John Ainger

It feels apt that my final piece, after three months covering the struggle of US power grids from New York, looks at how the city's grid is ageing badly and brings with it a growing threat of blackout for one of the world's key financial hubs.

A proposed Utah data center that would have been almost three times the size of Manhattan will be drastically scaled back after intense pressure. It's the brainchild of Shark Tank's Kevin O’Leary. He's now pledged to cut the 40,000-acre Stratos project in half. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

⚡ The AI data center boom in the US is threatening to claim its biggest victim yet — the nation’s largest electric grid operator. ⚡ In an explosive speech, the FERC chair said it may have grown "too big to function." 🎁Gift link to our deep dive below 🎁 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: A wind project billed as the largest clean energy installation in the US is due to come online next month, even as the pipeline of new large-scale renewables dries up amid pressure from the Trump administration. Read more here 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Europe is stepping up protection of key energy infrastructure as physical and cyber threats increase. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one to go in the chopper, but it was a fun story to work on nonetheless. Read more 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

First story from New York is out: Data centers are driving a surge in carbon prices in the US Northeast. That's raising the prospect of even higher energy costs for consumers, on top of what they're already feeling due to the boom in AI. Read more here 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

🚨 Job Klaxon 🚨 I’ve moved to the Bloomberg HQ in NYC to start a three-month job posting covering US grids, AI, data centers and more. Let me know if you're in town and want to grab a coffee, or simply to give me your best pizza/bagel/jazz bar recommendation. Back in Brussels in August.

NEW: The EU will announce a big bet on electrification next week to help it whether future energy crises. The draft includes floating targeted amendments to ensure electricity is taxed less than fossil fuels, and doubling down on heatpumps. Read more here 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The EU introduced a gas price cap that was never triggered during the energy crisis. Now Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is looking to bring it back amid the Iran war and the growing calls to lower power bills. Read more 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The EU made a “strategic mistake” in turning its back on nuclear, Ursula von der Leyen said in thinly-veiled criticism of Germany’s decision to close its reactors. When that decision was made after Fukushima in 2011, VDL was German labour minister. Read more 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

It's been one hell of a week for EU energy markets. Even before the Iran war, energy was a major concern in Europe and now that weakness has been brutally exposed once again. Read the weekend story from myself and @albertonardelli.bsky.social 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: The IEA is ready to help stabilize the global oil market in the wake of the Iran conflict, noting that member countries hold over a billion barrels in emergency stockpiles, according to a document prepared by the agency and seen by Bloomberg News www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Is there some hope on the horizon for open-air swimming in Brussels with the formation of the new Brussels government? It gets a mention in the deal, at least: Brussels will continue deliberations on "several" projects. www.lesoir.be/728689/artic...

The EU must resist China’s pull in clean technologies, even as it confronts the reality that deteriorating relations with the US may be “permanent,” @wopkehoekstra.ec.europa.eu told Bloomberg 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

This feels like a tipping point: European EV sales overtake petrol for the first time www.ft.com/content/1d3b...

The EU is set to propose softening emissions rules for new cars, scrapping an effective ban on combustion engines following months of pressure from the automotive industry. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: The EU will propose measures to extend its carbon border levy, known as CBAM, to some assembled goods such as cars and washing machines to help close loopholes, according to a draft we've seen. It will also create a new fund to help exporters. More below 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: The EU is weighing a five-year delay to its effective ban on the combustion engine after heavy pressure from some of the region’s biggest automotive countries. More here 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

And so #COP30 has wrapped and so has our coverage. Here's our last story all about how two weeks of frenzied negotiations over the planet’s faltering fight against climate change had come down to this: a pre-dawn battle over shifting away from fossil fuels. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

🚨 SCOOP After overnight talks, it seems a deal at COP30 is close By @johnainger.bsky.social @jendlouhy.bsky.social 🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Brazil presented the #COP30 climate summit with a draft deal early Friday that omits any reference to exiting fossil fuels amid stiff resistance from producing countries, setting the stage for frantic final round of negotiations More here 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

A fire erupted inside the packed United Nations climate summit in Belém, Brazil forcing a panicked evacuation of thousands of delegates just as negotiations reached their final hours www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Nations among the most vulnerable to the damage wrought by global warming have decried the recent memo by Bill Gates criticizing a “doomsday view of climate change” More here 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: Turkey is set to host the flagship United Nations climate change conference next year, beating a rival proposal from Australia following a protracted contest between the two countries We report the details here 👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

