Protect Your Yield

Vote Solar, a leading nonprofit organization advancing bold, state-based policy and regulatory solutions to make solar power more accessible, affordable, and reliable, is advocating for comprehensive data center accountability policies nationwide. These policies would ensure that energy demand from data centers is matched with new clean supply, such as solar paired with storage, keeping electricity affordable and reliable for all.

“New industries shouldn’t drive up costs for working families,” said Sachu Constantine, Vote Solar’s Executive Director.  “With policies that hold data centers accountable, we can tie new energy demand to new clean supply— especially fast, scalable resources like solar that can be deployed more quickly and affordably than many traditional power sources.”

Requiring large energy users to invest in new solar and other clean resources helps meet rising demand without triggering costly infrastructure upgrades that drive up rates. Fair rules ensure that growth doesn’t come at the expense of families and communities. 

“Community power – rooftop solar, batteries, and smart devices working together across homes and businesses – is the fastest, most cost-effective way to meet surging energy demand from data centers while strengthening grid flexibility and resilience,” said Constantine. “With smart planning now, we can avoid unnecessary grid stress and expensive infrastructure buildout that drives future rate hikes, instead tapping the energy resources already in our communities to deliver reliable power and lower costs for everyone.”

Vote Solar is actively working on data center accountability policies across 9 states: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. For the latest updates on our work, follow our website: votesolar.org 

Vote Solar is actively working in state legislatures, where decision makers are working to pass laws that require data centers to bring or pay for their own clean energy—so everyday customers aren’t stuck with the bill:

New Jersey: lawmakers are advancing proposals to make data centers pay the full costs of their energy demand, and to require data centers to bring their own new clean energy. 

Illinois & Minnesota: Both states are pushing similar legislation that would require large energy users to fund clean energy, cover grid upgrade costs, and operate more flexibly to reduce strain on the system.

In other states, utilities and regulators are already implementing or negotiating these kinds of protections:

California: Vote Solar is actively participating in the CPUC’s landmark advanced electric rate design rulemaking, which will shape how electricity costs are allocated among residential customers, businesses, and emerging large energy users for years to come. A key priority will be establishing strong data center guardrails to ensure large new electricity loads pay their fair share, bring new clean energy resources to the grid, and do not shift costs onto California households. 

Pennsylvania: A new settlement with PPL, a utility with one of the highest levels of data center growth forecasted in the country, would require data centers to commit to long-term contracts, pay upfront for grid upgrades, and contribute funding to low-income energy programs.

Michigan: A major agreement with Google set a strong precedent, requiring the company to fully pay for new clean energy and battery storage to power its data center, instead of shifting costs to customers. The contract signals a commitment to clean energy, but its confidential structure underscores the need for regulatory oversight. Vote Solar is actively working on a regulatory case to ensure real renewable energy investments and community power networks are meaningfully incorporated to deliver benefits to local communities. 

Nevada: The ongoing NV Energy Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) will allow us an opportunity to push for more local clean energy solutions to displace data center driven energy demand.

North Carolina: A settlement with Duke Energy led to a “Clean Transition Tariff” that will protect residential customers from the increased energy demands from data centers by requiring them to bring their own power. Separately, the NCUC recently ordered more reporting and transparency on large energy users, laying the groundwork for a future large load tariff. 

South Carolina: A 2025 settlement set the stage for a formal investigation into large-load tariffs beginning in 2026, creating an opportunity to establish clearer rules so that major energy users like data centers contribute fairly to grid costs and help protect affordability for residents.

Vote Solar | https://votesolar.org/

ElementUSA, in partnership with Colorado School of Mines, announced a $67 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy(DOE) to advance the design, construction, commissioning and operation of a rare earth element (REE) processing facility in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana. The award builds on ElementUSA’s ongoing $29.9 million project with the Department of War (DOW) focused on gallium and scandium recovery and commercialization. Together, these programs materially advance ElementUSA’s plan to onshore critical mineral supply chains by scaling a proven, proprietary process that converts bauxite residue, the byproduct of alumina refining, into pig iron and a diversified suite of critical minerals and REEs.

“We are honored to receive the Department of Energy's support and to partner with Colorado School of Mines on this important initiative," said Ellis Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of ElementUSA. "This project represents a significant step toward establishing a new domestic source of critical minerals and rare earth elements essential to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, energy systems and national security. Beyond gallium and scandium, this program advances the recovery of a uniquely valuable mixed rare earth oxide basket with strong heavy rare earth and yttrium content. By combining Colorado School of Mines' world-class expertise with ElementUSA's commercial development platform, we are advancing a practical pathway to recover strategic materials from bauxite residue at commercial scale while strengthening America's critical mineral supply chains and transforming an underutilized industrial waste stream into a nationally strategic resource.”

