Thursday, 15 October 2026

A long-term supply contract between Google and Constellation Energy will deliver 3,590 MW of electricity and includes a 20-year commitment covering 890 MW of new nuclear generation, according to Argus.

Under the agreement, Google will put more than USD 4.3 billion into upgrades at 11 reactors across Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Argus reported. Those upgrades feed 890 MW into the PJM Interconnection grid, which Argus said is roughly comparable to the output of a large conventional reactor.

The first of the reactor expansions should start operating in 2028, Google said on Tuesday, per Argus.

A second contract runs 15 years and covers 2,700 MW drawn from Constellation's existing fleet in PJM, a market spanning 13 states and the District of Columbia, according to Argus.

The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a deal under which Google will help pay for upgrades to Georgia's nuclear reactors starting in 2028, according to Spotlight PA.

The agreement was struck between Georgia Power and Google. Georgia Power wants to upgrade four older nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle and Plant Hatch so they can produce more energy, Spotlight PA reported.

LS Electric secured a $138.7 million contract from Bloom Energy to supply transformers and switchgear for fuel cell-powered data center operations in Pennsylvania, according to Event Registry.

The contract covers 38-kilovolt high-voltage switchgear and distribution transformers.

Deliveries are scheduled between April and July 2027, according to Event Registry, positioning the company to support dedicated power infrastructure for the facility.

The top 200 US law firms are on pace to hire nearly 300 data center lawyers in 2026, according to an analysis of public data by legal business intelligence firm Pirical, first shared with Semafor.

The hiring pace is up 21% from the year before, Pirical found. Kirkland & Ellis and Dentons hold the largest teams, each with more than 200 lawyers working in the area, according to the analysis.

The hiring has shifted geographically. Pirical analyst Craig Savitzky said Houston has matched Washington DC so far in 2026, a move he tied to power availability now deciding whether a project gets built at all.

Solaria signed an agreement with the Uruguayan government to develop a data center technology park in Uruguay, according to pv magazine.

The project includes USD 5.5 billion for the construction of data centers with a combined capacity of 500 MW, pv magazine reported. It also allocates USD 200 million for 350 MW of solar PV capacity to supply renewable electricity to the facilities.

The Uruguayan government said the USD 5.7 billion project is the largest foreign investment ever announced in the country, according to pv magazine.

Lithium-ion batteries are cheaper than the fossil-gas turbines that technology companies are installing at gigawatt scale to power AI data centers, according to Canary Media.

The batteries can also cushion the cost of expanding grid infrastructure and power plants needed to meet the peak energy demand of data centers, Canary Media reported.

Proposed reliability standards for data centers and cryptocurrency loads have cleared their final stakeholder ballot and moved to board review, according to Power Magazine.

The standards would require qualifying data centers, artificial intelligence facilities, and cryptocurrency operations to provide grid data, coordinate protection settings, and follow grid operators' instructions, Power Magazine reported.

The cost of credit default swaps tied to hyperscalers is climbing as more investors hedge against a potential downturn in the AI boom, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Insuring $1 million of CoreWeave bonds against default over five years has risen from under $40,000 a year ago to $100,000, Semafor reported. The same demand is lifting the cost of protection across the sector.

Hedging against an Oracle default rose 12% in a week, according to Semafor. A $1 million policy covering an Oracle default now costs $28,000.

Tech giants and other large corporations in North Carolina want 24/7 carbon-free electricity, according to Canary Media.

Across most of the state, only Duke Energy can sell power to these corporations, Canary Media reported. The utility's grid is not required to be 100% clean until mid-century.

That timeline leaves companies seeking round-the-clock carbon-free supply without a ready option through the state's vertically integrated utility.

The Ratepayer Protection Act failed to advance in the U.S. Senate, according to Cryptonomist. The outcome left open who pays for the power grid upgrades that large data centers require, per the same report.

The procedural vote drew 57 supporters and 43 opponents, short of the 60 votes needed to move the measure forward, according to Cryptonomist.

Under the proposed measure, states would retain authority to decide whether to adopt the cost standards, according to CoinDesk.