- Essays··8 min read
Iron Does Not Take Orders
Executive Order 14421 draws a security perimeter at the substation fence but does not distinguish between a thousand-tonne transformer and the firmware-updatable controller bolted to its side. The threat model for laminated steel requires ownership checks and teardowns; for a device that receives commands, it requires authenticated updates and a hardware bill of materials. One rule covering both does not double the protection—it obscures the part that matters.
bulk-power-systemgrid-securityexecutive-orderenergy-policyRead - Essays··8 min read
A Contract Test for Macaíba's Wind
Brazil's new data-centre tax law, Redata, asks companies to cover their electricity demand with renewable contracts — measured annually, not hourly. In a Northeast grid that curtailed 20 per cent of its wind and solar potential in 2026, that test proves ownership of clean megawatt-hours, not absorption of stranded ones. The forthcoming decree can require hourly metering data without narrowing the statute's scope.
energy-policydata-centresrenewable-energybrazilRead - Essays··7 min read
The Auction That Did Not Run
FERC's suspension of PJM's Reliability Backstop Procurement on 29 September 2026 left funded, construction-ready datacenter projects without a capacity price or delivery timeline. The mechanism was designed to separate genuine demand from speculative filings — it did not run. A facilities director with signed contracts, active interconnection rights, and steel already rising now waits in the same indefinite queue as a letter of intent with no site and no tenant.
pjmenergy-policydatacenter-infrastructurecapacity-marketsRead - Essays··8 min read
The Permit You Can Now Block
Pennsylvania's Executive Order 2026-05 restructures permit sequencing: state environmental review now waits on local zoning approval, turning a township planning commission vote into a genuine gate rather than a formality. The shift arrives as utilities sought $18.6 billion in rate increases in the first half of 2026 alone and active opposition groups doubled to 833 across 49 states. This piece examines what the order actually changes — and why sequence is the mechanism that matters.
data-centresenergy-policylocal-governanceai-infrastructureRead - Essays··10 min read
The Invisible Optimisation Tax
Dynamic electricity tariffs like Agile Octopus offer genuine grid benefits — and quietly reassign the utility's demand-response coordination work to the household, unpaid. Responding to half-hourly price signals requires daily monitoring, scheduling, and appliance management that the pricing brochure does not cost out. The attention this demands is not free; it is merely unpriced, and the resulting savings accrue unevenly across household types.
energy-policydynamic-pricingdemand-responseconsumer-protectionRead - Essays··7 min read
three acts, one substation: Brussels just promised to triple Europe's datacentres
Brussels promised to triple Europe's datacentres in five-to-seven years. That is a power problem dressed as a permitting problem, and the substation queue will decide whether any of it ships.
eu-tech-sovereigntydatacentre-capacitygrid-powerai-infrastructureRead