March 5, 2026

Peter Cook, Editor

As we announced last week, seven major tech companies committed to a power-related pledge at the White House.  Our first three articles below touch on that.

 

With so many quality articles, important announcements, and insightful analysis, it is hard to trim it down to 25-ish articles to include in The Power Connection Digest each week.  We do what we can!  Send us your news!

 

Welcome to Priority Power, our latest Platinum Sponsor at the 2nd Annual Permian Power Connection ConferenceMeridian Craft Supply is back as a Silver Sponsor, and we welcome first-time sponsors SEGRA (Silver), KD Johnson (Silver) and InRush Power (Logo Sponsor)!  Great to have you with us!

 

We have some great new speakers too, but we’ll save those announcements for next week.  Stay tuned!

 

And now, the news…

The Power Connection Digest Issue #46

Video: Trump Signs the Ratepayer Protection Pledge

Quick 3 minute video on Trumps comments on the pledge. Maybe we’ll get him to come speak at the 2nd Annual Permian Power Connection Conference!

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Seven tech giants signed Trump’s pledge to keep electricity costs from spiking around data centers

The pledge is supposed to commit companies to paying for grid upgrades needed to meet soaring electricity demand from data centers.

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Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Advances Energy Affordability with the Ratepayer Protection Pledge

President Donald J. Trump brought the leading AI companies and hyperscalers together to sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, ensuring they protect Americans from electricity price hikes due to data center energy requirements now and in the long run, take action to further strengthen the grid, and ensure that all Americans benefit from the oncoming technological boom.

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WSJ: A New Threat to Power Grids: Data Centers Unplugging at Once

Dozens of data centers abruptly dropped off the power grid in recent Virginia incidents, forcing operators to take emergency action.

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New Era Energy & Digital announces 450MW behind-the-meter plan for Texas data center project

New Era Energy & Digital announced that its strategic partner, Thunderhead Energy Solutions, has entered into a commercial arrangement with Turbine-X Energy to support a planned 450-megawatt behind-the-meter generation project at its Texas Critical Data Center site in Midland, Texas.

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Flotek Industries Awarded Its First Contract to Deliver Power Services for Utilities Infrastructure Support

Leveraging its proprietary PWRtek platform, Flotek will partner with leading distributed power service providers to coordinate the installation of up to 50MW of state-of-the-art power generation equipment, including advanced gas distribution and smart conditioning systems, to support critical federal disaster recovery initiatives.

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Caterpillar, OnePWR Solutions, and Vero3 Announce Strategic Collaboration to Deliver Sustainable Solutions and Infrastructure for Data Centers

The parties intend to collaborate on the design of a fully integrated solution combining natural gas–based prime power generation, carbon capture, battery energy storage, and permanent geological sequestration of carbon dioxide.

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Babcock & Wilcox Receives Full Notice to Proceed on $2.4 Billion Power Generation Project for Base Electron to Supply Power to Applied Digital AI Factory Campuses

Under its agreement with Base Electron, B&W will engineer, procure and construct the facility, with engineering and manufacturing activities already underway. Siemens Energy has been formally released to design and supply the steam turbine generator sets.

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Oklo Meta Deal Links Early Nuclear Funding To Future Data Center Demand

Oklo is developing small modular nuclear reactors aimed at providing reliable, carbon free power, and this agreement with Meta puts a tech company directly in the customer seat.

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Texas energy company seeks federal approval for pipeline through New Mexico to power data center

The project would pipe 400,000 dekatherms of gas daily to power plants for Project Jupiter, according to the nearly 900-page application for the $60 million pipeline, dubbed the “Green Chile Project.”

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Gas is the backbone of AI power.

When the biggest renewables player in America builds a 20+ GW gas pipeline, it's not a pivot — it's an acknowledgment of what firm, dispatchable power means for GW-scale 24/7 loads. Alex Lanin breaks it down.

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Power developers adapt gas turbine strategies to mitigate tight supply

Expansions in U.S. gas turbine manufacturing will take time to impact prices and power plant developers are forming partnerships and adapting project finance to tackle long lead times.

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Engine Power Plants Surge as Data Centers Drive Unprecedented Demand

Manufacturers respond with gigawatt-scale deployments, fast-start technology, and expanded production capacity.

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Podcast: Powering Growth: Utility Challenges Facing Data Centers

Bracewell (returning Gold Sponsor for the 2nd Annual Permian Power Connection Conference!) examines how long interconnection timelines, grid infrastructure constraints and evolving regulatory frameworks — particularly in PJM and ERCOT — are pushing developers toward greater control over power supply in pursuit of “speed to power” and Five 9s reliability.

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Podcast: From Speed to Strategy: Suhail Tayeb on Data Centers & Sustainable Development

Are data centers a sustainability problem or are we misunderstanding them? Data centers are not primarily a real estate story. They are an infrastructure story.

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WSJ: Big Tech’s Deals for AI Data-Center Power Present Accounting Questions

Investors want fuller disclosure on the gargantuan power agreements tech companies are striking with energy providers.

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Paying for Transmission ≠ Paying for Power

Peter Perri III: The only way to keep electricity prices from rising on a system with growing demand is to increase supply. Not move existing supply around more efficiently. Increase it. And here’s where the story gets ugly — especially in PJM.

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Largest U.S. Grid Pitches Pathway for On-Site Data Center Power

PJM Interconnection, the largest grid operator in the U.S., is proposing new rules to open the door for data centers to get their electricity directly from power plants.

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PJM requests approval from FERC for new behind-the-meter generation rules for data centers

Would establish a 50MW threshold for behind-the-meter facilities.

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EQT, GIP Move to Take AES Private in $33B Bet on Data Center Power Demand

A private equity–led consortium has agreed to take AES Corp. private in a $33.4 billion deal that—if completed—will shift one of the largest U.S.-listed power companies and a major data center renewables supplier into private ownership.

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$15B Pennsylvania data center gets approval for power plans

Southcentral Pennsylvania’s first hyperscale data center stepped a little closer to reality Wednesday night.

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FirstEnergy Commits $950M To Grid Upgrades in PA & OH

FirstEnergy has announced that its transmission subsidiary has been selected by grid operator PJM to carry out major upgrades across Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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AI Infrastructure Is Driving a Power Renaissance: Western Pennsylvania Is Emerging as a Strategic Energy and Housing Corridor

Western Pennsylvania is becoming a strategic corridor for artificial intelligence infrastructure as nuclear agreements, natural gas redevelopment proposals, and transmission-connected projects across Beaver County, Springdale, and Indiana County signal a broader regional energy buildout.

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Land and Expand: Early 2026 Megaprojects Reflect a Power-First Ethos

The emerging playbook emphasizes infrastructure co-investment, community engagement, and strategic site selection as key to future data center success.

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Making ‘Behind the Meter’ More Rational

Tisha Schuller & Jack Ridilla: Let’s bring the grid—and the community—back in.

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Diesel Generators for Redundancy

How much fuel could possibly be required for all planned data center capacity in North America?

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The Large Load Repricing Cycle Has Started

A hyperscale announcement lands in a local paper. A utility files a rate case. Public scrutiny follows. Legislators begin asking who is paying for the grid expansion. Tariff redesign enters the conversation. Rinse & repeat.

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Striking a Balance When It Comes to Power

Business strategies today include a focus on securing a reliable supply of electricity to sustain operations.

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In Case You Haven't Seen It

Check out this quick video on the 2nd Annual Permian Power Connection Conference. It's good.

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