

EPA's Acid Rain Exemption for Islanded Power
On July 16, EPA Assistant Administrator Aaron Szabo sent a letter that quietly reshapes the economics of self-generation for data centers. In it, EPA concluded that power plants supplying electricity only to a data center, not to the broader grid, do not fall under the Clean Air Act's Acid Rain Program. The agency confirmed the interpretation publicly on July 27. Reuters and other outlets, including The Hill, framed it plainly: developers can now sidestep one of the country's


Where Utility-Scale Solar Is Already Banned And Where It's Headed Next
Local government opposition to renewable infrastructure has shifted from isolated zoning hearings to systematic, region-wide restrictions. Here is how four key markets illustrate where utility-scale solar is blocked, constrained, or facing rapid statutory shifts.


Why Prime Farmland Kills Solar Projects and How to Screen for it Before You Option Land
Farmland opposition to solar didn't emerge from nowhere, and it isn't purely local. A handful of forces have converged over the past few years to turn prime farmland into one of the highest-risk categories a developer can option.


BlackRock's $12 Billion Bond Sale Signals a New Financing Playbook for Data Center Developers
On July 20, BlackRock began marketing a bond sale of more than $12 billion to help finance a single data center campus: Meta's project in El Paso, Texas. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are running investor calls this week, with pricing expected early next week. If it closes near that size, it will rank among the largest single-site financings ever assembled for digital infrastructure. For developers watching from outside the hyperscaler tier, the headline number is less in


Beyond the Warehouse
PJM is running out of room. So is every other grid where data center demand is highest. Developers are responding with floating server farms, orbital compute, and mines repurposed into hyperscale campuses. Our new whitepaper benchmarks four unconventional data center formats against conventional builds and finds that the ones with the best shot at scale aren't the flashiest. They're the ones engineered to work with the grid and the community around them, not against either.
























