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May 5, 2026 -
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, our country’s grid watchdog, issued its highest level of warning Monday about threats to the power system from large data centers. The Level 3 comes among concerns from experts about blackouts. Unlike power plants, data centers don’t have to notify grid monitors when they are coming or offline, creating huge power swings that could impact the larger grid. NERC is recommending reliability standards that would need approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Looking at international minerals cooperation, Norway will tomorrow join the US-led Pax Silica initiative, expanding the list of countries working together to secure supply chains for minerals and materials needed for artificial intelligence and advanced technologies. Other countries that are art of the initiative include the UK, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, Australia, the UAE, India, the Netherlands, Qatar, the Philippines and Sweden.
And while we see more cooperation there, on the other side of things, the Zambian government has suspended discussions around a critical minerals partnership with the US. Its foreign minister said yesterday that Washington was demanding “unacceptable” terms, including the requirement that US companies receive preferential treatment as part of the country’s minerals deal. Zambia is Africa’s second leading copper producer and has significant minerals reserves. Government officials also took issue with what they said were US efforts to tie a separate agreement for health assistance to the successful conclusion of the minerals deal.
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