The fastest-rising topic on the index. Power availability is deciding where AI gets built.
Energy for AI: Parallax Index score. Score: W1 41, W2 45, W3 49, W4 52, W5 56, W6 60, W7 63, W8 66, W9 70, W10 74, W11 78, W12 81.
EQT and Range Resources agreed on 26 October 2026 to an all-stock merger at 0.987 EQT shares per Range share, leaving EQT holders with about 73 per cent of a company producing more than 9 Bcfe a day. Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory clearances and shareholder votes.
NEXTDC cut FY27 net revenue guidance to A$475m to A$500m from A$615m to A$640m on 21 October 2026 after its electricity distributor suspended network works. Shares fell 42 per cent the same day, their lowest since 2018.
AEP agreed on 19 October 2026 to study 960 megawatts of small modular reactors at a retired Indiana coal site, with Amazon funding development and contracting for the power. There is no final investment decision, no disclosed cost and no in-service date.
Reuters reported on 18 October 2026 that Microsoft has terminated its agreement at Nscale's data centre in Loughton, Essex, where the grid connection has slipped to the 2030s. Nscale says it still intends to build and is looking for alternative power.
EverWind announced on 16 October 2026 that it has a long-term lease with a frontier AI developer for the first 95 MW of a Point Tupper campus, with more than $8 billion for the data centre and $2 billion for wind. Anthropic confirmed to Global News that it is the tenant.
NERC announced on 15 October 2026 that Project 2026-02, a package of three new reliability standards for data centres, AI facilities and cryptocurrency mines, had passed its final stakeholder ballot. It now goes to NERC's Board of Trustees and then to FERC, which ordered the standards filed by 31 December 2026.
A five-item daily brief: what happened, why it matters and what to watch. Written by the desk, verified by editors.
