PJM NAT GAS Bullish
PPL-Blackstone venture locks up 5 GW of gas turbines for Pennsylvania data centers
PPL's Blackstone joint venture, Invitium, has reserved more than 5 GW of combined-cycle gas turbines to feed Pennsylvania data centers, on sites that could hold 14 GW. PPL's CEO says bilateral contracts, not PJM's September backstop auction, will be the main way this new generation gets built. More gas-fired load in PJM means more call on gas, so this leans bullish for the molecule.
Utility Dive · Aug 10, 2026
ERCOT NAT GAS Bullish
Vistra backs the Texas data center pause and wants ERCOT's queue culled
Vistra supports Abbott's pause and says its 1.2 GW Comanche Peak deal with Amazon still energizes in 2027. Executives say large-load customers see a rising price environment and want to lock in both energy and capacity, not energy-only. Vistra's generation EBITDA jumped to $994 million on realized prices about 5% higher than a year ago, and it now pegs ERCOT load growth at 4% to 6%.
Utility Dive · Aug 10, 2026
PJM NAT GAS Bullish
Gas takes nearly half of PJM's first reformed interconnection queue
Natural gas leads the first cycle of PJM's new first-ready, first-served study process at 99.8 GW across 147 projects, nearly half of the 201.5 GW that qualified, with storage second at 60 GW. It's a sharp flip from three years ago, when 90% of the queue was solar, wind and storage and most of it never got built. For gas marketers it's a long line of new PJM gas-fired demand getting in position, though PJM's own record shows most queue projects don't get built and turbines and permitting are the real bottlenecks.
Inside Climate News · Aug 8, 2026
ISO-NE Bullish
New England wholesale power prices climbed in June
ISO-NE's monthly report shows wholesale prices rose in both the day-ahead and real-time markets in June, tracking higher demand and firmer gas. It's the kind of month-over-month move that shows up fast in supplier cost stacks. For New England REPs, June's step-up is a reminder that gas-driven price risk didn't go anywhere heading into peak summer.
ISO Newswire · Aug 7, 2026
Bearish
US battery storage hits 52 GW as the buildout keeps running near 70% a year
EIA says utility-scale battery capacity grew about 70% a year over the last three years, reaching 43.6 GW at the end of 2025 and nearly 52 GW by mid-2026, with another 14 GW due by year end. Batteries soak up cheap midday power and dump it back into the peak, which is exactly when prices spike. For suppliers, every gigawatt of storage added is more flexibility shaving the top off peak prices.
EIA Today in Energy · Aug 7, 2026
ERCOT NAT GAS Neutral
Constellation CEO says existing plants, not new builds, carry the early data center load
Dominguez frames the data center buildout as a peak-hour problem to solve with batteries and demand response, not a reason to wait on new plants. He expects ERCOT's soft wholesale prices to firm up once data centers actually show up and the market tightens. Constellation also sold its 606-MW gas-fired Brazos Valley plant in Texas to LS Power for $860 million, a sign buyers still pay up for gas assets.
Utility Dive · Aug 7, 2026
ERCOT NAT GAS Neutral Regulatory
Texas senators float gas build minimums as renewables dominate ERCOT's queue
With solar and storage now 70% of ERCOT's 460 GW interconnection queue and gas under 17%, Republican state senators asked whether Texas should mandate a minimum share of dispatchable gas instead of letting the market decide. ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas warned that if renewables keep dominating additions while load climbs, the state could see scarcity events in two to three years. Nothing's decided, but any move to prop up gas economics in ERCOT would reshape what suppliers and gas marketers end up paying.
Inside Climate News · Aug 6, 2026
ERCOT NAT GAS Bullish
NRG nears a 1.2 GW customer-backed gas plant deal in Texas
NRG says it's close to terms with an unnamed hyperscaler to build a 1.2 GW combined-cycle gas plant in Texas, with the customer backing more than 95% of the cash flow through capacity payments and an option to double it to 2.4 GW. It's a "bring your own power" deal, so the load pays for the new generation instead of leaning on the grid. For suppliers that's customer-funded capacity and headroom in ERCOT, and for gas marketers it's another big block of firm Texas gas demand getting locked in, even with the state's data center pause hanging over the timeline.
Utility Dive · Aug 6, 2026
ERCOT Bearish Regulatory
BNEF: Texas pause puts 20% of the US data center pipeline at delay risk
Bloomberg NEF figures Texas's data center pause puts about 20% of the US project pipeline, roughly 49.8 GW, at risk of delay, with up to $8 billion of data center revenue on the line by early 2027. The audit weeds out speculative load before it hits the grid, and BNEF still sees ERCOT data center capacity topping 17 GW by 2030. For suppliers, slower and better-vetted large-load growth takes some air out of the runaway demand forecasts and protects headroom, even though the real projects still point to a much bigger ERCOT down the road.
Utility Dive · Aug 6, 2026
NAT GAS Neutral
EIA's 33 Bcf build lifts gas storage to 3,117 Bcf
EIA reported a 33 Bcf injection for the week ended July 31, pushing Lower 48 stocks to 3,117 Bcf. That's still about 6% above the five-year average, but the build ran under the normal seasonal pace as heat kept power burn high. For marketers, another lean injection trims the surplus and keeps a floor under the front, even with plenty of gas in the ground.
EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report · Aug 6, 2026
ISO-NE Neutral Regulatory
ISO-NE proposes tweaks to its day-ahead reserves market to cut costs
ISO New England is proposing adjustments to its Day-Ahead Ancillary Services market, the design that pays resources to be on call when the grid gets tight, to make it more cost-effective. The market is meant to lock in reliability by making sure supply shows up on stressed days. For suppliers, how ancillary services clear feeds straight into the cost stack, so it's worth watching what ISO-NE decides to pay for reserves.
ISO Newswire · Aug 6, 2026
ERCOT Bearish
Data centers turn to on-site solar, storage and VPPs to skip the transmission line
With interconnection queues past 2,200 GW and big transmission taking six to fifteen years to build, data center developers had about 56 GW of on-site generation planned as of early 2026, roughly 30% of all planned builds, led by Texas at 20.6 GW behind the meter. A Brattle study cited in the report pegs demand-flexibility tools at up to 200 GW of potential demand response, and Sunrun, Tesla and Renew Home are pushing a 16 GW VPP. For suppliers, every megawatt of behind-the-meter power and VPP capacity is load and peak stress taken off the grid.
pv magazine USA · Aug 5, 2026
ERCOT Bearish Regulatory
Texas hits pause on data centers, orders audit of a 474 GW queue
Gov. Abbott called for an audit of every data center in ERCOT's interconnection queue, which now tops 474 GW, more than five times the state's record peak, with about 90% of the requests coming from data centers. ERCOT delayed its Batch Zero study and will ask the PUCT for a timeline exemption on Aug. 20. For suppliers, weeding out speculative load before it hits the grid takes some air out of the runaway demand forecasts and protects headroom, even if the real projects still point to a much bigger ERCOT down the road.
Utility Dive · Aug 5, 2026
PJM Bearish
PSEG floats data center supply deals in PJM's bilateral process
PSEG's unregulated power arm is pitching several supply proposals in PJM's new bilateral contracting process, matching generation to planned large loads, with first deals possibly announced in August. PJM also trimmed its ComEd zone load forecast by 1.3 GW in 2031 and 3.3 GW in 2034 on a smaller data center pipeline. For suppliers, more generation lining up against large loads and a cooler forecast take some pressure off the capacity-price spiral, though PSEG's last auction still cleared at the cap.
Utility Dive · Aug 5, 2026
NAT GAS NYISO Neutral
US-Canada gas and power trade value rose in 2025 even as total energy trade fell
EIA says the value of natural gas and electricity trade with Canada ticked up in 2025 on higher gas prices and volume, even though total US-Canada energy trade fell 11% to $137 billion. Gas imports from Canada averaged 8.6 Bcf/d, and their value jumped 52% year on year. For marketers and Northeast suppliers, it's a reminder that Canadian gas and the new Champlain Hudson line into New York City still shape prices in the region, and energy trade sits exempt from the latest tariffs.
EIA Today in Energy · Aug 5, 2026
NYISO Neutral Regulatory
New York lawmakers grill utilities over who pays for data center growth
A New York Assembly Energy Committee hearing dug into who should cover the grid upgrades behind AI and crypto data center load, with NYISO's Zach Smith calling the grid at an inflection point and the state possibly short 1,600 MW by 2030. NYISO's interconnection queue holds 36 large-load projects worth more than 10,000 MW. For suppliers, a proposed data center customer class and beneficiary-pays rules could keep big-load costs off residential customers, but nothing's settled and wholesale price risk stays in play.
News10 (Albany) · Aug 5, 2026
NAT GAS Bullish
Southern Co.'s contracted large load climbs to 17 GW
Southern added 6 GW of large-load contracts since Q1 to reach 17 GW, including a 3.2 GW, 25-year Georgia Power deal with OpenAI near Savannah that carries 1 GW of flexible demand response. The company has approval for about 10 GW of new generation, mostly gas, and data center power use jumped 49% year to date. For gas marketers, that's a steady stack of new Southeast gas-fired demand getting locked in, with more RFP awards due by year end.
Utility Dive · Aug 4, 2026
PJM Bearish Regulatory
New Jersey's battery-eligible VPP program starts to take shape
New Jersey regulators floated a straw proposal for a two-year, technology-neutral virtual power plant program that lets home batteries and other DER stack distribution payments with PJM wholesale market revenue, starting by mid-2027. PSE&G plans a VPP this month paying about $5,000 upfront for an 8-kW home battery in exchange for peak-shaving rights. For suppliers, more batteries and demand response feeding PJM capacity is headroom you can lean on when peaks and prices spike.
Utility Dive · Aug 4, 2026
Bearish Regulatory
Senate bill puts $700M behind microgrids, VPPs, and DER
Sen. Peter Welch introduced the STRONG GRID Act, putting $700 million behind microgrids and distributed energy, a $200 million DOE pilot plus $500 million in state grants, with backing from state energy officials and equipment makers. The bill funds aggregating DER into virtual power plants and shifting load to ease transmission congestion. For suppliers, more federal money behind VPPs and DER means more room to run battery and demand-response programs and free up headroom, though it's a fresh bill with a long path through Congress.
Utility Dive · Aug 4, 2026
ISO-NE Neutral Regulatory
Eversource earnings sink as FERC trims New England transmission returns
Eversource's Q2 income dropped to $53.7 million from $352.7 million a year ago, hit by one-time charges tied to a FERC decision cutting New England transmission ROEs, its Aquarion sale, and cost overruns on the Revolution Wind offshore project. The utility faces up to $968 million in transmission refunds and is contesting the cut. For suppliers, the fight over transmission returns and Eversource's push on a $2.2 billion Maine-to-Massachusetts line will shape delivery costs and congestion in ISO-NE for years.
Utility Dive · Aug 4, 2026 FERC