4-30-26

Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Thursday April 30, 2026

Please click here to see the full NewsClips (especially if you use GMail)

Asterisk (*) denotes news stories that may be inaccessible because portions are behind a paywall

 

Good morning! Here are today’s Texas Energy Report NewsClips

Oil hit a wartime high Thursday following a report that the U.S. military would brief President Donald Trump on potential action against Iran, raising worries that armed conflict could resume, and building on the American blockade of Iranian exports.

Futures for West Texas Intermediate added nearly 3% to $109.82 per barrel.

June futures for Brent crude rose more than 5% to $124 a barrel Thursday.

Brent crude has surged to its highest levels since mid-2022, LSEG data shows, as the Middle East conflict chokes supplies.

Axios reported that the U.S. Central Command was set to present Trump plans for possible military action against Iran, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.

Trump had earlier reportedly rejected Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, signaling the naval blockade will remain in place until a broader nuclear agreement is reached.

 

Top Stories

 

Politico – April 29, 026

White House meets with Chevron, oil traders amid Iran standoff

White House officials huddled with oil industry executives Tuesday to discuss steps to tamp down the surge in energy prices in the event the U.S. keeps its blockade of Iranian ships in place for months, according to three people with knowledge of the meeting.

The meeting, which was confirmed by the people who were granted anonymity to speak about private discussions, came as U.S. crude oil prices climbed back above the $100 per barrel mark and gasoline prices extended their rally to the highest level in four years because of the disruption of shipments from the oil-rich Persian Gulf.

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Barron’s – April 29, 2026

Oil Producers Don’t Want to ‘Drill Baby Drill.’ There’s a Problem in Texas*

The Trump administration wants U.S. oil companies to drill more, so they can boost output and lower prices as the Iran War decimates global supplies. But there is little sign of that happening so far. One big reason they aren’t ramping up production has to do with a quirk in the commodities market, analysts say. Natural gas, a byproduct of oil drilling, is selling for negative prices in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, severely depressing how much money producers can make from each barrel of oil they sell.

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Oil Price – April 29, 2026

Phillips 66 Beats Q1 Estimates by $0.88 Per Share as Refining Margins Surge

In an earnings season highlighted by a Middle East conflict that has sent oil prices soaring, Texas oil refiner Phillips 66 has reported first quarter adjusted earnings of $0.49 per share, easily beating Wall Street’s consensus of a loss of $0.39 while net income came in at $207 million thanks to higher refining margins amid the big oil price rally. The giant refiner reported that it has formally increased its Sweeny NGL fractionation capacity by 23% and its Freeport LPG export dock capacity by 15% mainly through debottlenecking projects completed in 2025 to optimize the company’s Gulf Coast NGL value chain.

“We are confident in our ability to navigate market volatility due to our integrated business and the strength of our balance sheet. Backed by disciplined execution and strong operating performance, we remain well positioned to provide energy to the global market,” said Mark Lashier, chairman and CEO of Phillips 66.

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Houston Chronicle – April 29, 2026

Democrats investigate as Trump OKs almost $2 billion in taxpayer money to end offshore wind projects*

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Reuters – April 29, 2026

Ares to acquire Rover natgas pipeline stake from Blackstone*

Ares Management said it has acquired a stake in the Rover natural gas pipeline from a unit of fellow investment firm ​Blackstone for an undisclosed sum, as interest in U.S. energy infrastructure assets ‌grows. In a statement sent to Reuters, Ares said funds led by its Infrastructure Opportunities strategy would buy 32.4% of Rover, a pipeline system spanning around 700 miles (1,130 km) in Pennsylvania, West ​Virginia, Ohio and Michigan which moves natural gas from the Appalachian shale basin ​to Midwestern markets and beyond.

In a statement sent to Reuters, Ares said funds led by its Infrastructure Opportunities strategy would buy 32.4% of Rover, a pipeline system spanning around 700 miles (1,130 km) in Pennsylvania, West ​Virginia, Ohio and Michigan which moves natural gas from the Appalachian shale basin ​to Midwestern markets and beyond. “Large-scale, strategically located assets like Rover, which offer much-needed egress for in-basin supply, are playing a central role in the natural ​gas value chain and represent a compelling opportunity for expansion,” said Anthony Omokha, ​managing director in Ares Infrastructure Opportunities.

