A sitting Utah Senate president just lost a 20-year career because he voted to approve a Kevin O'Leary-backed hyperscale campus — and he's not alone.
🏘️ **COMMUNITY** — Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams conceded defeat Tuesday night after trailing challenger Stephanie Hollist 43% to 35% in the GOP primary. His role approving the Stratos Project — a 20,000-acre hyperscale campus in Box Elder County backed by celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary — drove the loss. Both Box Elder County commissioners who cleared the way for the project also trailed challengers. A 180-day moratorium passed this month will not apply to the Stratos campus.
🌊 **COMMUNITY** — In Warwood, West Virginia, hundreds packed an emergency town hall organized in under 24 hours after residents discovered Silicon Energy's plans for a 100-megawatt data center on LinkedIn. Delegate Shawn Fluharty organized the meeting; state House Bill 2014 strips local zoning authority over high-impact data centers. Wheeling officials learned of the project through a LinkedIn post.
⚖️ **LEGAL** — The City of Imperial, California, sued Imperial County under CEQA to halt a 950,000-square-foot AI data center that would be the state's largest. The county had approved the project, then reversed course and declared a 45-day moratorium. Developer Sebastian Rucci counter-sued, arguing the county manufactured an emergency with no specific identified harm.
⚡ **POWER** — PJM Interconnection, serving 67 million people across 13 states, voted Wednesday to create a new "capacity advisory" warning system — the first of its kind — as AI data center demand stretches the grid toward shortages even without extreme weather. PJM's capacity shortfall widened from 208 MW to 6.5+ GW across successive auctions. Capacity prices have surged 833% in two years.
💧 **WATER** — Virginia is in its worst drought since 2002. One-third of the state is under extreme drought. For the first time, 200+ data centers in Loudoun and Fairfax counties face the same water restrictions as every homeowner and small business in the state. A Google facility already approved can use up to 8 million gallons per day when it opens in 2028.
🏛️ **POLICY** — Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted a direct ultimatum Tuesday: data centers must bring their own power, reuse their own water, and cut electricity costs for Texas residents — or face slashed state incentives. Texas hosts more planned data center capacity than any other state. Abbott's position echoes Florida's SB 484, signed this month.
💰 **INVESTMENT** — Hyperscale Data (GPUS) signed a 10-year, $1.2B+ agreement to deliver 20 MW of AI compute from its Michigan campus by Q4 2026, with options to expand to 52 MW worth over $3 billion in total contract value. The former Bitcoin miner will redirect power and invest $100–120 million to retrofit 60,000 sq ft for AI workloads. Shares surged 22%.
