Daily on Energy: How the data center ballot measures fared

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! We hope you didn’t all stay up too late watching the midterm elections. We’re still waiting for a few races and ballot measures to be called, but those won’t change the blue tsunami that swept the nation last night. 🌊🫏We’ll be watching next week how the flipped chambers may influence immediate issues still before members in the lame-duck session, such as permitting reform. Be sure to stick with us for your afternoon reads! 👩🏻‍💻Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list. ANTI-DATA CENTER MEASURES WIN BIG AT THE BALLOT BOXES: Last night was a major win for anti-data center ballot measures throughout the country.As part of our midterm coverage, we were tracking 41 data center measures across 10 states that would limit or facilitate AI development.Of the 41 measures, only one of the measures that would restrict development is set to fail, in Harwood, North Dakota. All 13 measures that would facilitate data center development are on track to fail, according to Ballotpedia.Ohio localities had 21 measures on ballots. Several municipalities approved measures that outright ban data center development, such as Urbana, Trenton, Upper Sandusky, and the village of Granville. Measures to prohibit data centers that exceed 25 megawatts of power usage passed in the cities of Conneaut, Defiance, and Sunbury, and were leading in votes in the city of Oregon.In Alhambra, California, voters have strongly supported a measure to ban data centers, with the proposal having 81.84% of the vote.Some jurisdictions are also set to impose moratoriums on data center construction.For instance, Bloomington, Illinois, passed an initiative that would advise the city to impose a moratorium on large-scale data centers.Wells and Wiscasset, Maine, have also imposed temporary moratoriums on data centers. The Wells measure would call for a 180-day pause, while Wiscasset’s measure would impose a six-month moratorium on new or expanded data centers.Data center skeptics were also some of the biggest winners of last night.Texas Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last night, has called for a statewide moratorium on data centers to allow for the passage of legislation to regulate them.Georgia Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms has vowed to impose a pause on data center development. Amy Acton, who won Ohio’s gubernatorial race, has also prioritized reining in data center development, promising to issue guardrails on developments. All the rest: WHAT DO LAST NIGHT’S RESULTS MEAN FOR PERMITTING REFORM? Early this morning, analysts with TD Cowen slashed their projected odds of the bipartisan permitting bill passing during the lame-duck session.In a note obtained by Axios, the analysts said last night’s blue tsunami “likely emboldens voices arguing the bill gives too many concessions” to the oil and gas industry. As we’ve touched on before, key Democrats in the House, including Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jared Huffman, are calling for negotiations to be pushed to the next Congress.As a result, TD Cowen said, BAAJA only has a 25% chance of succeeding.But proponents of the bill aren’t giving up hope.“I think a chamber flip was factored into the negotiation and size of flip doesn’t matter much,” Xan Fishman, executive vice president for energy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Callie this morning. “It’s in everyone’s best interest (dems and republicans) to pass the bipartisan deal now.”Jane Flegal, who worked in climate policy under the Biden administration, shared that sentiment, saying waiting would be a “terrible outcome.” She said passing the bipartisan bill would enable the country to build new infrastructure and energy projects as fast as Texas.During a press call earlier today, American Clean Power CEO Jason Grumet said permitting reform will be the “first test of Democrats’ willingness to make tough choices…that are needed to actually reduce energy prices.”“There are certainly voices who are going to argue that it would be better to wait,” he added. “But I think that the understanding in Congress is that this is a really unique opportunity, and if we don’t move forward in the next three or four weeks, it’s hard to imagine a bipartisan effort over the next couple of years.”SIERRA CLUB RELEASES A LEGISLATIVE BLUEPRINT FOR DEMOCRATS: The Sierra Club wasted no time in releasing a legislative policy blueprint for climate change policies this morning, calling on Democrats to “fight for accountability for Trump’s corrupt, pro-polluter policies and invest in an affordable clean energy future.”The group specifically calls for the passage of the Energy Bills Relief Act, or similar legislation, that would restore clean energy tax credits and grants slashed by the One Big Beautiful Bill.The blueprint also calls for guardrails on new data centers, requiring the large-load facilities to be powered by clean energy, not coal or gas; pay taxes on electricity consumption; and pay for their own power.It also asks Democrats to pass legislation that would repeal fossil fuel subsidies and enact a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry.Additionally, the