Latest issue · PJM
The backstop that was supposed to bill data centers didn’t run.
PJM aims to refile by 29 Oct after a 22 Oct members meeting. FERC suspended the Reliability Backstop to 28 Feb 2027 over who pays; the 30 Sep auction never opened.
IguanaBrief
Industry briefs on power, tariffs, and who pays the invoice.
Earlier issues
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Nvidia wrote a put.
$105B isn’t a check to OpenAI. It’s the cap on Nvidia’s residual value guaranty to SB Energy, OpenAI’s landlord in Ohio: pays only after a default, dies on a credit rating.
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California signed the protection. The tariff isn’t written.
Newsom signed SB 886 / AB 2383 on 21 Sep. Data centers are supposed to pay. The CPUC still has until 1 Jan 2028 to write the tariffs that assign the dollars.
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The pile is the tariff.
July flooded the US with copper. Comex stocks sit near records. The refined duty that would justify the pile still isn’t written — the White House stalled.
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The law said households wouldn’t pay. Florida’s about to test that.
Florida’s SB 484 says large load bears full cost of service. Duke Energy’s first filing still leaves the rate for later. Here’s the gap.
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Who pays for the watts
Five hyperscalers will try to spend $660–690B in 2026. The grid is the invoice.