DOE's TotalEnergies Deal Draws Seven-State Lawsuit as Data Centers Reshape U.S. Energy Politics
A federal deal with the French supermajor and a $490 million loan redirected from solar have made data center load growth a 2026 campaign flashpoint.
A Department of Energy loan finalized during the week of August 10, 2026, directed nearly $490 million toward battery storage in Puerto Rico, with the funding redirected away from utility-scale solar as previously planned. The same week, Senators Alex Padilla (Democrat, California) and Angus King (Independent, Maine) proposed legislation to reward offshore wind developers along the coasts of New York, California, and Louisiana.5
Both moves sit inside a larger political dispute: seven Democratic-led states have sued the Department of Energy over an earlier contract with TotalEnergies, the French oil and gas supermajor.5 The litigation is arriving in an election year in which data center power demand has become one of the sharpest policy fights in U.S. energy markets.
The numbers behind that fight are large. A report published in July 2026, cited by Utility Dive, projected that U.S. data center electricity use could more than double to 426 TWh by 2030.4 Bank of America analysts put the demand implication in grid terms, estimating that data centers alone could add roughly 125 GW of new U.S. electric load through 2031.4
The EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2026 projected that electricity consumed by data center servers will increase sharply, with standalone data center growth outpacing all other data center room types combined, extending the trend well toward 2050.2 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory had estimated U.S. data center consumption at around 70 billion kWh in 2014, representing about 1.8% of total national electricity use at the time.1 Growth during that window had slowed to roughly 4% cumulatively from 2010 to 2014, following about 24% between 2005 and 2010 and nearly 90% in the 2000-to-2005 period.1
The political problem is not only the volume. Data center expansion is "delaying coal plant closures, slowing or preventing national, state and local priorities to transition to clean energy," the Kansas Health Institute report found, with renewable build rates cited as insufficient to absorb the new load.4 For legislators in states where utility bills are climbing, that is a ready argument.
TotalEnergies sits at the center of the federal legal fight. The company has a stated strategy of divesting up to 50% of renewable assets once they reach commercial operation, which it says maximizes asset value and manages risk.3 It is working with advisers to potentially market 50% stakes in approximately 1.2 GW of combined solar and wind assets in France and Germany.3 Unlike BP and Shell, which have outright reduced renewables spending, TotalEnergies has maintained a 12% profitability target for its integrated power business through partial-stake sales.3 The U.S. litigation tests whether that model can extend to federally contracted arrangements in North America.
Battery storage has moved faster than almost any other segment of U.S. power infrastructure. EIA data found the U.S. installed 8.3 GW of utility-scale storage capacity through the first six months of 2026, with another 14 GW scheduled to come online by December.5 Storage retained its federal tax credits through last year's legislative cycle, keeping project pipelines intact while other clean energy incentives faced more political pressure.
The Padilla-King offshore wind bill is a direct response to data center load forecasts, aimed at accelerating supply on the coastlines facing the steepest demand growth.5 Its chances in the current Congress are uncertain. The seven-state lawsuit against the TotalEnergies contract is likely to set precedent for how federal agencies can structure deals with foreign energy companies, and its resolution could shape procurement terms well beyond the immediate agreement.
The specific deal terms that prompted seven states to sue have not been publicly disclosed. BofA's estimate of 125 GW of additional data center load through 2031 points to grid additions at a pace that leaves planners little room to wait for multi-year litigation cycles before committing capacity.4,5