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Key developments
Nebraska suspends data center tax incentives
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed an executive order Monday suspending state tax incentives for large-scale data centers and barring approval of new applications under the Imagine Nebraska Act. The order creates a Department of Water, Energy and Environment-led task force and requires economic development and resource agencies to jointly review proposed projects for impacts on public power, water and other users.
Why it matters
Nebraska is signaling that data center growth must be conditioned on protecting publicly owned electricity systems and ratepayers.
Sources & driving stories
KOLN · Abigail Carrera
KOLN coverageNEBRASKA EXAMINER · Erin Bamer
Nebraska Examiner coverageNNSA selects Amentum for Savannah River AI campus
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration selected Amentum to enter negotiations for a phased lease at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The proposed project would pair a 1-gigawatt AI data center with about 2 gigawatts of dedicated on-site generation, using natural gas as a bridge to nuclear energy; NNSA stressed the selection is not a final award and remains subject to negotiations, permitting, safety and security reviews.
Why it matters
The federal government is moving AI data center development onto national security sites while explicitly linking compute growth to dedicated power supply.
Sources & driving stories
ENERGY.GOV
Energy.gov coverageNew Jersey bans expand and draw litigation
Jersey City introduced Ordinance 26-057 to remove data centers as principal permitted uses in its Industrial District, with a final City Council vote scheduled for Aug. 19. Separately, National Land Developers LLC sued Andover Township in New Jersey Superior Court on July 10 to overturn a township-wide AI data center ban affecting a proposed 97-acre former Newton Airport site.
Why it matters
New Jersey is becoming a test case for whether local governments can exclude data centers from industrial land without triggering successful developer challenges.
Sources & driving stories
ROI-NJ
ROI-NJ coverageGOVTECH
GovTech coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Pennsylvania adds usage reporting
The state budget package requires data centers above 10 MW to disclose annual energy and water use, while leaving the 6% sales tax exemption in place and stalling broader moratorium and GRID-standard bills until at least September.
WORTH NOTING
Hut 8 doubles Beacon Point lease
Hut 8 signed a second 15-year, $9.8 billion lease for 352 MW of IT capacity in Nueces County, Texas, bringing Beacon Point to 704 MW contracted under the same unnamed investment-grade hyperscale tenant.
WORTH NOTING
West Virginia permit ownership questioned
Tucker County advocates asked state regulators to investigate whether Fundamental Data controls the land for a proposed data center and gas/diesel power complex, citing conflicting ownership records tied to an existing air-quality permit.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will dedicated power really shield ratepayers?
Nebraska, Pennsylvania and NNSA are all focusing on whether data center electricity demand can be served without shifting grid costs to existing customers.
OPEN QUESTION
Can local bans survive legal challenge?
Jersey City is moving toward a new prohibition while Andover is already defending a data center ban in court, raising the stakes for municipal zoning strategies.