Technical credibility, scale and commercial pathway

• Proven technical process: ElementUSA’s integrated hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical flowsheet is engineered to co produce pig iron and recover critical metals and REEs, including scandium, gallium, germanium, yttrium, neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium, titanium, vanadium, niobium, and tantalum, improving unit economics through diversified revenue. 

• Commercial facility target: ElementUSA is advancing a phased development pathway to a full scale commercial facility targeting approximately 1 million tons per annum feed capacity at full scale. Estimated capital expenditure is approximately $1.1B. This facility has the potential to make the Louisiana residue one of the only depleting bauxite residue waste resources in the world, a benefit for all stakeholders. ElementUSA will be breaking ground on the first phase of this project in Louisiana later this month.

• Exclusive resource access: ElementUSA has secured exclusive access to the bauxite residue resource in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana which is currently ~34 million tons (and growing) of proven reserves. At scale, this single resource has potential to produce 45–385% of U.S. annual demand for gallium, scandium, yttrium, germanium, ytterbium, dysprosium and gadolinium, along with significant concentrations of additional critical minerals. 

• Competitive positioning: The Louisiana bauxite residue resource is uniquely differentiated from both traditional mined deposits and other industrial waste streams due to its highly polymetallic composition, containing more than 95% payable metals across iron, rare earth elements and critical minerals. This co-production capability represents a significant competitive advantage versus single-commodity mining projects by enabling lower production costs, diversified revenue streams and improved resilience to volatile pricing environments for rare earths and trace critical minerals. In addition to the Louisiana project, ElementUSA’s process platform is designed as a scalable global deployment model for bauxite residue resources worldwide. With more than 4 billion tons of bauxite residue estimated globally, the company believes its technology platform has the potential to unlock a substantial new domestic and international source of strategic minerals while addressing one of the world’s largest industrial waste challenges.

ElementUSA & Colorado School of Mines collaboration 
ElementUSA’s Critical Resource Accelerator (CRA) in Cedar Park, Texas, is the company’s integrated lab to pilot hub for process validation, product qualification and scale up. The CRA collaborates closely with Colorado School of Mines on technical validation, mineral characterization, development and scale up studies. Led by Elizabeth Holley, the Colorado School of Mines Waste to Value Center brings together an interdisciplinary team to advance recovery of critical minerals from mine waste – from site selection through implementation. ElementUSA applauds Holley’s pioneering leadership and CSM’s scientific contributions to accelerating domestic critical minerals capabilities.

Strategic impact and commercialization 
The DOE and DOW awards strengthen ElementUSA’s ability to finalize long term offtake agreements, attract additional financing, and accelerate facility buildout and commissioning of operations in Louisiana. ElementUSA is engaged with defense primes, semiconductor and advanced materials companies, and specialty off-takers on product qualification and contractual pathways that will enable phased commercial deliveries as the facility scales.

ElementUSA | www.elementusaminerals.com

Colorado School of Mines | https://www.mines.edu/

Scale, a leader in advanced on-site energy solutions, has been awarded a $4.2 million grant from the California Energy Commission for the Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) Community Resilience Hub Project. The grant, awarded through the Community Energy Reliability and Resilience Investment (CERRI) program, will help support a campus microgrid that integrates solar, battery storage, and EV charging.

Santa Barbara County’s grid is particularly vulnerable to grid outages, with more than twice the average outage duration and frequency of the rest of Southern California Edison’s system. The region ranks in the 99.4th percentile for natural disaster risk according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the local grid relies on a single power line crossing 40 miles of terrain prone to wildfires, earthquakes, and landslides.

To address these challenges, the CERRI Program will help Scale implement the SBCC Community Resilience Hub project by funding non-solar generation components of the system, including battery and microgrid components. The microgrid will establish the campus as a designated Community Resilience Hub by providing backup power during outages, which will ensure critical services including EV chargers remain operational during emergencies and enable SBCC to support the surrounding community.

“We’re proud to have the support of the Energy Commission on this important project,” said Shea Hughes, Scale’s VP of Business Development. “Santa Barbara faces unique grid reliability challenges and vulnerabilities that make local resilience solutions such as solar, battery storage, and microgrids a critical need for communities in the area.”

Thanks to the reliable, resilient energy provided by the microgrid, the campus will be able to serve as a safe gathering place where residents can receive supplies, charge electronics, and access medical treatment. SBCC already has an existing disaster relief agreement with the American Red Cross, and this project will further strengthen its role as a lifeline for the community during emergencies.

