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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

High Runoff A Mixed Blessing in Washington State

LCG, June 13, 2002--Washington utilities are selling abundant hydropower at prices not experienced since the mid-1990's, meaning revenues from surplus power sales may not meet budget projections.

At the beginning of the month, peak-hour prices went as low as $4 per megawatt-hour, whereas the normal range is between $25 and $35. Mountain runoff which fills hydropower dams is 10 to 20 percent above normal levels.

Due to lower-than-expected revenues from wholesale power, Seattle City Light is on a credit watch, although it now earns an A+ rating from Standard & Poor's. The utility's finance director, Carol Everson, told the Seattle Times that low prices would have to persist until after runoff had stopped before she would be seriously worried. The utility is counting on earning 18 percent of its revenue in the form of surplus wholesale power sales, having borrowed $1.7 billion because of the power crisis that hit the Western states in 2000 and 2001.

Tacoma Power's George Whitener said that 15 percent of Tacoma Power's revenue is supposed to come from wholesale power, but sales have come up $700,000 short for June thus far. "Our projections of the market were higher than what we're currently seeing, so it will definitely have an impact on our ability to meet those projections used to set rates," he said. Retail customers are already paying more than they did in the '90's due to fallout from the power crisis.

Several utilities were hoping to pay back large debts they incurred last year through earnings from high power prices, but some, like Snohomish Public Utility District, are instead stuck paying high prices for power through long-term contracts.

The distance over which traders are willing to arrange power sales may have shrunk, some say, following the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's investigations into market manipulation. If so, this could also contribute to the slump in prices.
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