The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in April 2026, with exports hitting a record high as surging crude oil and petroleum product shipments more than offset a sharp rise in imports of computers, semiconductors, and telecommunications equipment tied to the AI data center boom. According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the trade […]
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China is moving fast to solve one of the biggest bottlenecks in the global AI race: powering data centers quickly and cheaply. According to state broadcaster CCTV, the country has just launched its first prefabricated computing power hub in the eastern city of Qingdao, Shandong province. This modular power solution promises to slash construction time […]
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has joined Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in hitting the pause button on tax incentives for new data centers. On June 5, 2026, Pritzker directed the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to stop processing new agreements under the Data Center Investment Program effective July 1. This move mirrors Ohio’s […]
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We had a great discussion, and the global oil and gas markets have been changed permanently. “ Iran will have permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz. As though that necessarily, in and of itself, is bullish for oil prices. I would argue that, in fact, it isn’t. “ Doomberg, Substack Author, Energy Analyst This […]
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Duke Energy President and CEO Harry Sideris delivered a clear message at the Edison Electric Institute convention in Las Vegas today: artificial intelligence and data centers are reshaping U.S. power demand at a pace never seen before. With 30 years at the company, Sideris noted that Duke has historically experienced annual load growth of just […]
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We have 8 huge stories, and David Blackmon, Forbes, Daily Caller, and Substack Author stopped by. There are a lot of moving parts in the Energy Markets right now, and we bring the 8 biggest stories. We talk about the right way to do data centers, and the implications of the Iran War. […]
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In rural Texas, a quiet but transformative shift is underway. Developers are increasingly siting massive data centers in unincorporated areas—where county governments have far less regulatory authority than cities—bypassing the kind of local zoning, public hearings, and citizen pushback that could slow or stop projects in more populated zones. This strategy is playing out dramatically […]
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Following Chevron, ExxonMobil, EQT, and Liberty Energy, Ford is rolling in as a hyperscaler and entering the utility market The AI power crunch is creating unlikely heroes across the energy landscape. While hyperscalers scramble for gigawatts that the grid simply cannot deliver fast enough, traditional energy giants have already stepped up with gas-fired generation, carbon […]
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has just released its World Energy Investment 2026 report, the 11th edition of its flagship annual benchmark on global capital flows in the energy sector. Released amid the ongoing Middle East conflict and heightened energy security concerns (including disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz), the report projects total global […]
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Virginia’s Northern Virginia region, often called “Data Center Alley,” is the epicenter of the world’s largest concentration of data centers. These massive facilities power everything from cloud computing to AI training, routing up to 70% of global internet traffic. But the boom comes with trade-offs that are increasingly visible to nearby residents: thousands of diesel […]
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