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Time – April 29, 2026

The 10 Most Influential Energy Companies of 2026

 

The Latest TERse Tips

A power interruption at the BP Whiting refinery, the largest refinery serving the Great Lakes region, forced the facility offline and reduced gasoline output that normally supplies parts of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois — WTVB

A group of state attorneys general wrote to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and major credit-rating firms, raising concerns about the use of environmental, social and governance factors in downgrade decisions — the officials from 23 Republican-led states, which include Texas, Florida and Oklahoma, said Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Corp. and S&P Global Ratings have “undisclosed material conflicts of interest,” in part because they have pledged to a United Nations-backed organization to incorporate ESG into their analysis — Bloomberg*

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) signed a virtual power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy Resources for a 250-megawatt solar plant in West Texas (Selenite Springs Energy Center) — Stock Titan

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth warned that strain on the aviation industry could intensify in the coming weeks as jet fuel supplies tighten, driven by disruptions tied to the Iran war — appearing Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Wirth said jet fuel in key regions was already at seasonally low levels before the conflict began, leaving markets vulnerable to supply shocks — Yahoo! News

A “Texas-first” data center with an initial 100MW of capacity is being planned for the Lone Star State — new developer Pace is planning the data center at a site in Glasscock, and said the scheme, dubbed the Lone Star Project, will “reflect a Texas-first development philosophy from start to finish — Data Center Dynamics

US behind-the-meter power solutions provider ElectriGen has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) to develop and operate a 1.8GW behind-the-meter power platform designed to support a large-scale data center development at an undisclosed site — Data Center Dynamics

Onetime Hunt Consolidated CFO is the new CFO of PPG — see the press release

The Trump administration expanded on its new strategy to short-circuit offshore wind power developers, with two more agreements to refund offshore lease payments in exchange for cancelling those projects and promises by the companies to instead invest in U.S. oil and gas projects — Workboat

 

Oil & Gas Texas

 

Courthouse News – April 29, 2026

Fifth Circuit scrutinizes Texas judge’s quick ‘no’ on Exxon document demand

A minority shareholder urged the Fifth Circuit Wednesday to revive its demand for ExxonMobil documents, claiming a Houston federal judge wrongly killed the subpoena with little more than a blunt declaration that it was “way too broad and intrusive and burdensome.” The dispute centers on a federal law that lets foreign litigants obtain U.S.-based evidence for use overseas. Candel & Partners SAS, a minority investor in ExxonMobil’s former French subsidiary Esso S.A.F., is pressing a shareholder derivative lawsuit in France against Esso’s CEO, Charles Amyot. The suit accuses the company of suspicious deals and financial anomalies that allegedly cost minority investors more than a billion euros.

Candel first won an ex-parte subpoena from U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison in Texas. ExxonMobil moved to quash it. After a hearing, the Bill Clinton appointee sided with the oil giant, ruling that all four discretionary factors from the Supreme Court’s Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. decision weighed against the request.

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S&P Global Platts – April 29, 2026

S&P Global Ratings Raises WTI And Brent Price Assumptions Due To Ongoing Effective Closure Of The Strait Of Hormuz

S&P Global Ratings believes there is a high degree of unpredictability around the duration and scale of the Middle East war and its potential effect on commodity prices, supply chains, economies, and credit conditions. As a result, our baseline forecasts carry a significant amount of uncertainty. As situations evolve, we will gauge the macro and credit materiality of potential shifts and reassess our guidance accordingly. This report does not constitute a rating action.

• S&P Global Ratings raised its West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil price assumptions by $15 per barrel (/bbl) for the remainder of 2026 and by $5/bbl for 2027. Our assumptions for 2028 and beyond are unchanged.
• The increases reflect larger and more persistent oil supply disruptions, alongside elevated geopolitical risk premiums, as U.S.-Iran peace talks remain at a standstill.
• In our view, prices will need to rise further or remain elevated for a prolonged period to curtail demand and improve market balances.
• Our price assumptions for Henry Hub, Canadian Alberta Energy Co. (AECO), and Dutch Title Transfer (TTF) for 2026-2029 are unchanged.

