Data Center Push Meets Backlash: Amazon Web Services pledged $1B+ over five years for community college, trades training, and energy-efficiency upgrades, while promising it won’t drive up local electricity bills and will publish annual energy and water use—amid growing opposition to AI data centers’ power and water demands. Grid Upgrades Without New Land: The DOE’s SPARK program selected 31 reconductoring projects across 26 states, aiming to double capacity on existing transmission corridors—an approach framed as faster relief for AI-driven electricity strain. Virginia Energy Plan: Gov. Abigail Spanberger released a new 10-year energy plan with multiple pathways to meet clean-energy goals, including efficiency, solar, storage, and expanded grid capacity, while shifting away from the prior administration’s approach to the VCEA and RGGI. Local Recycling/Organics Investment: AMP secured $70M in financing for a Portsmouth, Va. waste-sorting and organics system designed to divert large volumes from landfill. Community Impacts, Up Close: In Swepsonville, residents urged the town to keep control of the Virginia Mills property as officials seek state and DEQ approvals; and Prince William County cut the ribbon on a new net-zero Occoquan Elementary School using geothermal HVAC and solar. Road Work Alerts: VDOT scheduled daytime bridge and roadway maintenance across multiple districts, including Falmouth Bridge lane closures and ongoing traffic shifts on Rolling Road in Fairfax area.