Sierra Club is asking the next Congress to strengthen the Roadless Rule, enact protections for the Arctic, and block new offshore drilling.You can read the full policy blueprint here.TRUMP APPROVAL RATINGS DOOMED BY GAS PRICES: Since the end of February, when the global energy disruptions caused by the war in Iran began, the drop in Trump’s approval ratings has been strongly correlated with rising gas prices.Callie took a closer look today at gasoline price data from the Energy Information Administration and net-approval ratings tracked by On Point Politics between February and November and found a very strong negative correlation (Pearson’s r = -0.85 for our data wonks) between the two trends.This essentially suggests that the more Americans paid for gasoline, the more Trump’s approval ratings fell.Here’s some of the numbers: On March 2, gas prices sat at about $3.02 per gallon. That same day, the president’s net approval rating dropped to -14.30, a steep drop from -6 a month before. By mid-May, gas prices jumped to $4.49 per gallon, and Trump’s approval rating plummeted to -17.50.On the news of the signing of the first ceasefire between the United States and Iran in late June, gasoline prices dropped to around $3.83 per gallon. Approval for Trump also ticked up. By mid-to-late September, however, as gasoline prices soared to $4.48 a gallon, Trump’s approval fell sharply, dropping to around -20.90 points.You can find our full chart tracking prices and Trump’s approval rating over the course of 44 weeks here.‘BLEXAS’ REACHES TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION: If you missed it last night, Texas voters elected the first Democrat to the state’s oil and gas regulatory commission in over 30 years.Democrat Jon Rosenthal defeated conservative Bo French overnight, winning 52.6% of the vote, when the race was called by the Associated Press just after 3 a.m.Rosenthal’s win marks the first time a Democrat won a seat on the commission since 1990, and was part of the broader rout in favor of Democrats. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott was unseated by Gina Hinojosa, and Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton for a U.S. Senate seat.French lost Republican support throughout his campaign over controversial policies he pushed as well as social media posts shared over the summer.If you forgot, French shared a post to X showing a group of students, many of whom appeared to be of South Asian descent, at a University of Texas football game. In a caption accompanying the photo, French accused the university of displacing Texas students with “foreigners.”At the time, Republican Sen. John Cornyn said French would “drag down the whole ticket because of his racist comments.”Read more from Callie here.COLORADO GAS STOVE MEASURE: Colorado residents voted against a measure that would make it a state right to purchase and sell natural gas stoves.Amendment 82 needed over 55% of the vote to pass because it would add language to the state constitution to grant consumers the right to purchase and sell natural gas for cooking or heating in homes or businesses.Instead, about 53.87% of the votes opposed the amendment, with 46.13% voting yes.The Democrat-led state has been working to reduce its emissions and transition away from fossil fuels. The conservative nonprofit, Advance Colorado, that brought the initiative argued that Coloradans have the right to choose which form of energy works best.RUSSIAN TANKERS HEADING TO THE U.S. VEER OFF COURSE: Two Russian fuel tankers that were set to dock in the U.S. have veered off course.The Financial Times reported that the two tankers no longer list the U.S. Atlantic coast as their destination. Instead, one of the tankers changed its signal to Brazil, while the other one steered into the Mediterranean Sea and is located off the coast of Algeria.A third Russia tanker still appears to be on its way to the U.S. but is signaling that it is waiting for orders.The tankers are part of a deal by the Trump administration to import Russian diesel in an effort to curb prices. However, lawmakers have warned against the importation of Russian diesel, which they said could raise legal questions.ICYMI – DATA CENTERS SEEK TO CREATE FRAMEWORK WITH GREENS: Environmental groups and big tech companies are considering a joint framework for data center development, The Hill reported.The “Responsible Data Center Development Collaborative” will look to create a national framework for responsible data center development.The groups include Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Google, as well as environmental groups like the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also appears to be part of the coalition, as well as other major tech companies, including Anthropic, Nvidia, and Oracle.The Hill said that the groups would advance a framework to incorporate durable economic development and emission free energy. It says that it would create a resource that stakeholders can revise over time.RUNDOWNWashington Examiner Incoming Democratic majorities will try to swing pendulum back on clean energyGrist As Nebraska seeks to grow, Omaha’s energy capacity is a major hurdleCanary Media These cranberry bogs come with a side of solar