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KWTG – April 29, 2026

A proposed Energy Transfer gas pipeline would go through Grant County and more

Nick Seibel, publisher and editor of the Silver City Daily Press, covers top stories each week on the Silver City Report. This week we hear about an energy pipeline, candidate forums and the governor giving WNMU’s commencement. This is a transcript of the conversation.

Susan Morée: There was a meeting in Grant County about a pipeline. Talk about it.

Nick Seibel:  Yeah, Energy Transfer is the name of the company that wants to build the Desert Southwest Transwestern Pipeline Expansion, which would bring a natural gas pipeline across Texas, southern New Mexico, and into Arizona, and would start outside of Midland, Texas, and basically run across the southern part of the country here connecting those natural gas sources over in Texas and southeastern New Mexico over to mostly power generation stations, what it sounds like, along the route of the pipeline. So, it’s a big deal, certainly.

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Center Square – April 27, 2026

Energy companies refusing to invest until lawsuits are over, lawmaker says

Louisiana energy companies may be keeping major projects on the sidelines until a 2025 law meant to bring more predictability to oilfield environmental litigation takes effect, according to comments from Rep. Brett Geymann. In an interview, the Lake Charles Republican said an oil and gas working group that included about 30 people – roughly 10 to 12 legislators and the rest industry representatives – heard directly from executives about why Louisiana projects remain stalled. No lobbyists were allowed in the room, he said, because lawmakers wanted “raw, unfiltered discussion.”

Executives “put their guard down,” he said, and described a business climate in which Louisiana investments are still being delayed because of pending and potential lawsuits. One industry representative, Geymann said, told lawmakers that when executives sit in a board room and review stacks of potential investments, “we take the Louisiana stack and move it to the side.”

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Dallas Morning News – April 29, 2026

Half of Texas companies seeing drag from Iran war, Dallas Fed surveys show*

Nearly two months after the onset of the Iran war, the conflict is taking a significant toll on Texas businesses with roughly half of Texas firms reporting at least some negative impact, according to survey results released this week by the Dallas Fed. Some 31% of respondents said the war was having “a slight negative impact,” and 16% said it was having “a significant negative impact.” Of the respondents who reported a negative effect, a majority — 69% and 54%, respectively — cited higher fuel costs and uncertainty, while 43% cited reduced customer demand and spending. Smaller numbers cited higher costs besides fuel and disrupted supply chains and shipping delays.

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Houston Chronicle – April 29, 2026

Texas officials rejected Corpus Christi water project amid looming crisis*

News from the States – April 29, 2026

Corpus Christi delays action on plan to cut water use by 25% if emergency is declared

The Corpus Christi City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to delay a vote on how much residents, local businesses and refineries would have to cut water if a supply crisis is triggered. Nick Winkelmann, chief operating officer of the city’s water department, presented a plan to require all customers of the city’s water system to reduce use by 25% during a Level 1 emergency — the point when the water supply is projected to be 180 days from falling short of demand. Experts say that may happen as soon as September unless significant rain falls.

Council members told Winkelmann they needed more information on how curtailment would be enforced — including fines and fees for customers who violate limits — before settling on a rate. “It’s very difficult to vote on something where you don’t know the end result,” Council Member Gil Hernandez said.

 

Oil & Gas National & International

 

The Wall Street Journal – April 29, 2026

The Global Energy Order Is Breaking Down*

A fractured OPEC. A blockaded Persian Gulf. A U.S. emboldened by its world-leading fossil-fuel output. The Iran war is scrambling the longstanding foundations of the oil market, ushering in a more fragmented and potentially more volatile energy world. The free flow of petroleum across oceans is out. Resource nationalism is in. The latest rupture of the global energy map came Tuesday, when the United Arab Emirates said it would leave the Saudi Arabia-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, dealing a major blow to a cartel of oil producers that was designed in part to tame an industry famed for booms and busts. Instead, the U.A.E. is striking out on its own.

