Data center developers typically have to apply for permits to install generators that create local air pollution. The DataOne facility in New Jersey is the latest project accused of violating federal law by running on gas-fired generators without approval.
The standard currently requires reactors to keep radiation exposure to workers and the public “as low as is reasonably achievable.” The change is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to speed the buildout of new nuclear reactors expected to power AI data centers.
Proposals for new gas-fired power capacity tied to data centers nearly doubled in the first half of 2026, according to a Global Energy Monitor report. Nearly a third of that new capacity would come online in Texas, more than in any other state or country.
States struggling with dwindling water resources as a result of climate change are turning to a new generation of companies claiming they can induce rain or snowfall. Rainmaker, a cloud seeding company based in El Segundo, California, says it has helped generate at least 143 million gallons of water for Oregon and Utah.
How you feel about AI’s energy use might change how you feel about computers entirely.
They’re hyping up next-generation reactors as a way to meet data center energy demand. Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has lost more than 400 people, largely those working on safety.
“The regulator is no longer an independent regulator — we do not know whose interests it is serving,” former NRC chair Allison Macfarlane tells ProPublica.
Facing “unprecedented times,” NV Energy has decided to stop selling power to a small power utility serving 49,000 customers in Lake Tahoe, CalMatters reports. Data center requests are driving a tripling of expected peak power demand, according to NV Energy.
