New York's Legislature passed a first-in-the-nation one-year moratorium on data center permits
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- New York Passes First-in-Nation Data Center Moratorium: The state Legislature approved a one-year freeze on data center permits, citing grid strain and environmental concerns, sending the bill to the governor's desk. Read More: Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
- NYC Activates Major Clean Power Transmission Line: New York City's long-awaited clean power transmission link is now operational, marking a major grid modernization milestone for the nation's largest city. Read More: Canary Media.
- Colorado's Polis Signs Anti-Coal-Extension Bill: Governor Polis signed HB26-1226, requiring cost transparency for coal plant operations and directing regulators to approve cleaner replacement resources — a direct counter to federal orders keeping coal plants running. Read More: CleanTechnica.
- Connecticut Signs Omnibus Solar Bill With Caps: Governor Lamont signed HB 5340, extending renewable energy programs through 2035 but imposing a moratorium on large-scale solar and capping annual installation funding, drawing industry backlash. Read More: PV Magazine USA.
- T1 Energy Acquires KORE Power for $32M: The Texas-based manufacturer is expanding into utility-scale battery storage and data center infrastructure by snapping up KORE Power's energy storage business, which has deployed roughly 1,100 projects worldwide. Read More: PV Magazine USA.
Solar & Storage
Connecticut became the latest state to grapple with the tension between expanding solar access and managing the pace of large-scale development. Governor Ned Lamont signed on Thursday, an omnibus solar bill that extends the state's renewable energy programs through 2035 and introduces residential solar permitting automation and provisions for portable solar panels. But the legislation also imposed a moratorium on utility-scale solar development and capped annual funding for new installations — provisions that drew sharp criticism from clean energy advocates who argue the state is sending mixed signals to developers at precisely the wrong moment. Read More: HB 5340.
The Connecticut bill reflects a growing pattern across the Northeast: states that broadly support clean energy goals but are wrestling with local land-use concerns about large solar arrays. The moratorium on utility-scale solar, in particular, could dampen developer interest in the state's pipeline at a time when project economics already face headwinds from tariff uncertainty and interconnection delays. Industry groups are expected to press for amendments when the legislature reconvenes.
Meanwhile, in the battery storage space, Texas-based T1 Energy moved aggressively to position itself at the intersection of energy storage and the data center boom. The company announced a , a battery energy storage systems provider whose NRI division has deployed approximately 1,100 energy storage projects globally. Crucially, all of KORE Power's software development is based in the United States — a feature that carries increasing strategic value as policymakers in both parties push for domestic supply chain resilience. The deal gives T1 Energy a turnkey platform for utility-scale battery storage deployments and a foothold in the red-hot data center infrastructure market, where reliable backup power is a prerequisite for facility approvals. Read More: $32 million acquisition of KORE Power.
The acquisition underscores a broader industry trend: as data center demand surges, storage developers are pivoting to serve hyperscale customers who need guaranteed uptime. That pivot takes on added significance in light of New York's moratorium vote, which could redirect some data center development — and the storage projects that accompany it — to more permissive states like Texas and Virginia.
On the global stage, Chinese solar manufacturer Arctech signed a massive 2,091 MW solar project agreement for the ADQ project in the United Arab Emirates, alongside a 1 GW energy storage deal with Anhui Zhonghong New Energy, according to. While these projects are overseas, they highlight the continued scale advantages Chinese manufacturers enjoy — and the competitive pressure facing American solar companies trying to build domestic manufacturing capacity. Read More: PV Magazine.
Wind Energy
No major new wind energy developments broke on Friday, but the sector remains under intense scrutiny following this week's lawsuit by seven states challenging the Trump administration's settlement with TotalEnergies to buy out offshore wind leases. That legal battle, covered in Thursday's briefing, continues to shape the outlook for the entire U.S. offshore wind pipeline. Onshore wind, meanwhile, benefited from this week's FERC data showing wind and solar now account for 24% of U.S. grid capacity — though new installations slowed 17% year-over-year in Q1 2026, a trend developers attribute to permitting uncertainty and interconnection backlogs.
Policy & Markets
The most consequential policy development Friday came from Albany, where the New York Legislature passed a. If signed by the governor, New York would become the first state in the nation to freeze new data center approvals. The legislation requires environmental impact assessments and local public hearings before permits can be issued, reflecting growing alarm among lawmakers that power-hungry AI and cloud computing facilities are straining an already constrained grid. The move sets up an immediate tension with the state's ambitious clean energy goals: data centers have been among the biggest corporate buyers of renewable energy through power purchase agreements, and freezing their development could indirectly slow demand for new solar and wind projects. Read More: one-year moratorium on data center permits.