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Bloomberg – April 29, 2026

US Oil Exports Hit Record as Iran War Energy Crunch Deepens

US crude exports surged to a record last week as the Iran war sends overseas buyers hunting for replacements to Middle Eastern oil. Even as the US and Iran hold on to a fragile ceasefire, oil buyers across the world are still grappling with the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history. American exports have been critical to help fill the gap, with President Donald Trump pushing for more US production as part of his energy dominance agenda. That has sent US crude exports above 6 million barrels a day, eclipsing a previous high of nearly 5.3 million set in late 2023, according to data published Wednesday from the US Energy Information Administration.

The surge in the volatile weekly crude exports figure also helped send overall exports of US oil and fuel to a fresh all-time high, topping 14 million barrels a day. But there are limits on how long US exports can continue at these levels, raising concerns over a quickly eroding global supply cushion. The surge in shipments is putting pressure on domestic US oil stockpiles, which dropped by more than 13 million barrels last week and are holding below longer-term seasonal norms. “The US cannot make up the world’s deficit alone,” said Joe DeLaura, a global energy strategist at Rabobank. With the US serving as a backstop to global oil markets, domestic fuel prices are continuing to rise. Nationally, retail gasoline costs more than $4 a gallon and is at a seasonal record. Diesel is also at the highest seasonal level ever, topping $5 a gallon.

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E&E News By Politico – April 29, 2026

Court considers pausing Mountain Valley expansion project*

A federal appeals court is weighing whether to freeze construction of a project to extend the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline about 30 miles into North Carolina. Environmental groups asked a three-judge panel Tuesday to put work on the MVP Southgate pipeline on hold while the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviews whether state regulators improperly certified that the project complied with water quality standards in Virginia and North Carolina. The Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices and other groups are appealing both permits in two separate cases before the court.

It was unclear whether the panel, which in the past tossed out approvals for the main pipeline, would intervene in Mountain Valley’s latest project. At times, the judges appeared concerned with the pipeline developer’s track record of environmental violations while building the mainline pipe from West Virginia to southern Virginia. But Judge James Andrew Wynn noted that comparisons between the construction of the main pipeline and the North Carolina extension were limited, since the projects were built in different states, with different water standards and using different mechanisms.

CNBC – April 29, 2026

The ink was barely dry – so to speak – on this week’s Power Point when the news blew harder than the oil well in the movie There Will Be Blood.  The United Arab Emirates is leaving OPEC, and leaving now.  It came as a shock to many.  The UAE may only be the 3rd largest producer in OPEC – and 8th largest in the world – but it punches above its weight in terms of influence.  I’ve been to a number of OPEC meetings and the UAE and its long-time energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei have always been at the forefront of the negotiation and dialogue.  Whenever there was a conflict – usually with Iran – Saudi Arabia or the UAE appeared to be the country that could smooth it over.    When the group would finally make a decision on oil output, the UAE was often on the dais with OPEC’s President and Saudi Arabia, facing the worlds energy journalists.

The reverberations of the news haven’t yet begun.  When you read this, the news will only be a day old and the May 1st exit not even here.  So how this ultimately plays out is anyone’s guess.  So here’s mine. It’s no secret that the UAE can produce more oil than it is.  OPEC and its OPEC “plus” coalition, a group led by Russia and held together by what’s called the group’s Declaration of Cooperation, adhere – mostly – to an output quota system everyone agrees on.  More simply, it tells countries what they are allowed to produce.   Keeping to this quota system is meant to keep the oil market in balance and free from huge over or under supply.

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The Wall Street Journal – April 29, 2026

The U.A.E.’s OPEC Bombshell Signals a New Middle East Order*

The United Arab Emirates’ decision to withdraw from OPEC did more than deliver a shock to the cartel that has long ruled the global oil market. It also rang the opening bell for the new geopolitical order that the war with Iran is ushering in across the Middle East. The new alignment is redrawing political fault lines between the Arab world and Israel that defined the region for decades. Instead, the U.A.E.—the financial nerve center of the Gulf and a potent military power—is strengthening security cooperation with Israel as both states work to change the region’s strategic balance through force of arms if necessary.

