The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs announced a regional summit convening New England governors, industry experts, and stakeholders to discuss advanced nuclear and fusion energy technologies. The summit, to be held at the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy, will examine the potential of these technologies to expand the region’s energy supply, lower electricity costs, and improve grid reliability, while also addressing safety, regulatory oversight, community engagement, and public trust. The summit follows a directive issued earlier this year by the governors, calling for continued reliable operation of the region’s existing nuclear power plants, as well as exploration of next-generation nuclear technologies. The governors also directed state energy offices to convene a regional meeting to share information and gather input from the public and stakeholders.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is expected to consider proposed changes to its emergency electric load control regulations as data center growth adds new demand to the regional grid. The commission recently voted to direct staff to propose the updates, including greater clarity on the order, criteria, and circumstances for curtailing customers during pre-emergency and emergency conditions. The commission also plans to convene a technical conference to examine cost responsibility for large computational loads, including allocation of costs associated with new large loads and impacts on customers not contributing to the new demand. The action comes amid rapidly increasing electricity demand and tightening resource adequacy conditions across the PJM Interconnection region. The grid operator’s July capacity auction identified a system-wide reliability shortfall of 6.8 gigawatts (GW) for the 2028-29 delivery year.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission seeks comments on its draft 2026-2032 Strategic Energy Assessment, a report published every two years evaluating the state’s current and future electricity supply. The draft projects Wisconsin’s peak electricity demand to grow from about 14.2 GW in 2026 to more than 20 GW by 2032, an increase of more than 40 percent. Over 70 percent of that growth is tied to new data center developments in the service territories of Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin Power and Light. Electric providers have reported plans to retire about 1.1 GW of existing generation and retrofit approximately 3.4 GW of existing generation facilities to burn natural gas instead of coal by 2032. They also plan to add roughly 14.2 GW of new nameplate capacity, primarily solar, natural gas, wind, and energy storage. If these plans are realized, coal’s share of Wisconsin’s generation would decline from 31 percent in 2024 to 3 percent in 2032, while natural gas would rise from 36 percent to 50 percent over the same period. 5-ES-113

The California Energy Commission will host a workshop to discuss its draft Wave and Tidal Energy Report, which evaluates the feasibility, costs, and benefits of developing wave and tidal energy off the coast of California, pursuant to Senate Bill 605 enacted in 2023. The law directed the commission to identify suitable sea space for offshore projects in state and federal waters. The workshop will feature a staff presentation of the draft report, followed by perspectives from subject matter experts and stakeholders involved in wave energy research, development, and deployment regarding opportunities for advancing marine energy in the state. 24-SB-605

The Michigan Public Service Commission invites comment on proposed revisions to its competitive procurement guidelines for clean energy resources. Act 235, enacted in 2023, raised the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 60 percent by 2035 and accelerated utilities’ addition of renewable resources, prompting concerns that the guidelines did not adequately ensure fair consideration of third-party resources. The law also directed the commission to authorize financial incentives for electric providers that enter into power purchase agreements for renewable energy or third-party contracts for energy storage or clean energy storage systems with non-affiliated third parties. In April, the commission directed staff to convene a workgroup to review and revise the guidelines, last updated in 2021, to ensure fair treatment of third-party resources in procuring renewable energy projects. Staff filed a revised draft after a collaborative process. U-20852

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission will hold a public hearing on El Paso Electric Company’s amended application to increase its retail electric rates, which would raise annual revenues by approximately $70.5 million, a modest increase from the original application that requested a $70.4 million increase. To moderate the impact on certain customer classes, the company has proposed to phase in recovery for these classes through a two-part implementation process. The first phase, proposed to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, represents a system average increase of 26.8 percent while the second phase, proposed to take effect on Oct. 1, 2027, reflects an additional 18.7 percent increase. 25-00082-UT