MJL Morning Briefing |
| From Matt Leonard · Wednesday, July 29, 2026 |
TOP STORY PJM's Board of Managers on July 27 advanced a one-time September backstop auction to close a 6.8-GW shortfall for the delivery year beginning mid-2028, with a FERC filing expected this month. Utility Dive |
Energy Industry BloombergNEF's chip-delivery model projects 207 GW of US data center demand by 2033, against a base case of 118 GW in 2030 and 194 GW by 2035 -- up 52% and 83% from December. Utility Dive Hochul's July 14 order paused new 50-MW-plus hyperscale projects for up to a year; pending bill A11560 would make 5-MW-plus data centers source a third of their power from renewables by 2030. Utility Dive |
National Politics Senate advances Russia sanctions bill 86-12 after Zelensky's closed-door pitch Zelensky's appeal to senators flipped Democrats who objected to the bill's expanded tariff authorities; leaders expect final passage within days, though several top House Democrats remain opposed. Punchbowl News Trump overrode his administration's own metric to deny disaster aid to four Democratic-led states Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts together sought $227 million after a record February snowstorm; Trump has approved nearly 90% of requests from Republican-led states. Politico Playbook Cornyn demands written DOJ concessions before Thursday's Blanche vote Cornyn and Tillis want the 'anti-weaponization' fund formally killed and Trump's audit-immunity deal tightened; any delay would jeopardize confirming Blanche as attorney general before the August recess. Punchbowl News Fed decision lands today with a rate hike still on the table CME's FedWatch tool puts the odds of a hold at 70%, leaving a roughly 30% chance of a hike; Chair Kevin Warsh announces the decision at 2:30 p.m. Punchbowl News |
PA & NJ Politics Garrity backs a utility tax cut that would lower bills immediately but cost the state over $1 billion a year; Shapiro favors an 'all of the above' buildout and has not taken a position on the cut. Spotlight PA Garrity uses farm platform to attack data centers and distance herself from Trump tariffs Garrity rolled out her agricultural plan at a Dauphin County rally Tuesday, criticizing data center development and trading blame with Democrats over the costs facing Pennsylvania farmers. PennLive via PoliticsPA Pro-data-center industry group runs ad campaign in Pennsylvania and six other states A promotional campaign sponsored by Pennsylvania Connects is pushing data center development in the commonwealth, part of a multi-state industry effort that includes a parallel Oregon Connects push. Penn Capital-Star via PoliticsPA Shapiro leads Garrity 53-28 in new PennLive/Bravo Group poll The Morning Scrapple survey also found Trump continuing to struggle with Pennsylvania voters and Sen. John Fetterman facing an uphill fight if he were on the ballot this year. PennLive via PoliticsPA |
On the Floor — Next Session House · Bill On Concurrence (keywords: data center, data centers) PA General Assembly Senate · Third Consideration (keywords: data center, data centers) PA General Assembly |
Pittsburgh Sports Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds went back-to-back off Paul Sewald in the ninth to erase a 6-0 deficit, but James McCann's 12th-inning single off Wilber Dotel won it for Arizona. ESPN Rodgers made the declaration as the Steelers opened camp at Saint Vincent College under new head coach Mike McCarthy, their first head coaching change in nearly two decades. AP |
Market Snapshot | PJM West Hub (RT) | $26.98/MWh -10.7% | | PJM AEP-Dayton (RT) | $25.92/MWh -14.0% | | PJM Capacity 28/29 | $325.00/MW-day — | | Henry Hub | $2.80/MMBtu +1.8% | | WTI Crude | $82.62/bbl +4.2% |
As of Jul 29, 8:09 a.m. EPT (PJM RT) |
Curated by Matt Leonard. Numbers from real endpoints only. |