is expected to be operational in late 2027; it also cited a commissioned study on siting 1 GW of new demand in the Oulu–Kajaani region, which it said could save Finnish energy consumers an estimated €520 million over 20 years. Footnotes note Fortum’s EUR 1 billion investment programme in Loviisa and that about EUR 700 million of capital expenditure remains pending investment decisions.

Google has announced a €13 billion investment in digital infrastructure, clean energy projects, and economic partnerships across Finland over the next two years.

• The company said the investment will support 37,000+ jobs during 2027-2028 and contribute €3.6 billion annually to Finland’s GDP; it also includes €31 million for local communities in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala over four years.
• Google said it will back AI upskilling for more than 4,400 workers, create training for 100 Finnish students, support the Loviisa nuclear power plant through a 22-year agreement, add new onshore wind capacity, and contract a 94-megawatt battery system; it also mentioned projects for forests, wetlands, trails, public saunas, and fishing piers.

HM Revenue & Customs has updated its VAT Notice 701/19 to explain fuel and power VAT treatment, including a new temporary zero rate for certain domestic electricity supplies in Great Britain.

• The notice states that on 21 July 2026 the government announced a temporary zero rate of VAT for Great Britain on domestic supplies of electricity and other supplies of qualifying use, applying from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027.
• It also reiterates that Northern Ireland remains at the reduced rate of 5% for qualifying electricity supplies and summarises VAT treatment for fuel, power, reverse charge measures, and energy support schemes; this is an HMRC guidance update, not a new commercial deal announcement.

The Moldovan authorities will launch a comprehensive audit into delays in the Vulcanesti–Chisinau power line project after the works are completed.

• Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu said a broad and comprehensive audit of all delays will be carried out after completion, and asked the contractor and the Energy Projects Implementation Unit to submit an immediate analysis.
• The Chisinau substation is still under construction after a defect in one current transformer was found; the equipment was returned to a manufacturer’s plant in Spain for repairs, with possible shipment back to Moldova at the end of September if tests are successful, followed by two to three weeks of remaining work.
• The line construction began in April 2024 and is part of the Electricity System Development Project financed by the World Bank Group. The project is worth €61 million, including about €27 million for the line itself.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has announced a new algorithm for selecting urban sites for utility-scale power generation or storage.

• The tool combines grid infrastructure with zoning, noise regulations, historical and architectural significance, and other community factors to help utilities and project planners choose the type, location, and size of energy projects.
• ORNL said the algorithm simulates 24-hour energy demand and power flow to model grid capacity and hourly voltage fluctuations; researcher Rodney Itiki said zoning and noise rules can reduce available sites by 20% to 30%.
• Itiki said the approach could also be applied to critical materials mining, AI data centers, disaster response, and major events such as the FIFA World Cup or Olympics. The project was funded by DOE’s Integrated Energy Systems Office.

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has warned that AI datacentres are growing faster than electricity infrastructure, raising risks for grid reliability and resilience worldwide.

• Datacentre consumption is expected to almost double by 2030, rising from 485 TWh in 2025 to 950 TWh by 2030; UNECE says large facilities can be built and connected in 2 to 5 years, while transmission/grid upgrades can take more than 10 years.
• Investment in datacentre infrastructure worldwide is forecast to rise from around $800 billion per year in 2026 to $1.8 trillion per year in 2050; the article also cites connection restrictions in Dublin and constraints in the Netherlands as examples of policy responses.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published Approved Document L (2026) to support Part L of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 in England.

• The document includes Volume 1: Dwellings, Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings, and a frequently asked questions page.
• It was first published on 24 March 2026 and updated on 8 September 2026 to add revised volumes and correct minor errors; earlier versions remain applicable to buildings under previous standards.

The Kremlin published a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Acting Governor of the Tver Region Vitaly Korolyov on regional development, utilities, and infrastructure.

• Korolyov discussed gas distribution expansion, including a five-year, 28.5 billion ruble programme to connect residents and businesses faster; he also raised transferring the bankrupt urban heating supply system in Tver to regional control.
• He additionally requested support for a new 330 kV substation and connecting networks tied to the Moscow–St Petersburg high-speed railway and to serve new investment projects; the meeting also covered roads, tourism, agriculture, and Berdyansk reconstruction funding and crews.
  This appears to be a first-published Kremlin news meeting report, not a new standalone corporate announcement.

The Pembina Institute has published Budget 2026 recommendations focused on electrification, grid connections, and clean energy policy in Canada.

• The submission says Budget 2026 is a critical opportunity to advance Canada’s transition to a clean energy superpower and identifies three national goals for 2050: doubling electricity supply, doubling electrification, and doubling energy productivity.
• It lists eight recommendations, led by a national retrofit program for multi-unit residential buildings, strategic grid connections, and demand-side management, with additional items on Indigenous-led clean energy, industrial carbon pricing, workforce development, EV targets, and methane emissions data.
• The page is a publication/submission dated September 8, 2026 and links to a downloadable PDF titled Budget_2026_Recommendations.pdf.

The German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) has published a press release on electricity generation and grid feed-in in Germany for the first half of 2026.

• Total electricity generation and feed-in rose 4.5% year on year to 230.6 billion kWh; renewables increased 6.5% to 136.4 billion kWh, reaching 59.1% of domestic generation.
• Wind power remained the largest source at 67.7 billion kWh (+12.3%), followed by coal at 49.4 billion kWh and photovoltaics at 41.0 billion kWh; imports fell 8.7% to 34.5 billion kWh while exports rose 14.9% to 33.9 billion kWh.

ITIF and GTIPA have published a new report, Transatlantic Subnational Innovation Competitiveness Index 3.0, benchmarking 213 regions across 13 countries and adding an AI preparedness indicator for the first time.

• The report ranks subnational regions across knowledge economy, globalization, and innovation capacity, with Massachusetts ranked first overall at 95.2, followed by California and Delaware; the top 10 also includes Sweden’s Greater Metropolitan Region, West Sweden, and Germany’s Baden-Württemberg.
• It also provides country-specific policy recommendations for Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, and the United States, and cites several investment and funding figures, including €1 billion+ for Western Balkan connectivity and $10 billion in New York semiconductor tax credits.

ITIF has published a survey report on how GTIPA think tanks view technology, trade, and geopolitics.

• The report is based on a survey of 32 think tanks in 25 countries and finds strong optimism about AI, biotechnology, quantum computing, and fusion, alongside pessimism about the global trade system and concern over cybersecurity and green-tech adoption.
• The report also ranks policy priorities, with skills development/workforce readiness and trade openness/international collaboration viewed as most important, while alignment with the U.S. or China ranks last; the piece is an analysis/report, not a company announcement.

Hogan Lovells Cadwalader has announced that it advised HUMAIN on the first phase of a large-scale AI data center development at Oxagon, NEOM’s industrial city in Saudi Arabia.

• The first phase will deliver approximately 100MW of phase one’s 360MW capacity and is expected to become operational in 2028.
• The facility is designed to integrate renewable energy, advanced cooling, and high-performance computing infrastructure, and it is the first stage of a broader AI campus planned to reach 1.5GW.
• The Hogan Lovells Cadwalader team was co-led by Turki AlSheikh and Jeremy Brittenden and included Hassan Hassan, Mohammed Alshaikh, Zaw Latt, Ghaida Albuainain, Sadeem Aljathlani and Haya Bandar.