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DOE Announces Site Selection for Energy Infrastructure and AI Data Centers on Federal Lands

LCG, July 24, 2025--The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the next steps in the Trump administration’s plan to accelerate the development of AI infrastructure by using Federal lands to lower energy costs and help power the global AI race, as previously outlined in President Trump’s Executive Orders on Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure, Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, and Unleashing American Energy.

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Enbridge Announces 600-MW Solar Project in Texas to Power Meta Data Center Operations

LCG, July 22, 2025--Enbridge Inc. (Enbridge) today announced that it has reached a final investment decision on the Clear Fork solar project located near San Antonio, Texas. Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta), has signed a long-term contract for all of the renewable power generated from the 600-MW project.

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Industry News

Virginia Panel Okays Changes in Dereg Law

LCG, Jan. 23, 2001The Virginia Senate Commerce and Labor Committee has approved amendments to the state's 1999 electric utility deregulation law even though one of them could mean higher rates for customers in the southwestern part of the state after rate caps expire in mid-2007.

The changes, which were backed by state Attorney General Mark L. Earley as well as businesses and utilities, would establish, among other things, a pricing method for default service, provided those customers who do not seek out alternative sources of electric supply or are unable to.

Default service would also come into play if competition does not develop as expected.

State Sen. Yvonne B. Miller was not enthusiastic about the "rush" to deregulate electricity and said she "was almost in terror" that Virginia could end up like California. State Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., who was guiding the amendments through committee calmed her nerves.

"My dear friends in California, they acted irresponsibly and they acted hastily," Norment said, afterticking off the differences between the California and Virginia laws. He added "It's not my intention to leave a failed deregulation of electricity as my legacy."

Virginia's two largest electric utilities, Virginia Electric & Power Co., a subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc., and American Electric Power Co. of Ohio, object to a proposal by the Virginia State Corporation Commission that default service rates be set by traditional cost-plus ratemaking, saying that approach would stifle competition.

The utilities want the rates based on so-called "shadow markets," or regional electricity markets near Virginia where competition has developed. If such can't be found, the amendments would create an artificial market, upon which the rates could be based.

Observers who were quick with their slide rules noted that Virginia Power's bills would peak in the summer and be a little lower the rest of the year. But AEP's customers in southwestern Virginia who use 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month would see a rate increase of about 20 percent.

If competition does develop as expected, the amendments will prove wholly unnecessary. However, the pricing plan for default service must be settled before utilities can place their generation assets into unregulated subsidiaries, as planned, this year. The plants will be deregulated next January.

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