This development arrived on the same day New York celebrated a win on the grid infrastructure side. A serving New York City officially came online, a project that brings the city measurably closer to its clean energy targets and demonstrates that large-scale grid modernization — while painfully slow — can reach the finish line. For a city that has long been bottlenecked by inadequate transmission capacity to bring in upstate renewable power, the project's completion is a milestone. Read More: major clean power transmission line.
In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis signed , legislation designed as a direct counterpunch to the Trump administration's push to extend the operational life of aging coal plants. The bill requires the state's Public Utilities Commission to ensure transparency on coal plant operational costs and to approve new clean energy resources necessary to meet Colorado's 2030 climate targets. The signing came during a week in which the — including Polis — to discuss the 2026 legislative session, with clean energy policy featuring prominently on the agenda. The event was sponsored by Advanced Energy United and Western Resource Advocates, reflecting the growing political muscle of the clean energy industry in Western states. Read More: HB26-1226, Colorado Sun convened state lawmakers.
The Colorado action is part of an accelerating pattern of state-level resistance to federal energy policy. As noted Friday, the Trump administration is doubling down on coal ahead of the midterm elections, including a reported $700 million federal subsidy for coal power. Critics argue the policy amounts to picking energy winners and losers — the very market distortion that Republican free-market orthodoxy has traditionally opposed. Several red states, including Missouri, Arkansas, and Wyoming, continue to expand renewable energy deployment even as federal policy tilts toward fossil fuels, creating a politically awkward dynamic heading into November. Read More: multiple, analyses.
In Ohio, the long-running FirstEnergy corruption saga took another turn as former utility executives were following a hung jury in their earlier trial. The case — involving allegations that FirstEnergy funneled more than $60 million through dark money groups to influence state regulation — remains a cautionary tale about the intersection of utility monopoly power and state energy policy. The reindictment signals prosecutors' determination to hold executives accountable, even as the case approaches its sixth year. Read More: reindicted on state bribery and fraud charges.
And in Nevada, a questioned whether the state's green energy policies are delivering the cost savings promised to ratepayers — a line of argument that resonates in a political environment where energy affordability is a potent campaign issue. As clean energy advocates prepare for the midterms, the cost narrative may prove as important as the climate one. Read More: Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial.
LOOKING AHEAD
- New York Data Center Moratorium — Governor's Desk: All eyes now turn to whether Governor Hochul will sign the nation's first data center permit freeze, a decision that could trigger similar legislation in other energy-constrained states and reshape where hyperscale facilities locate.
- Ohio Solar Fallout Continues: After the state Supreme Court blocked the 800-MW Oak Run Solar Project earlier this week, developers and advocates are weighing legal and legislative options that could determine the future of utility-scale solar siting in Ohio.
- Midterm Energy Politics Heat Up: With the Trump administration escalating its pro-coal messaging and states pushing back through legislation, expect energy policy to become an increasingly prominent campaign issue through the summer and into the fall.
TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS
Q: What does New York's data center moratorium mean for clean energy demand?
A: It's a double-edged sword. Data centers are among the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy — hyperscalers like Google and Microsoft have signed gigawatts of clean power purchase agreements nationally. A freeze in New York could slow renewable procurement in the state while redirecting both data center and associated clean energy investment to more permissive markets like Texas, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Developers with New York pipeline exposure should stress-test their offtake assumptions immediately.
Q: Why should solar developers care about Colorado's new coal transparency law?
A: HB26-1226 doesn't just require cost disclosure — it directs Colorado's Public Utilities Commission to approve replacement clean energy resources to meet 2030 targets. That creates a regulatory mandate for new solar, wind, and storage procurement in one of the West's largest utility markets. For developers, Colorado just became a more actionable near-term opportunity, even as federal policy pushes to keep coal plants running longer.
Q: What does T1 Energy's KORE Power acquisition signal about the storage market?
A: It signals that the convergence of battery storage and data center infrastructure is accelerating fast enough to drive M&A. At $32 million for a company with 1,100 deployed projects and U.S.-based software, the deal looks like a bet that domestic storage integration capabilities will command a premium as data center developers increasingly require co-located backup power. Watch for more acquisitions in this space as utility-scale storage and data center demand merge into a single addressable market.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The explosive demand from data centers is simultaneously driving clean energy investment and triggering political backlash over grid strain, creating a new fault line that — alongside the widening federal-state divide over coal — will define clean energy strategy through the midterms and beyond.