Electrification Roundup: News You May Have Missed (October 28, 2026 Edition)

PG&E data center pipeline, a 1 GW Google virtual power plant, large-load tariffs, local data center pauses and multifamily charging.

Oct 26, 2026

174 megawatts. That is how much new data center load PG&E has connected since 2024, against a pipeline of 12.9 GW. The gap between data center plans and delivered power now drives local decisions: Grand Junction paused projects of 1 MW or more, Taunton banned data centers, and Missouri and Florida regulators set the terms large loads must accept. At the same time, Google agreed to pay buildings in PJM for 1 GW of flexible demand.

Grid Stress, Storms and Resilience Economics

DOE adds $967 million to the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grant program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced about $967 million in additional funding on October 20 for locally driven projects that upgrade distribution and transmission equipment, reduce outage risk and accommodate demand growth across states, territories and tribes. State energy offices pass the money through to utilities and cooperatives, so the allocations show where feeder and substation work is likely to land first. Owners planning service upgrades can ask their state energy office which utilities applied and which circuits the projects cover.

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PG&E files a 10-year plan to bury 5,000 miles of lines in high fire-risk areas

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) filed its 10-Year Electrical Undergrounding Plan with California’s Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, covering about 5,000 miles of distribution lines across more than 30 counties from 2028 through 2037. PG&E says undergrounding cuts ignition risk by nearly 98% and outages by about 90% on converted lines, and values long-term benefits at $117 billion. The plan moves to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for cost approval if the safety office signs off. Owners in fire-prone service areas can track which circuits are scheduled, since outage history feeds insurance and tenant retention.

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Dominion plans nearly 9 GW of new gas and 3.5 GW of batteries in its 20-year resource plan

Dominion Energy filed its 2026 Integrated Resource Plan update with the Virginia State Corporation Commission on October 15. The preferred plan adds 8.9 GW of gas-fired capacity, more than 21 GW of solar, about 3.5 GW of battery storage, 3.4 GW of additional offshore wind and small modular reactors starting in 2042. The Southern Environmental Law Center says the plan conflicts with Virginia’s clean energy law and would put fuel price risk on customers. Northern Virginia owners should expect the commission review to shape rates and capacity timing through the decade.

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Electrification Economics at the Property Level

Missouri sets the template for large-load contracts: 12 years, 80% minimum demand and two years of collateral

Missouri regulators approved large-load tariffs for Ameren Missouri and Evergy under Senate Bill 4. Large customers sign at least 12-year contracts with an optional five-year ramp, pay a monthly demand charge set at 80% of contracted demand, post collateral equal to two years of minimum bills and give at least 24 months of notice before leaving. State leaders highlighted the protections on October 23 as other states weigh similar rules. For developers of powered land and industrial parks, these terms define the cost of securing large service commitments.

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Florida staff recommend rejecting Duke Energy Florida’s first large-load tariff

Florida Public Service Commission staff recommended on October 22 that regulators deny Duke Energy Florida’s large-load tariff as filed, with leave to refile. The proposal covers firm loads of 50 MW or more and sets a 20-year minimum term, minimum demand of 75% to 85% of contract capacity and a $150,000 study fee. Staff said the filing leaves open whether each large customer pays its full cost of service and recommended security of two months of minimum bills. The commission takes up the item November 3. The outcome sets the cost terms for new large service in a fast-growing state.

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Construction input prices jump 2.2% in September and 11.2% over the year

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported that construction input prices rose 2.2% from August to September and 11.2% from a year earlier, the largest annual increase in nearly four years. Higher fuel costs tied to the conflict with Iran drove much of the monthly rise, and tariffs have lifted metals prices. Suppliers report order books full through spring 2027, and more than one in four contractors expect margins to shrink over the next six months. Owners pricing electrical upgrades, switchgear and storage for 2027 should expect higher bids and longer lead times.

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Solar, Storage and VPPs

Buffalo affordable housing project installs a 3.75 MWh battery indoors

Viridi and developer Good Carbon installed a 3.75 MWh lithium-ion system inside Peace Bridge Place, an all-electric affordable housing building in Buffalo, New York, that also uses geothermal heating and cooling. National Grid pays the building to reduce draw and return power during grid strain, which lowers residents’ costs, and the system can carry the building through outages for several days. Viridi says its cell-isolation design meets Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards for indoor installation without added fire suppression. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) helped fund it. Indoor siting opens storage to urban buildings without yard space.