Israel recently sent its Iron Dome missile-defense technology and troops to operate it to the Gulf state, people familiar with the matter said, something that would be unthinkable elsewhere in the Arab world. The war has given the U.A.E., a small and fantastically wealthy federation of monarchies, an opportunity to emerge from the shadow of its larger neighbor Saudi Arabia and make a statement about its aspirations for regional power. The U.A.E. pointedly signaled its new priorities by announcing its exit from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the one body the Arab world has ever been able to use to throw around its collective clout, at the exact moment Gulf leaders were meeting in Saudi Arabia in an attempted show of unity. The decision was timed to deliver a shock and to make a statement that the U.A.E.’s national interest comes first, Emirati officials familiar with the decision said. The U.A.E. is also rethinking its ties to organizations including the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, according to officials familiar with the discussions. Asked for comment, a U.A.E. official said no further withdrawals are planned for now.

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Grist – April 28, 2026

This Supreme Court ‘victory’ for oil giants is not what it seems

For millions of years, the Mississippi River flowed unchecked, carrying roughly 400 million metric tons of sediment down to Louisiana, where it spilled into the Gulf of Mexico to create new land. But in the early 20th century, a series of dams and river-training structures were built to prevent flooding — leaving the river tamed and unable to produce new terrain at anywhere near its previous pace. Oil and gas development, which ripped broad canals through vulnerable marshland, made matters worse.

As sea levels rose, existing land subsided, and more brutal storms battered the coast. Louisiana lost more than 2,000 square miles of wetlands over the last century, a slow dismantling exacerbated by climate change. About a football field or more land disappears every 100 minutes, and the state’s southern parishes are expected to lose another 3,000 square miles by 2050 unless drastic action is taken. After years of devastating hurricanes, many of Louisiana’s southernmost towns have been emptying out.

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Washington Post – April 28, 2028

More than 60 percent of U.S. is covered by drought as impacts worsen*

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The New York Times – April 29, 2026

Loss of Emirates Further Weakens OPEC’s Influence*

OPEC will be less powerful without one of its leading members, the United Arab Emirates. The question is: How much? The emergence of the United States as the world’s largest oil producer has diminished the grip that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries had over the global market, as has the departure of several of the cartel’s members. But the announcement on Tuesday that the Emirates, a major oil producer, is leaving after more than 50 years of membership comes at a difficult moment for the organization. The United States and Israel are locked in a uneasy standoff with Iran, a founding member of OPEC that has effectively shut down much of the flow of oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf. During the two-month war, Iran has also attacked its partners in the cartel.

“There’s no way to underplay U.A.E.’s departure,” said Frank Fannon, who was an assistant secretary of state for energy resources in the first Trump administration. “It’s part and parcel of a general shift. There’s the lack of trust among members, particularly with one of them shooting at other members. It’s a very big deal.” For now, the chaos in global oil markets from the war with Iran and effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial Persian Gulf shipping channel, is overshadowing the fallout from the Emirates’ pending departure. Regardless of how many members OPEC has, the Gulf has become an unreliable energy supplier. Indeed, oil prices hardly budged in response to the Emirates’ announcement. The longer-term consequences will become clearer if and when the strait reopens, allowing producers throughout the region to return to prewar production and export levels.

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Bloomberg – April 29, 2026

No, the Iranian Oil Industry Isn’t About to ‘Explode’: Javier Blas*

If US President Donald Trump is right, the Iranian oil industry should be imploding by now. On April 26, he predicted the country’s wells would “explode” in a “very powerful” destructive process starting in three days. That’s today. Considering oil is central to the war, one would hope Trump has his facts right. Unfortunately, he doesn’t. …

The petroleum engineering facts are, however, far more complex than the White House’s rose-tinted narrative. Put simply, the Iranian oil industry isn’t about to implode (unlike the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which faces an existential crisis after the United Arab Emirates decision to quit the cartel after six decades of membership to gain the freedom to boost output). Still, Trump appears to have decided to keep the blockade in place, hoping it will end the stalemate at the negotiating table.

