Daily data refresh: FERC's 'data centers pay their way' ruling, the Senate's stalled ratepayer bill, Samsung's $1B Helix bet, CA's No Robo Bosses Act
Today's AI-economy briefing, verified and folded into the data. Energy: FERC partially suspended PJM's electricity procurement plan for 5 months, demanding that large users — including data centers — bear the costs of serving their demand (a regulatory 'who pays' ruling in the largest US power market). Congress stalled on the same question: the Ratepayer Protection Act fell 57–43 in the Senate, short of 60, after passing the House 417–3. Meanwhile DTE Energy's Michigan data-center pipeline topped 8 GW (Oracle 1.4 GW approved, Google 1 GW pending; up to $2B in utility capex) — with minimum monthly charges and collateral explicitly designed to shield existing ratepayers. Capex: six Samsung affiliates put $1B into Helix Digital Infrastructure, the KKR-created, Nvidia-backed vehicle now holding >$11B of committed capital for data centers plus power, transmission, and fiber. Morgan Stanley's new note counts $286B in US data-center projects delayed or cancelled since 2025 and sees hyperscaler/neocloud capex growth decelerating 93% (2026) → 61% (2027) → 14% (2028) as the cycle shifts to software. Labor: California signed the No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947) — no AI-only firings without human corroboration, operative July 2027, $500 penalties per violation. Policy: South Australia launched a Royal Commission into AI's economic impact (productivity, innovation, growth; report due July 2027). Perspectives: two new tracker rows — David George (a16z) on OpenAI's distribution moat (Bullish) and the Morgan Stanley capex-deceleration note (Cautious).
See the full changelogImpact Suite
Mapping the AI buildout as a market — who builds, who funds, who pays, and what changes for people over the next decade.
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The AI data center buildout: the power edge
What the buildout is actually doing to power — traced three orders deep, every figure sourced. Not a pitch; the data.
The five largest tech firms spent $400B+ in 2025 and are set to raise it ~75% in 2026 — most of it AI infrastructure. [11] IEA
This spending builds the data centers that consume the electricity above — and drives the price spike below.
From $28.92 to the $333.44 cap in three years; the grid's market watchdog pinned ~63% of the jump on data centers. [12] RTO Insider [5] Utility Dive
This cost gets passed to electricity bills — that's where regular people start paying for the AI buildout.
Thousands to build (~800–1,200 at peak); ~25–50 to run it. Billions of capex, dozens of permanent staff. [8] Brookings
The construction boom is real but temporary — and it pulls workers from housing and other projects that also need them.
Every figure sourced · who wins & who pays, three orders deep · as of September 2026