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Budderfly targets 100 cities and a 150 MW virtual power plant with no upfront cost

Energy-as-a-service company Budderfly announced plans to finance, install, own and operate solar, storage and efficiency upgrades for small and midsize cities at about $4 million to $5 million per city, repaid from savings, and to aggregate the sites into a 150 MW virtual power plant. The company cites $500 million in project capital. Its first disclosed contract is a $4.4 million, 15-year deal covering seven municipal buildings in Cadillac, Michigan, with Schneider Electric. The model translates directly to commercial portfolios that want upgrades without balance-sheet capital.

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Tesla deploys 13.7 GWh of storage in the third quarter as energy revenue falls 16%

Tesla deployed 13.7 GWh of energy storage in the third quarter, up from 12.5 GWh a year earlier and its second-highest quarter. Energy generation and storage revenue fell 16% to $2.88 billion, which Tesla partly attributed to tariff-related customer refunds, while the segment’s gross margin rose to 33%. Tariff exposure continues to move storage pricing, so commercial buyers should confirm who carries tariff risk in supply contracts.

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Intertek CEA projects U.S. battery block prices to fall 15% to 30% by 2030

Intertek CEA’s third-quarter price forecast projects U.S. DC block prices for energy storage to fall about 15% to 30% by 2030, with steeper declines above 40% in import markets. Risks include new trade rules, Section 45X compliance requirements, China’s removal of a value-added tax rebate on January 1, 2027, and possible delays to about 11% of announced U.S. production capacity. Owners pricing storage for 2027 projects should build tariff and supply scenarios into bids.

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Policy and Market Rules

Columbia tool estimates the permitting bill could save transmission projects up to 96 months

The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University released a platform on October 21 estimating time saved under the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), the Senate permitting bill. Savings are modest if agencies meet deadlines (2.5 months for transmission, 5.5 for solar) and large when projects would otherwise face delays and litigation (96 months for transmission, 35 for solar). Nineteen former cabinet-level officials signed a letter backing the bill. The Senate is expected to take a procedural vote on November 9. Faster transmission matters most to owners waiting on new service capacity.

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SEIA proposes a framework for utilities to buy capacity from distributed resources

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) published a Distributed Capacity Procurement Framework on October 26 with three pathways for state regulators: open-enrollment tariffs that pay distributed assets based on avoided utility costs, hybrid tariffs for recurring local needs such as feeder relief, and targeted solicitations for site-specific needs. SEIA recommends customer or third-party ownership as the default. If commissions adopt these tariffs, building-sited solar and storage could earn payments for deferring utility upgrades.

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Local Governance and Federal Policy

Grand Junction sets Colorado’s lowest data center pause threshold at 1 MW

The Grand Junction City Council voted 6-0 on October 21 to pause development of data centers with a projected, designed or requested electrical load of 1 MW or more for up to one year while the city writes standards for power, cooling, water and noise. Server rooms inside existing businesses are exempt. The 1 MW threshold is low enough to reach edge computing and colocation suites in office and industrial buildings, so owners in western Colorado should check tenant plans against the definition. Other Colorado pauses use higher lines: Broomfield and Loveland set 10 MW, and Longmont banned hyperscale facilities above 100 MW. The state legislature killed both data center bills in May, leaving cities to write the rules.

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Bay Area cities split between pauses and power standards for data centers

San Francisco and Oakland adopted 45-day data center moratoriums on October 6, and Oakland’s definition reaches generators and substations. San Jose chose standards instead: its draft policy for projects of 20 MW or more requires recycled or low-water cooling, 100% carbon-neutral power, Tier 4 backup generators, a commercial linkage fee of about $4 to $5 per square foot and an energy reliability fee of about $50,000 per MW, with council readings set for December 8 and 15. Santa Clara has new projects effectively on hold until Silicon Valley Power resumes accepting applications.

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Taunton, Massachusetts, bans data centers citywide

The Taunton City Council voted unanimously on October 20 to ban new data centers citywide and approved a one-year moratorium as legal backup while it studies zoning, electrical demand and environmental effects. VMD Companies, which owns industrial property off John Hancock Road, asked for an exemption for existing approved industrial buildings; public records show its unnamed prospective tenant would need 24 MW at full buildout. Without a pending permit, the project could not be grandfathered. The vote shows how quickly local action can remove a use from an existing industrial building’s value.

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Pennsylvania regulators propose curtailing new large loads first in grid emergencies

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) voted to issue a tentative order for public comment that would let utilities curtail new large-load customers, such as data centers, that have not added enough new capacity to cover their demand, before other customers during supply emergencies. The commission is also weighing whether to classify data centers as critical loads exempt from curtailment, and aims to vote on a final order January 28. PJM’s July capacity auction showed a 6,831 MW shortfall for 2028 to 2029.

