The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced proposed changes Monday that would allow gas power plants, data centers and factories to begin construction on non-polluting components such as piping, wiring, cement pads and other support structures before obtaining air-emission permits. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a news release that the “proposal works to provide solutions to…
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Two trends, seemingly separate, have been accelerating over the past few years. First, Wall Street has been plowing billions of dollars into financing data centers. Second, the U.S. military has been ramping up its use of artificial intelligence (AI). Now, these two trends are directly merging. In late March 2026, the U.S. Army announced its selection of companies to build and operate two…
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This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on May 08, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
A top state utilities regulator is calling foul on an effort to shift the power cost of out-of-state artificial intelligence data centers onto Maryland residents.
Maryland’s Office of People’s Counsel on Thursday filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) against electric grid operator PJM Interconnection objecting to plans that it said would force residents in the state to pay $1.6 billion in data center-driven transmission costs over the next decade.
The complaint states that the transmission cost allocation methodology PJM is using “broadly socializes” the cost of increased power demands that is being driven by AI data centers.
“That result is unjust and unreasonable and violates the cost causation principles that have long governed transmission cost allocation and that this commission has repeatedly affirmed,” the complaint says. “PJM’s tariff imposes these costs on Maryland electric customers even though Maryland customers do not meaningfully cause nor benefit from those investments.”
The Office of People’s Counsel pointed to the massive number of data centers built in neighboring Virginia as a primary culprit for added strain on the electric grid.
“Amidst national data center growth, Virginia stands as the epicenter,” the complaint says. “Virginia is the largest data center market in the world… As of December 2024, data centers represented 3.6 GW of demand… reflecting, since 2013, a 660% increase in megawatt-hour consumption.”
This explosive growth in energy demand is only expected to intensify over the next several years, the complaint continues, noting that “PJM projects 32 GW of peak load growth across its territory by 2030, of which approximately 30 GW
On Tuesday, May 5, Google AI workers in the U.K. launched a unionization bid, as part of an attempt to end the use of their technology by Israel and the U.S. military. Workers at Google DeepMind — Google’s AI research laboratory, based in London — sent a letter to management Tuesday requesting recognition of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union as official…
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The Minnesota Senate on Wednesday passed the country’s first ban on “nudification” apps 65-0, addressing one of the main sources of nonconsensual deepfakes. The bill was passed by the state House last week and now just needs the governor’s signature to become law. Advocates are optimistic Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, will sign legislation soon. This bill was the first attempt in the…
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Dozens of Democrats in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives helped the GOP send a key spying bill to the Senate on Wednesday, earning sharp condemnation from the diverse movement that has called for privacy reforms. The House voted 235-191 in favor of the bill released last week by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has been trying for months to get an extension of Section…
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