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76% Rise in East Coast Electricity Cost Due to AI Data Center Demands

Published 3 days ago • 5 min read

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Major Developments

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES

 

AI Data Center Demand Drove 76 Percent Surge in Wholesale Power Prices Across East Cost Grid

Wholesale power prices across the nation's largest grid surged 76 percent in Q1 2026, driven by AI data center demand, according to PJM Interconnection's market monitor. Total costs rose to $136.53 per megawatt-hour from $77.78 a year earlier across the 13-state grid serving 67 million people.

The monitor called the impacts significant and irreversible, warning they will grow unless data center load is addressed. It recommended requiring data centers to bring their own power rather than drawing from the grid. (Read More)​

Iraqi Militia Commander Charged With Plotting NYC Synagogue Bombing After 18 Attacks Across Europe

Federal prosecutors charged Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an alleged commander for Kata'ib Hizballah, with coordinating at least 18 terrorist attacks in Europe targeting Americans and Jews in retaliation for the war in Iran. Al-Saadi also provided an undercover officer with maps of a New York City synagogue and Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona.

A federal complaint unsealed Friday in Manhattan accused al-Saadi of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to bomb a place of public use. He was ordered held without bail. (Read More)​

US Officials Suspect Iranian Hackers Breached Fuel Tank Monitors at Gas Stations Across Multiple States

US officials suspect Iranian hackers breached automatic tank gauge systems at gas stations in multiple states, exploiting devices that were connected to the internet without password protection, according to CNN. The hackers reportedly manipulated display readings on fuel storage tanks but did not cause physical damage.

The intrusions raised safety concerns because access to an ATG could theoretically allow a hacker to mask a gas leak. The campaign targeted low-hanging critical infrastructure that federal agencies have warned operators to secure for years. (Read More)​

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The Tear Line

QUICK UPDATES

CONFLICT UPDATES

➤ Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma interdicted three suspected smuggling vessels carrying 6,085 pounds of cocaine worth $45.8 million approximately 90 miles off Cartagena, Colombia. A helicopter crew fired precision rounds to disable one vessel's engines after it refused to stop. (Read More)​

➤ CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials in Havana, including Raul Castro's grandson, delivering President Trump's message that the U.S. is prepared to engage if Cuba makes fundamental changes and warning Havana it cannot remain a safe haven for adversaries. (Read More)​

➤ A Russian Kh-101 cruise missile struck a nine-story apartment building in Kyiv's Darnytsia district, killing 24 people including three children, prompting President Zelenskyy to declare a day of mourning and order his military chiefs to prepare retaliatory deep strikes inside Russia. (Read More)​

SECURITY UPDATES

➤ The FBI announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Monica Witt, a former Air Force intelligence specialist and AFOSI agent who defected to Iran in 2013 and was indicted on espionage charges for transmitting classified information, including the identities of undercover U.S. personnel. (Read More)​

➤ NV Energy will cease power deliveries to roughly 49,000 Lake Tahoe residents by May 2027, redirecting electricity to 12 AI data center projects across Northern Nevada being built by Google, Apple, and Microsoft. (Read More)​

➤ Signal introduced new in-app security warnings to counter phishing and social engineering attacks after Russian state-sponsored hackers exploited the app's Linked Device feature to compromise accounts of high-profile targets, prompting alerts from the FBI, the Dutch government, and German authorities. (Read More)​

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES

➤ The first photograph of the AIM-260A Joint Advanced Tactical Missile emerged on a VX-31 F/A-18F Super Hornet during a test flight from Eglin Air Force Base. The aircraft returned without the missile, suggesting a live fire or separation test over the Gulf of Mexico. (Read More)​

➤ Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution awarded French firm ChapsVision a contract to provide AI-powered data analysis software for counterterrorism and counter-espionage, passing over U.S.-based Palantir as Europe accelerates efforts to reduce technological dependence on American providers. (Read More)​

➤ The War Zone published an exclusive interview with Brave1 CEO Andrii Hrytseniuk on Ukraine's interceptor drone program, detailing how 150 Ukrainian companies now produce more than 2,000 interceptors per day at roughly $1,000 each, achieving a 97 percent hit rate against Russian Shaheds. (Read More)​

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Special Interest

SPECIAL CATEGORY

➤ A Royal Military College of Canada political scientist argues that AI-driven mass unemployment generates the structural conditions historically associated with political violence, as workers in market economies depend on employment for survival and anti-AI sentiment is already rising across the United States.

➤ Archaeologists working at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, discovered a 1,600-year-old Roman-era mummy with a papyrus fragment from Book II of Homer's Iliad placed on its abdomen during embalming. It marks the first time a Greek literary text has been found deliberately incorporated into the mummification process.

➤ Abu Dhabi directed ADNOC to fast-track a second West-East oil pipeline to Fujairah, doubling the UAE's capacity to export crude bypassing the Strait of Hormuz to 3 million barrels per day by 2027. The move follows Iran's effective closure of the strait since February 28.

On this day in history: On May 16th, 1943, Nazi SS troops destroyed the Great Synagogue of Warsaw, ending the month-long Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in which Jewish fighters, led by Mordecai Anielewicz, resisted deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp.
Special Interest

SENTIMENT COLLECTION

Yesterday’s Results:

Do you, or have you previously, owned any form of cryptocurrency?

  1. No (79.1%)
  2. Yes (20.4%)
  3. Unsure (0.5%)

n=632

Have a question you would like polled? Email us at editor@sofx.com​

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About SOFX: We are an independent media and communications technology company reporting on the conflicts, security, and technology issues impacting your lives and businesses. SOFX was founded by former special operations & intelligence professionals, not career journalists or Big Tech / Big Media.

Have feedback for us? We want to hear any and all comments you may have. Contact us at editor@sofx.com​.​

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