State Energy Policy Index · October 25, 2026
This is our first monthly report. Produced by EnergyThink.ing founder Mike Fourcher using the EnergyThink.ing database. Every day EnergyThink.ing collects energy and conservation news from over 220 local news sites across the US. In addition, we collect releases and monitor energy and conservation websites and legislatures for all 50 states and DC. Subscribe to EnergyThink.ing for free and receive the Index every month.
Data centers dominated what people shared about state energy news. Nuclear energy was widely covered, but its stories travelled least.
Half of all state news stories about data centers in the last 30 days were shared on Bluesky by someone other than the outlet, and the most-shared, a ProPublica investigation in New Mexico, was shared 919 times. Nuclear energy drew 121 news reports in 40 states, but its most-shared state story reached 23 shares. And state outlets ran more stories on the power grid than on any other topic, while the national press barely covered the topic.
30 days ending October 23, 2026. Built from 1,778 news reports and 95 government releases collected by EnergyThink.ing, with shares counted on Bluesky and national coverage measured by GDELT.
1 · Where the news was
46 states had reports on data centers this month, down from 49
40 states had news reports on nuclear energy this month, up from 31
2 · What people shared
The most-shared energy stories on Bluesky
Shares are other people's posts over the last 30 days linking to a story, plus reposts and quotes. An outlet promoting its own story doesn't count, and nor do automatic mirror accounts. Bluesky's users lean towards journalists, researchers and policy people, so this measures what that audience passed on.
3 · Topics ranked
Covered, shared, and covered nationally
Each topic three ways: how many news reports the states' outlets ran, what share of state stories were passed on by Bluesky users, and how much of all US news coverage the topic took up, according to GDELT. Share of US news is the topic's average weekly share of all US-related online articles GDELT monitored over the last four weeks.
4 · Local and national coverage
Do state outlets move with the national press?
Comparing state outlet reports collected by EnergyThink.ing against US national news reporting measured by the GDELT Project.
Weekly, over 12 weeks. Each line is scaled to its own average, so the two can be compared even though one is a count of state reports and the other a share of all US news.
Transmission & grid
Last week: 175 state reports; 165 national articles
Data centers
Last week: 167 state reports; 1,494 national articles
Nuclear energy
Last week: 24 state reports; 529 national articles
Gas & coal
Last week: 24 state reports; 242 national articles
Climate & emissions
Last week: 19 state reports; 509 national articles
Solar
Last week: 12 state reports; 284 national articles
Rates & affordability
Last week: 10 state reports; 376 national articles
Storage & batteries
Last week: 6 state reports; 241 national articles
Wind
Last week: 8 state reports; 93 national articles
EVs & charging
Last week: 1 state report; 226 national articles
Efficiency & heat pumps
Last week: 3 state reports; 14 national articles
Hydrogen
Last week: 0 state reports; 43 national articles
GDELT matches topics on the words in each article's web address, so its counts are best compared week to week rather than with EnergyThink.ing's.
Where national coverage of data centers pointed
Articles in national and international coverage that mentioned each state, last 30 days. Set beside the map in section 1, it shows which states' stories reached beyond their own outlets. Use the topic buttons in section 1 to switch.
Washington, DC is left unshaded: national coverage names it mostly as the seat of the federal government (1,093 articles this month).
The tone of national coverage
Tone comes from GDELT, which scores every article it monitors by comparing the positive and negative words it contains: below zero means more negative language, above zero more positive. Each bar is the average for one week across US-related articles on the topic. It is an automatic score, useful for direction over several weeks rather than for any single story.
Transmission & grid
Negative lately, steady
Data centers
Negative lately, steady
Nuclear energy
Negative lately, steady
Gas & coal
Neutral lately, warming
Climate & emissions
Negative lately, steady
Solar
Positive lately, steady
Rates & affordability
Negative lately, steady
Storage & batteries
Negative lately, souring
Wind
Neutral lately, warming
EVs & charging
Negative lately, souring
Efficiency & heat pumps
Positive lately, warming
Hydrogen
Positive lately, steady
5 · Government policy releases and bills
What's moving across the states
Last 30 days, September 24 to October 23, 2026. Counts governors' and agencies' policy releases and bills; news coverage is not included.
How this Index is built
News reports and government releases come from EnergyThink.ing's daily collection across all 50 states and DC; a story counts toward a topic when its headline names it, and every edition's figures are reviewed by hand before publication. Bluesky shares are counted for each of those stories. National coverage and tone come from GDELT, which monitors online news worldwide; its figures here are limited to US outlets.
News coverage, sharing and government action are reported separately.
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