 

Utilities, Electricity & Renewables

 

electrek – April 27, 2026

Tesla files to deliver Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package – ending the saga

Tesla has filed an S-8 registration statement with the SEC to register 303,960,630 shares of common stock for CEO Elon Musk under his 2018 pay package. At today’s share price of ~$376, those shares are worth over $114 billion. The filing confirms what many expected after the Delaware Supreme Court restored the award in December: the years-long legal fight over the largest executive compensation deal in corporate history is officially over.

The 2018 CEO Performance Award was designed as an all-or-nothing bet. Tesla’s board granted Musk options to buy 304 million shares (split-adjusted) at $23.34 per share, contingent on Tesla hitting 12 escalating market cap and operational milestones. Musk reached the final milestone in December 2021.

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KSAT – April 29, 2026

Lawsuit filed against CPS Energy after 5 injured in Preston Hollow Drive home explosions

Two North Side residents filed a lawsuit accusing CPS Energy of negligence after they were injured in home explosions earlier this month along with three others. Jose Ochoa and Mayte Terrie Reeves filed the joint lawsuit Monday in Bexar County. On April 21, their home was the second to explode in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive, near Thousand Oaks Drive. The San Antonio Fire Department said the explosions were likely related to a natural gas buildup.

Ten households were evacuated following the explosions. According to the lawsuit, Ochoa and Reeves were evacuated after the first explosion but were then told it was safe to return home. The lawsuit states natural gas had leaked underground from a CPS Energy line, forming a “volatile gas cloud” inside their home, causing the second explosion and fire.

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Transport Topics – April 28, 2026

USGS Says Appalachian Lithium Could Support EV Battery Demand

Parts of the Appalachian region of the eastern U.S. hold enough lithium to curb America’s reliance on imports for centuries, according to new research by the U.S. Geological Survey, underscoring domestic resource potential as demand for critical minerals accelerates.

The areas — primarily covering Maine, New Hampshire and the Carolinas, holds an estimated 2.3 million metric tons of undiscovered, economically recoverable lithium, said a USGS study published April 28. That’s enough of the battery metal to replace 328 years of U.S. imports at last year’s level, and enough to power 130 million electric vehicles or 1.6 million grid-scale batteries, the agency said.

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Realtor.com – April 28, 2026

America is about to need more power—millions already can’t afford it, new data shows

America is about to need a lot more electricity, even as millions of households are already struggling to afford it, new data shows. Residential electricity customers had their service shut off 13.4 million times in 2024 because of unpaid bills, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Texas recorded the most shutoffs in the nation, with more than 3 million residential electricity disconnections.

The figures come from a new federal data collection created after Congress directed the EIA to study residential utility shutoffs. The agency spent roughly three years developing the survey before completing the report earlier this year. The first report lands after years of mounting pressure on household electric bills. Residential electricity prices rose 33% from 2019 to 2025. The shutoff data puts a harder edge on that trend, showing what can happen when rising power costs reach households with no room left to absorb them—and just as the country is preparing for the next big jump.

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April 28, 2026

Pew Report Charts Path to Accelerate Use of Distributed Energy Nationwide

In response to mounting calls to solve our nation’s energy affordability and reliability challenges, The Pew Charitable Trusts has released a report that offers policymakers and regulators actionable recommendations to bring distributed energy resources (DERs) to scale in the United States. “Distributed Energy Can Unleash the Resilient, Affordable Grid of the Future,” the DER policy playbook, lays out six policies to lower electricity bills, strengthen grid reliability, and help utilities defer costly investments in new power plants. DERs—such as battery storage, rooftop and community solar, and smart thermostats—generate, store, and manage electricity close to the home, business, or facility where it is needed.

“Pew’s DER policy playbook provides decision-makers with actionable steps that can be implemented now to address increasing energy demand, costly utility bills, and more extreme weather,” said Maureen Quinlan, who leads Pew’s DER initiative. “By integrating DERs into the fabric of energy policy, planning, and procurement, legislators and regulators can unleash affordable, reliable energy in communities across the country.”