Beyond its role during grid outages, the microgrid will also benefit SBCC during regular “blue sky” operations. By integrating battery storage with solar generation, the microgrid will reduce peak demand by storing solar energy during the day and discharging it during high-demand periods, reducing electricity costs. The system will also reduce strain on the broader grid and position SBCC as a leader in energy innovation and resilience.

The project is partnering with the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara, which will support local engagement activities. The local workforce will also benefit from the project through the creation of union-supported jobs and internships.

As of May 2026, the project is in the planning and design stage.

Scale | scalemicrogrids.com

California Energy Commission | https://www.energy.ca.gov/

The state of Arizona has become one of the nation's most concentrated buildout zones for utility-scale solar, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and hyperscale data centers — and the fire and safety demands that come with those facilities are unlike anything conventional fire departments are equipped to handle. Rural Metro Fire Central Arizona is positioning itself as the specialized fire and emergency medical services partner those facilities require, and is the preferred fire and EMS partner for Hyperscale Power Infrastructure developers in Pinal County and across the region. This continues strong momentum Rural Metro is building with hyperscalers across California, Idaho and Arizona.

The scale of the buildout is significant. Arizona now ranks third in the nation in utility-scale energy storage capacity, with 19.3 gigawatt-hours of BESS installed as of 2025. Nationally, BESS installations surpassed 57 gigawatt-hours in 2025 — a 29 percent year-over-year increase — with Arizona among just three states accounting for nearly three-quarters of that capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association's Energy Storage Market Outlook Q2 2026.

Operating across Maricopa and Pinal counties since 1948, Rural Metro Fire is uniquely suited to support the industrial corridors where this new energy and digital infrastructure is rising — areas often outside traditional tax-funded fire districts.

"Solar farms, BESS facilities and data centers need highly competent, nimble and specialized fire protection services, and that's why they are all turning to Rural Metro in Pinal County. The hazard profile at these sites — lithium-ion thermal runaway, high-voltage electrical systems and sheer physical scale — demands responders who have trained specifically for these environments. The complexity of these sites requires partners who collaborate with developers, builders, hyperscalers and operators all the way along the development path. That's the conversation we're already in across Arizona." 
— Tim Soule, Chief of Rural Metro Fire Central Arizona

Rural Metro's ability to scale rapidly into complex new service environments was demonstrated in December 2025 in Arizona, when the San Tan Valley Town Council unanimously approved an exclusive fire services agreement covering the newly incorporated municipality's roughly 100,000 residents. The same flexible, full-service model is what Rural Metro Fire offers industrial campuses, energy facilities and master-planned developments.

Building on that momentum, Rural Metro Fire is now expanding into Southern Pinal County in partnership with several Hyperscale Power Infrastructure companies, and expects to announce later this year new fire department infrastructure — stations, apparatus and specialized response capability — purpose-built to serve hyperscale campuses and the residential communities nearby. Developers and operators evaluating sites in the Pinal County corridor can engage Rural Metro at the pre-development stage to build fire and EMS coverage into their project timelines from day one.

Services include fire suppression, paramedic EMS, vehicle and technical rescue, commercial fire inspections, plan reviews and pre-incident planning for complex industrial sites.

Energy infrastructure developers, hyperscalers and industrial operators with projects in Pinal County or anywhere in Arizona are encouraged to contact Rural Metro Fire directly at ruralmetrofire.com/arizona-industrial or 480.931.3089 to begin pre-development conversations.

Rural Metro Fire Central Arizona | ruralmetrofire.com

Who:    Ava Community Energy (Howard Chang, CEO) and Prologis executives will be joined by State Senator Jesse Arrequin, Oakland City representatives Councilmember Rowena Brown and Chief Resilience Officer Daniel Hamilton and others.

What:   Ava Community Energy and Prologis will launch the first of five partnership sites where Prologis is housing rooftop solar power generation. This partnership will benefit the community and make solar power available to disadvantaged communities and homes that would never have had the opportunity for solar installation. This will also provide 20% discounts on energy costs for low-income residents participating in Ava’s Solar Discount Program.

When: Friday, June 5, 2026

              12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

              Speaking program begins at 1:00 p.m.

Where: Prologis Warehouse: Oakland 1

              500 85th Avenue, Oakland, CA

Why:    This is part of the state’s DAC-GT program, where disadvantaged communities can benefit from solar power generation that they would never have the ability to place on their own homes.

Ava began offering their Solar Discount Program in 2021 and since that time their customers enrolled in this program have saved more than $3 millions combined.

Ava is committed to finding ways to have more of its clean energy generated locally, for use by local customers. 

This is just one of the many initiatives that Ava Community Energy has launched to make the transition to carbon-free energy easier and more accessible for all. We would welcome the opportunity to talk to you about this project and the many others.

