Protesters haul a guillotine to city council meeting about a potential AI data center, company rep cornered by protestors — ‘ it no longer felt safe to stay,’ developer escorted out by police

Some protesters brought a guillotine to public consultation for a potential data center in Salem, Oregon. Even though this was displayed outside the venue, it was a confrontation between the data center’s representatives and some of the community members that led the latter to leave early.

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After severe 76% electricity price hikes due to AI data centers, Virginia requires firms to pay for all dedicated upstream electrical infrastructure — state regulators crack down, governor says move will save civilians ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’
 After severe 76% electricity price hikes due to AI data centers, Virginia requires firms to pay for all dedicated upstream electrical infrastructure — state regulators crack down, governor says move will save civilians ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’

Virginia’s public utility regulator now requires all data center projects to pay for the infrastructure needed to supply their power. This makes it one of the first states to convert the ‘ratepayer protection pledge’ into an actionable policy.

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US mulling ban on key Chinese networking tech in data center component crackdown — White House wants to impose restrictions in 2026, China says it will respond if necessary
 US mulling ban on key Chinese networking tech in data center component crackdown — White House wants to impose restrictions in 2026, China says it will respond if necessary

Sources say that the FCC is drafting a ban on optical transceivers for data centers. These components, which convert electrical signals into light signals, are said to pose a risk as they can be used to steal data, install malware, or disrupt data center operations in the U.S.

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Texas halts new data centers as governor calls for audits

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has paused new data center development until an audit has been completed.

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Texas slams on the brakes for 1,800 data centers, power grid requirements are five times higher than peak record demand — 474 gigawatts of power requests are now subject to new moratorium
 Texas slams on the brakes for 1,800 data centers, power grid requirements are five times higher than peak record demand — 474 gigawatts of power requests are now subject to new moratorium

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) instructed PUCT and ERCOT to pause all data center applications until they complete an audit on all the information that data center developers must submit. The move reportedly came after PUCT asked 377 data center operators to submit water and power use, of which only 28 complied.

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At least 37 people arrested in 2026 so far for protesting against data centers, most for breaking ‘petty rules’ — most taken into custody acted peacefully
 At least 37 people arrested in 2026 so far for protesting against data centers, most for breaking ‘petty rules’ — most taken into custody acted peacefully

Data center protesters are getting arrested for minor infractions, yet they continue pushing back against these projects. Aside from the arrests, there’s also at least 12 instances (probably more) where the police were called to intervene between politicians and protesters.

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SpaceX won’t remove all of xAI’s unpermitted turbines for another year

SpaceX is building a new power plant for xAI’s Colossus data centers, but it won’t remove existing, unpermitted turbines for many more months.

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Startup plans to put nuclear-powered data centers in the sea — modular units could be much faster to deploy, but questions about reliability and longevity remain
 Startup plans to put nuclear-powered data centers in the sea — modular units could be much faster to deploy, but questions about reliability and longevity remain

Atomarine wants to put data centers on modular barges for ocean-based deployments. The firm says these can be powered by LNG-powered ships and seamlessly swap to ship-based SMRs when they become available.

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30 Georgia homes are being acquired via sale or eminent domain to expand power grid — one affected family member says it’s ‘for the data centers’
 30 Georgia homes are being acquired via sale or eminent domain to expand power grid — one affected family member says it’s ‘for the data centers’

Georgia’s largest power supply company is reclaiming 30 homes that lay in the path of its power line expansion project through sale or eminent domain. The company says the project is not for a data center, but the substation the line is connecting to sits less than five miles from a massive data center.

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Pennsylvania town lists 43 specific demands to approve new AI data center project — developer calls local demands ‘too difficult’ as council slams response as ‘approval by tantrum’

One township in Pennsylvania gave a specific list of demands for a data center developer to follow if they want to build their project in the area. Instead, they retracted their initial application and sent in a second one challenging the regulations.

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