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EV Charging in Real Places

LAZ Parking and EverCharge launch multifamily charging across 5,700 locations

LAZ Parking, which operates about 2.1 million parking spaces at 5,700 locations, launched LAZ Multifamily EV Charging with EverCharge, a subsidiary of indiGOtech. EverCharge’s SmartPower load management shares a building’s available power across chargers, which the companies say supports up to five times as many ports on the same service. EverCharge already runs more than 10,000 ports at over 1,000 apartment and condominium properties. Load management lets owners add charging without a service upgrade, the most common cost barrier in existing multifamily buildings.

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Florida adds six truck chargers to a 160-space parking site on Interstate 4

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is building a 160-space truck parking facility on 49 acres at the Interstate 4 and County Line Road interchange near Plant City, and the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization advanced a plan to add six electric truck chargers funded with $24.7 million in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) money. Tampa Electric will supply the service. The parking facility is due in late 2026; charger design begins in 2027 and construction in 2028. Freight corridor parcels near interchanges gain value as charging and parking sites.

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PG&E connects 3,000 EV charging ports in the third quarter

PG&E reported connecting 3,000 EV charging ports to its grid in the third quarter, alongside 4,240 new electric customers. The figure gives owners in Northern and Central California a sense of the utility’s connection pace for charging projects as it also manages a large data center queue.

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EV Market Signals

Used EVs reach a record 3.3% of used sales as prices ease

Cox Automotive estimates 47,862 used EVs sold in September, up 21.2% from a year earlier, a record 3.3% of used vehicle sales. The average listing price fell 1.8% to $36,767, and the premium over the average used gas vehicle narrowed to $2,137. Used EVs had 35 days of supply versus 46 for gas and hybrid models. Lower-cost used EVs broaden the base of drivers who need charging at home, so multifamily and workplace charging demand can grow even while new EV sales stay soft.

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Tesla delivers 486,532 vehicles and cites battery supply as the limit on volume

Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter and produced 464,391. Total revenue was $28.05 billion, flat from a year earlier, and operating income fell 56% to $718 million. Tesla said battery availability was the limiting factor on auto volumes, a sign that cell supply now shapes EV volumes alongside buyer demand.

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GM books $238 million more in EV realignment costs, bringing the 2026 total to $3.6 billion

General Motors (GM) reported third-quarter revenue of $50.0 billion and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $4.1 billion. The company recorded a $238 million EV strategic realignment charge for the quarter, down from $1.59 billion a year earlier, bringing the year-to-date total to $3.59 billion for resizing EV capacity, including its Ultium battery operations. Slower EV production plans from the largest U.S. automaker argue for phased charger deployment tied to measured site demand.

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Data Center Demand and Innovation

PG&E has energized 174 MW of data centers since 2024 against a 12.9 GW pipeline

PG&E reported on October 22 that it has energized 174 MW of new data center projects since 2024 and repeated its estimate that each gigawatt of new data center load could lower customer bills by 1% or more. Its investor materials put the pipeline at 12,870 MW in September, with 3,880 MW in final engineering and 400 MW under interconnection construction agreements. CEO Patti Poppe has said she expects about 1.8 GW of new data center load by 2030. Owners in PG&E territory should not count on data center growth to reduce their bills in the near term.

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Google expands its Voltus virtual power plant deal in PJM to 1 GW

Google and Voltus announced on October 22 an expanded agreement to build a 1 GW virtual power plant in the PJM region, ten times the 100 MW deal signed in June. Voltus pays local businesses and homes to reduce demand during grid peaks using batteries, smart thermostats and industrial process changes, and Google counts that capacity toward its own load growth. The deal creates a new buyer for flexible load in commercial buildings: owners with controllable HVAC, storage or process loads in PJM can enroll and earn payments.

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PJM capacity sits at its $325 cap as the market monitor ties $29.4 billion to data centers

PJM’s independent market monitor told members that total wholesale power cost rose 46% through July, from $38 billion to $56.7 billion, or from $79.57 to $116.53 per MWh. Data center load accounted for $10.48 per MWh of capacity costs, and across the last four capacity auctions data center growth added $29.4 billion in capacity revenue. PJM’s July auction for 2028 to 2029 cleared at the $325 per MW-day cap and fell 6,831 MW short of its reliability requirement. Commercial customers pay these costs through the peak load contribution on their bills across 13 states and Washington, D.C.

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