Ava Community Energy | https://avaenergy.org/

LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners Inc. (TSXV: LIB | OTCQB: VLTLF | FSE: I2D) (“LibertyStream” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has delivered its first tonne of lithium carbonate to a U.S. industrial customer from the Company’s DLE Unit and Lithium Carbonate Refining Facility at Select Water Solutions’ (NYSE: WTTR) (“Select”) site in Howard County, Texas, north of Midland.

The delivery fulfills LibertyStream’s previously announced first U.S. order and marks the Company’s first delivery from the Select site. The lithium carbonate was produced to the customer’s required technical specifications and delivered as part of LibertyStream’s broader customer qualification and commercial sales process.

With this delivery, LibertyStream has moved its Texas operations from site deployment and on-site production into customer delivery — an important step in derisking the Company’s plan to replicate its lithium extraction and refining model across high-volume U.S. oilfield basins, including the Permian and Bakken.

“We are proud of the pace of lithium carbonate production at Select’s site,” said Alex Wylie, President & CEO of LibertyStream. “Delivery of our first tonne of lithium carbonate achieving the required technical specifications, is another successful significant milestone by the entire LibertyStream team. We continue to make lithium carbonate for delivery to a number of battery grade and technical grade customers. With production now underway, we are positioned to reach an annualized production capability of up to 1,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate by the end of 2026.”

Lithium Carbonate Operating Facility

LibertyStream completed installation and construction of its Lithium Carbonate Operating Facility ahead of schedule in March 2026 and has commenced production from the Refining Unit. The Refining Unit is engineered to produce both battery-grade and technical-grade lithium carbonate.

The current configuration at Select’s site incorporates key learnings from the Company’s prior field operations and is designed to improve operating consistency as LibertyStream builds production history in the field.

The first tonne delivery marks an important milestone as LibertyStream advances from site integration and production into customer qualification, product sales and planned scale-up. LibertyStream expects the Select site to remain a core operating and validation platform as the Company expands customer deliveries and begins site preparation for the construction of its first Texas facility capable of annualized production of up to 1,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate by the end of 2026.

LibertyStream | https://libertystream.com/

PowerBank Corporation (NASDAQ: PBK) (Cboe CA: PBK) (FSE: 103) ("PowerBank" or the "Company"), a leader in independent energy development and asset ownership in North America, is pleased to announce that its 3.1 MW NY-South Park community solar project (the "Project") located on a closed landfill site in Buffalo, New York has been approved for $841,555 USD in incentives through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority ("NYSERDA") NY-Sun Program. The Project was most recently discussed in a permitting progress update shared here.

The Project is expected to qualify for up to an additional $730,234 USD in NYSERDA incentives through the NY-Sun Inclusive Community Solar Adder and the Retail Energy Storage Incentive Program, for a total of up to $1,571,789 USD in NYSERDA funding.

The NY-South Park project is expected to deliver enough clean energy to power the equivalent of approximately 388 homes annually. Once constructed and operational, following receipt of financing and required permits, the Project is expected to be operated as a community solar project. Community solar is a solar photovoltaic system interconnected directly to the local electricity grid via distribution lines. Once the system is placed into service by the utility and generating electricity, clean energy from the site feeds into the local power grid, enabling dozens or hundreds of renters, homeowners, and electricity customers to save money from the electricity generated by the project. By subscribing to a project, a homeowner earns credits on their electric bill every month from their portion of the solar that is generated by the project, accessing the benefits of solar without installing panels on their home.

The NY-Sun Program is a public-private partnership that aims to drive growth in the solar industry and make solar technology more affordable for all New Yorkers. Led by NYSERDA, the program provides incentives and financing to expand solar adoption for homes, businesses, and communities, while supporting local job creation and advancing the state's clean energy goals.

PowerBank's demonstrated ability to secure government incentives across its New York portfolio, including previously announced NYSERDA awards for the Elmira, Jordan Rd 1, Jordan Rd 2, and Geddes projects, reflects the institutional-grade development capabilities that underpin the Company's broader strategic evolution. As announced on June 1, 2026, PowerBank has positioned AI compute infrastructure and modular data center development as a core strategic growth vertical alongside its solar and battery energy storage business. This new vertical is directly enabled by the Company's growing portfolio of permitted, incentive-backed renewable energy sites across North America. PowerBank's proven expertise in navigating state-level incentive programs, with over 100 MW of completed projects and a development pipeline exceeding 1 GW, positions the Company to serve as a power solutions provider for the digital economy at a time of unprecedented electricity demand.

The Project advances New York's path to 10 GW of solar by 2030. The State leads the United States in community solar capacity, having achieved the New York State Climate Act 6 GW solar goal in the fall of 2024.

PowerBank Corporation | www.powerbankcorp.com