President Trump said he approved new fuel economy standards that eliminate Biden-era electric vehicle mandates and relax efficiency requirements for automakers. The announcement comes as diesel prices hit record highs during the Iran war.
A coalition of eight states led by California and New York filed lawsuits Tuesday challenging the Trump administration's deals to pay private companies over $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds to cancel offshore wind project leases. The legal action escalates an ongoing battle over the administration's efforts to discourage wind energy expansion in favor of fossil fuels.
Massachusetts has introduced new regulations mandating that data centers with peak demand exceeding 25 megawatts must supply their own electricity from clean energy sources. The state mandate represents a shift in how states are addressing the infrastructure costs of the growing technology and computing boom.
The US Department of Energy approved a $1.9 billion loan to NextEra Energy to restart a shuttered Iowa nuclear power plant that will supply electricity to Google's AI data centers. The facility closed in 2020 and represents Google's partnership with NextEra announced last year.
Geothermal developer Fervo Energy secured a contract to supply 396 megawatts of clean power to Google from its Cape Station project in Utah starting in 2028, with an option for an additional 600 MW by 2030. The deal sent Fervo's shares up approximately 14-15%.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has retreated from demands that new AI data centres be powered entirely by renewable energy, following pushback from state and territory leaders at national cabinet. The federal government secured a broad agreement on data centre development but allowed carveouts for jurisdictions to use coal and gas power.
Tanzania inaugurated the Julius Nyerere dam and hydropower plant on Saturday, a $2.9 billion project constructed by an Egyptian consortium over five years. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended the ceremony.
Almost 200 supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement have sent a letter criticizing President Donald Trump's push to use coal energy to power artificial intelligence data centers, marking a rare public split between the MAHA movement and Trump's energy priorities.
Nvidia has made a minority investment in Cloverleaf Infrastructure, a data center developer, to build infrastructure powering AI data center projects across the United States. The partnership aims to support the ongoing AI buildout that has driven Nvidia's recent growth.
Politicians across the US are shifting from championing data centers to restricting them as public opposition mounts over energy consumption and infrastructure strain. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott halted new approvals less than a year after celebrating a $40 billion Google investment, while Virginia's Loudoun County begins reining in development despite hosting over 250 data centers.
Data center developers are turning to bespoke natural gas power plants to meet AI infrastructure demands, a shift that will dramatically increase US carbon emissions by 20% and make it harder for tech companies to meet climate goals.
Russia launched a massive attack on a DTEK thermal power plant on August 18, forcing it to halt electricity generation, while state energy company Naftogaz reported its facilities were struck 13 times in the past week and nearly 300 times since the start of the year.
Venezuela has signed its first oil production contracts with US companies including Hunt Oil and SLB since the US captured Nicolás Maduro in January, while BP secured rights to develop an offshore gasfield. The deals mark significant progress in the Trump administration's push to rebuild Venezuela's energy sector, with oil flows to US refineries quadrupling to 500,000 barrels per day since 2025.
Ontario released a framework requiring data centres to cover energy costs and potentially pay higher electricity rates, while Australia and India face challenges managing the rapid expansion of facilities that strain power grids, water supplies, and local planning systems.
President Donald Trump announced $3 billion in U.S. government investments in critical minerals and battery projects during a mining industry roundtable at the State Department, aimed at boosting domestic production, strengthening defense supply chains, and reducing reliance on Chinese minerals. The package includes a $1.4 billion Defense Department loan agreement.
German energy company RWE reached a $1.22 billion settlement with the Trump administration to relinquish offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York, California, and Louisiana. The deal marks the fifth such buyback, bringing the total cost of offshore wind lease terminations to nearly $4 billion.
A federal judge in Oregon ruled Thursday that the Department of Defense must end its freeze on reviewing onshore wind energy projects, delivering a legal setback to the Trump administration. At least 125 utility-scale wind projects across 25 states have been stuck in limbo due to the Pentagon's halt on reviews.
Bitcoin miner TeraWulf reported Q2 2026 results showing high-performance computing revenue jumped 52% to $31.9 million, now comprising 71% of total revenue, while announcing a 20-year, $19 billion lease agreement with AI company Anthropic for 401 megawatts of data center capacity.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered a pause on approvals for new data center connections to the state's electric grid, directing the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to audit pending projects amid concerns that surging electricity demand from data centers could threaten grid reliability.
Nuclear startup Valar Atomics secured $1 billion in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital, plus a $200 million credit facility, to shift from demonstrating small reactors to volume production for AI data centers.
