NextEra’s Acquisition of Dominion Energy Would Result in Corporate Mega-Utility

Millions of people across the U.S. are angry at their utilities. Electricity costs are rising while CEOs and Wall Street investors salivate over the booming energy demand from data centers. Now, we could be entering a new and ominous stage of utility power: the rise of the corporate mega-utility. On May 18, Florida-based NextEra Energy, owner of the largest electric utility in the U.S.
Source

Original

Organizers in Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia Are Putting Abortion Rights on Ballot

It has been four years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion, leaving people in the U.S. to navigate a confusing patchwork of abortion protections, restrictions, and outright bans depending on jurisdiction. Organizers have ramped up efforts to improve access since the ruling, and thanks to that…
Source

Original

VA Dems Are Frustrated With Spanberger’s Veto of Legislation Reining in ICE

Gov. Abigail Spanberger within just 24 hours vetoed two legislative packages aimed at limiting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Virginia while simultaneously signing other measures targeting masked federal agents and issuing a sweeping executive order governing how ICE officers may operate on state property. The mixed actions frustrated and baffled some Democratic…
Source

Original

SCOTUS Denied VA Dems’ Attempt to Salvage Congressional Map Approved by Voters

Virginia’s Democratic attorney general, Jay Jones, said Friday night that he would redouble efforts to campaign on behalf of Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections following the US Supreme Court’s rejection of a request to restore a voter-approved congressional map. Following the high court’s one-sentence denial of Democratic state officials’ petition for emergency relief…
Source

Original

VA Gov. Spanberger Vetoes Bill Allowing Public Employees to Collectively Bargain

Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed collective bargaining legislation Thursday, drawing major criticism from some of the state’s largest unions and labor advocate groups. The governor previously expressed support for the bills that would allow more Virginia public workers to organize in unions and negotiate their working conditions and pay rates. Spanberger first sought amendments to Senate…
Source

Original

More State Governments Are Turning Against Data Center Tax Breaks

After years of states pushing legislation to accelerate the development of data centers and the electric grid to support them, some legislators want to limit or repeal state and local incentives that paved their way. President Donald Trump also has changed his tone. Last year he issued an executive order and other federal initiatives meant to support accelerated data center development.
Source

Original