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IBEW Protests Construction Firm

IBEW Local 601 members protested outside a 16-story high-rise construction project in Champaign-Urbana, opposing the hiring of Bonus Electric Construction Company. Union members say the out-of-region contractor pays substandard wages below the area standard established by the IBEW, undermining wages and benefits local electrical workers have fought to maintain.
https://dailyillini.com/news-stories/champaign-urbana/2026/01/28/union-workers-p…

Administration's Biggest Climate Rollback Stalls Over Court Fears

Trump administration officials have delayed finalizing the repeal of EPA's 2009 "endangerment finding" - the scientific foundation for most federal climate regulations - over concerns the proposal is too legally weak to withstand court challenges. The finding underpins greenhouse gas rules for vehicles, power plants, and other major pollution sources.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/01/29/endangerment-findi…

US Leads Record Global Surge In Gas-fired Power Driven by AI Demands

Gas-fired power plant development in the US nearly tripled in 2025, driven primarily by energy-hungry AI data centers. More than a quarter of all global gas power pipeline projects are now in the US, with over a third of newly proposed capacity explicitly linked to data center projects. The boom raises concerns about long-term emissions and threatens to derail climate goals.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/29/gas-power-ai-climate

Grid Rules for Faster Data Centers Favor On-site Gas Plants

FERC has directed PJM to create new rules facilitating co-location of data centers with power plants, potentially favoring on-site natural gas generation. The regulations aim to accelerate interconnection while addressing reliability concerns and avoiding lengthy grid connection delays that can stretch 5-7 years.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-grid-rules-faster-data-centers-favor-…

Electrical Worker Calls Data Center Quote Opportunity for Jobs and Investment As Council Rejects Proposal

Naperville Council voted 6-1 to reject a 36-megawatt data center despite IBEW's Anthony Giunti emphasizing construction would bring millions to the local economy and create long-term career opportunities. Labor leaders warned that rejecting the project removes years of high-paying skilled construction work from a vacant property.
https://www.chicagoconstructionnews.com/electrical-worker-calls-data-center-oppo…

Brunell : Bringing Back Factories Not So Easy; We're Short on Skilled Labor, Electricity

America faces critical shortages of skilled electrical workers and electricity supply to support manufacturing reshoring and AI data centers. Morgan Stanley warns of a potential 20% power shortage by 2028 while Bureau of Labor Statistics projects nearly 80,000 electrician job openings over the next decade, with apprentice programs increasing 50% to address the gap.
https://dailyastorian.com/2026/01/26/bringing-back-factories-not-so-easy-were-sh…

Is Administration Losing Its War on Wind Power?

The Trump administration suffered three court losses last week in its campaign against offshore wind, as federal judges lifted stop-work orders on major projects. Industry advocates and even some oil industry figures have grown alarmed by the administration's anti-wind vendetta, which threatens to restrict power supply at a time when electricity demand is surging from data centers and other sources.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/01/21/trump-war-on-wind-…

Hacking the Grid: How Digital Sabotage Turns Infrastructure Into A Weapon

The January 2026 blackout in Caracas during US military operations against Venezuela demonstrated how cyber warfare targeting industrial control systems has become a precision weapon in modern conflict. Experts warn that widespread adoption of insecure distributed energy resources like residential solar inverters creates decentralized vulnerabilities, while examples like Stuxnet, Industroyer, and Volt Typhoon show nation-states are actively pre-positioning within critical infrastructure networks.
https://theconversation.com/hacking-the-grid-how-digital-sabotage-turns-infrastr…

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