Nuclear startup Valar Atomics closed a $1 billion Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital, tripling its valuation from $2 billion to $6 billion. The company plans to use the funding to shift from demonstrating small modular reactors to volume manufacturing, targeting growing energy demands from artificial intelligence.
Cuba's national electricity grid failed on Sunday, August 3, 2026, causing a nationwide blackout affecting approximately 10 million people. The collapse is the latest in a series of power failures attributed to aging infrastructure, fuel shortages, and lack of replacement parts.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered state regulators to pause approvals for new data center projects seeking connection to the state's electric grid, citing concerns about surging electricity demand threatening grid reliability. The directive affects approximately 1,800 pending projects and requires audits before any new approvals.
A geopolitical analysis explores how African nations could economically and strategically benefit from increased energy exports if the Strait of Hormuz faces disruption, while noting that structural weaknesses may limit the continent's ability to capitalize on such opportunities.
Bitcoin mining's annual electricity demand rose to approximately 190 terawatt-hours by December 2025, a 38% increase from 138 TWh in June 2024, with preliminary Cambridge research showing miners increasingly drawing power from low-carbon sources, particularly hydropower which has overtaken natural gas as a primary energy source.
President Donald Trump announced that approximately 200 entities including governors, utility companies, and other stakeholders have signed a non-binding pledge aimed at preventing U.S. consumers from bearing higher electricity bills resulting from the massive energy demands of AI data centers.
The Department of Energy under the Trump administration removed more than 1,600 web pages that provided guidance on electrical grid preservation, staying cool during heatwaves, and cutting energy costs, according to reports.
The largest US electrical grid operator, PJM, will add $6.3 billion in electricity costs for consumers across 13 states to meet the booming energy demands of AI data centers. The rate hikes will affect millions of customers.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order on July 14, 2026, pausing state environmental permits for data centers requiring 50 megawatts or more for up to one year, citing rising utility costs, water strain, and environmental impacts from AI-driven facilities.
The White House plans to bring together utility companies and data center developers to make a voluntary pledge designed to ensure that rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence does not drive up consumer costs.
Russian authorities in Siberian regions including Novosibirsk and Tomsk are asking residents to work from home and limit vehicle use amid a worsening nationwide fuel crisis. Citizens are converting cars to LPG as gasoline shortages, price increases, and long queues at filling stations spread across the country.
Australia has agreed to sell uranium to India for peaceful nuclear energy purposes in a landmark agreement signed by Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi in Melbourne. The deal supports India's goal of achieving 100 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by 2047.
As Europe experiences extreme temperatures under a heat dome, Asian air conditioning manufacturers including Samsung Electronics, Midea, and Mitsubishi Electric are seeing a boom in sales. The heat wave has sparked political debate in countries like France where air conditioning remains uncommon.
Brutal heat waves are striking Europe with increasing frequency, exposing the continent's lack of air conditioning infrastructure. Workers in cities like Paris struggle to cope with record-breaking temperatures, while cultural and practical factors keep AC adoption low compared to the US, Australia and Japan.
Group of Seven leaders agreed to establish a new critical minerals coordination platform and set a target that no single country should supply more than 60% of their rare earth imports by 2030, directly addressing current reliance on China for these strategic resources.
Venezuela's interim government has signed a cooperation agreement with U.S. energy company GE Vernova to rebuild and improve the country's deteriorating electrical grid, which has been plagued by frequent and lengthy power outages in recent years.
U.S. energy regulators approved a waiver to accelerate the grid connection of Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, which is being restarted specifically to power Microsoft data centers in the region.
Urenco USA, the only commercial uranium-enrichment company in the United States, is planning a multi-billion-dollar investment to boost capacity by nearly 50% in anticipation of surging demand for nuclear reactors driven by AI data center power needs.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that U.S. generating capacity will increase by approximately 75 gigawatts this summer compared to 2025, representing a significant expansion in power generation infrastructure.
Microsoft is weighing whether to delay or scale back its ambitious clean energy targets as its rapid buildout of AI data centers strains its ability to meet climate commitments. Analysis suggests turning to gas-powered data centers could more than double the company's carbon emissions from such infrastructure.
The EU has proposed a series of emergency measures aimed at reducing gas and electricity prices and cutting energy consumption as winter approaches. The proposal comes after Russia announced it will not reopen the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to supply Europe with fuel this winter.
The World Bank Board of Directors approved $265 million in financing for the Ifahsa Pumped Hydropower Storage Project in northern Morocco, marking one of the most significant clean energy infrastructure investments of its kind on the African continent.