We're into week 2 at #COP30. Over the next few days we'll see whether support for a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels can get enough support from countries, or be blocked by producer nations: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

UNFCCC's Simon Stiell demanded, in a letter seen by Bloomberg, that Brazilian authorities immediately develop a plan for addressing security lapses, soaring temperatures, flooding and other poor conditions at the #COP30 conference in the city of Belém www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

#COP30 has begun in earnest and negotiators will now spend the next two weeks of climate talks in a game of chess. Here are the key players: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Brazilian President Lula foreshadowed a potential effort to move beyond the commitment countries made two years ago to “transition away from fossil fuels.” "We need road maps," he told world leaders at the #COP30 leaders summit. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

In Dubai two years ago, countries reached a first-of-a-kind agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. Yet none of the roughly 60 countries that have submitted an updated climate pledge since then have put in place targets to reduce oil and gas production. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Join myself and key members of the Bloomberg News team covering #COP30 at the top of the hour 👇

EU energy ministers struck a deal on plans to ban all gas supplies from Russia by the end of 2027, as the bloc looks to definitively end its reliance on energy from Moscow. Talks with parliament on the final outcome can now begin. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

❗️SCOOP: EU considering strict conditions such as tech transfers, joint ventures for Chinese investments in Europe in some key sectors, we’re told, as Europe increases pressure on Beijing to rebalance economic relations - with @johnainger.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Nearly 200 countries are set to gather at the gates of the Amazon rainforest next month for #COP30 Here's how it could succeed or fail www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: The EIB is exploring investing in #nuclear power on the continent for the first time in four decades as political opposition to the technology fades www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: Brazil is trying to build a coalition of countries, including the EU and China, to unify carbon markets globally as it prepares to host this year’s COP30 climate summit www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The commission is yet again set to propose a one-year delay of the EU's deforestation law, blaming an IT overload as companies submit their paperwork. It could open the door to further "simplifications" of the regulation, with EPP pushing for a zero-risk category. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Exxon is shelving €100 million investments in chemical recycling in Europe due to what the energy giant says are overly restrictive rules on plastics www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The US is still considering whether to attend the upcoming #COP30 climate summit in Brazil in order to have an “honest dialogue” on the feasibility of the world’s green transition, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Bloomberg. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The IEA's draft annual shows dreams of a peak in fossil fuel demand this decade is a mirage. "The world isn’t performing an “energy transition” but an “energy addition,” where renewables top up oil, gas and coal." Must read from @javierblas.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

The EU was entitled to include gas and nuclear energy in its green rulebook allowing the technologies to tap subsidies and cheaper finance, the bloc’s second highest tribunal ruled in a challenge brought by Austria. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Proposals to artificially cool the world’s polar regions to stem the impact of global warming are expensive, unfeasible and potentially dangerous, scientists say www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The EU is struggling to find takers for subsidies to jumpstart a green hydrogen market following a number of dropouts by potential recipients, potentially stalling the rollout of the clean energy source. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

This year’s UN climate summit in Brazil planned to bring world leaders, diplomats and other participants into the heart of the Amazon rain forest. Now the event risks being defined by a looming logistical fiasco. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"And the climate in Brussels resembles what parts of Croatia were like 25 years ago" And yet, in Brussels, there's still nowhere to swim outdoors to cool off.

Once seen as an American excess or Mediterranean necessity, air conditioning is becoming a fixture of life in Europe www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Poland’s new energy minister said he supports a moderate path to meet the country’s climate ambitions, allowing some coal-fired power plant to still be used in 2040 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The EU’s promise to buy $750 billion of American energy imports over three years was pivotal to securing a trade deal with President Donald Trump, but it’s a pledge it will struggle to keep. It looks like #nuclear will hold the key. Read our take: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The EU and China will commit to leading the world in the fight against climate change in a symbolic show of unity as the US steps back under Donald Trump, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

One of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the fallout from climate change has won a landmark legal battle, giving countries new ammunition to pursue some of the planet’s biggest emitters www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The EU's climate chief @wopkehoekstra.ec.europa.eu told us he expects some of the bloc’s biggest pension funds to help modernize the region's ageing power grids on the quest to net-zero www.bloomberg.com/news/article...