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Reuters – April 29, 2026

Entergy increases capital spending plan by 33% on expanded Meta data center deal*

U.S. electric utility Entergy increased its four-year capital spending plan by about 33% to $57 billion, a boost that is being driven largely by the ​expansion of energy infrastructure to serve Meta data centers, the company said on Wednesday. U.S. power ‌demand hit record levels in 2025 and is expected to grow again this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as tech companies rapidly build out data centers, some of which use as much electricity as an entire city at a single site.

Entergy ​is among the utilities raising capital expenditure plans over the last two years, in part for ​the construction of power plants and transmission lines to electrify proliferating data centers. Last ⁠month, Entergy announced that it had entered into an agreement to supply electricity to Meta data centers in ​Louisiana, a deal that will involve building seven new natural gas-fueled combined-cycle power plants, totaling more than 5.2 ​gigawatts. One gigawatt is enough to power 750,000 homes. Under a separate agreement announced in 2024, Entergy is also building multiple gas-fired power plants in Louisiana for a giant Meta data center campus.

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Reuters – April 28, 2026

US consumers face rising electricity prices despite clean power savings*

 U.S. annual power demand is forecast to rise by 1.2% in 2026 and by 3.3% in 2027 as data center deployments surge, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said earlier this month. Texas is predicted to see the largest increase with average annual demand rising 10% in 2025-2027 in the base case ​and 15% in a high demand scenario. Power plant developers are struggling to keep pace with surging AI demand. Average annual residential electricity prices are predicted to rise by 5.1% in 2026 and ‌by 2.4% in 2027, before inflation is taken into account, EIA said. Some states are likely to see higher increases as the impact depends on local generation sources and consumption trends.

In the large PJM network, which hosts the largest concentration of U.S. data center development in northern Virginia, forward capacity market prices soared in recent power auctions and analysts warned of a significant increase in retail prices in the years to come. Rising gas prices, import tariffs on steel and aluminium and upgrades to transmission networks are all helping to drive up electricity prices, Ed Firs, Energy Fellow at the University of Houston, told Reuters ​Events.

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How the American Oligarchy Went Hyperscale: Tim Murphy

Data centers have replaced megayachts as the preferred theater of oligarchic status signaling. Instead of submarines and retractable dance floors, these billionaires tout their compute, their gigawatts, and their acreage. The largest of the new facilities, the so-called “hyperscale” sites where AI models are to be trained, come with names that reflect the pathologies of their founders. Sam Altman’s Stargate in Abilene, Texas, will be “roughly the size of New York’s Central Park,” according to Bloomberg—while OpenAI’s Project ­Jupiter site in New Mexico could be larger still.

Amazon and Anthropic are developing Project Rainier on 1,200 acres outside South Bend, Indiana. Elon Musk trained his Mein Kampf–loving chatbot, Grok, at Memphis’ Colossus 1. Colossus 2 is on the other side of town. The names evoke both ancient and contemporary mythology; in D.F. Jones’ science fiction trilogy, ­Colossus is the rogue AI that enslaves mankind. (Grok, for its part, has described itself as “MechaHitler.”) Both Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have AI projects called­ ­Prometheus. There are at least five AI companies named for Icarus.

 

Regulatory

 

Source NM – April 29, 2026

Democratic NM land commissioner candidates differ on oil and gas donations, data centers

While Democratic candidates vying in the New Mexico commissioner of public lands primary largely agreed with each other at a forum Tuesday evening in Santa Fe, notable differences about the candidates’ views on fundraising and data centers emerged toward the end of the hour-long discussion.The June 2 election pits Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo), Jonas Moya and Juan de Jesus Sanchez III against each other. One of them will face Republican Michael Perry in the November general election.

The League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County hosted the forum at The Food Depot. LWF Santa Fe President Hannah Burling acted as moderator, and asked candidates whether they would accept campaign donations from the oil and gas industry, which provides most of roughly $2 billion in revenue annually to the State Land Office.