Tuesday, 18 August 2026

Nvidia agreed on Monday to provide up to USD 105 billion to backstop a new OpenAI data center in Ohio, Semafor reported.

The structure lands as lenders and equity investors question how much of the sector's borrowing is visible. Morgan Stanley analysts said much of hyperscalers' growing debt sits off their balance sheets, and that the credit arrangements themselves are becoming more convoluted, according to Semafor. That combination makes it "increasingly difficult for investors to assess companies' total potential leverage," the analysts wrote.

The risk has also drawn a central bank warning. A correction in US tech stocks appears likely even if AI eventually satisfies investor hopes, the European Central Bank said, and the resulting bust could threaten Eurozone stability.

Sunrun will supply energy capacity to Voltus for delivery of megawatts to AI hyperscalers across the PJM and MISO regions, according to CleanTechnica.

The arrangement routes capacity from Sunrun's residential storage-plus-solar systems into Voltus, which will use it to deliver what the companies call Bring Your Own Capacity megawatts to hyperscale AI buyers, CleanTechnica reported. The same report frames the deal as strengthening grid reliability and creating economic benefits for customers in the two regions.

Sunrun, listed on Nasdaq under the ticker RUN, is described as America's largest provider of residential battery storage, solar, and home-to-grid power.

The structure points distributed residential assets at a demand source normally served by utility-scale supply. Aggregating home batteries and rooftop solar into a capacity product gives a retail-scale fleet a route into wholesale markets serving data center load.

OpenAI will take part in building a fossil-fired power plant that Semafor Net Zero described as possibly the largest such plant in the country, an indication of the scale Big Tech and its financiers are pursuing in the AI energy race.

The plant is to be sited in Ohio, with Japan's SoftBank, the government, and Nvidia also involved, Semafor Net Zero reported.

Semafor Net Zero characterized the project as the furthest expression so far of the "bring your own power," off-grid model for data centers that the Trump administration has been promoting. Under that model, generation is tied directly to computing load rather than routed through the grid.

Private equity investment in utilities globally topped USD 69 billion in 2025, 50% above the previous year, according to Semafor Net Zero.

OpenAI's role, per the same account, is to help build the plant rather than own it outright.

West Virginia's Division of Air Quality, part of the state Department of Environmental Protection, found that developer Fundamental Data met the site-control requirements tied to its August 2025 air quality permit for the Ridgeline Facility, according to Power Magazine.

The determination applies to a gas turbine power plant that Fundamental Data is planning as the first phase of a broader project in West Virginia, Power Magazine reported.

The wider complex combines gas, solar, and data-center capacity and is sized at 5 GW, per Power Magazine, which described the project as contested.

Fundamental Data is based in Purcellville, Virginia, according to the same report. The site-control question was one of the disputed elements attached to the August 2025 permit.