Amazon's Free Cash Flow Goes $42 Billion Negative and Microsoft Borrows, as PJM Refiles Its Backstop and Hyperscaler Groups Back Paying Twice for the Grid
Friday, October 30, 2026 · 10 min
Amazon closes out the hyperscaler earnings round with capex above $75 billion in the quarter, and Microsoft plans its first bond sale in almost a decade. PJM refiles its reliability backstop with March 2027 bidding, buyer groups backed by the hyperscalers endorse a Senate bill that would charge big loads for both new and existing grid, and ERCOT asks the PUC to toss the first Batch Zero appeal.
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Show notes
Amazon closes out the hyperscaler earnings round with capex above $75 billion in the quarter, and Microsoft plans its first bond sale in almost a decade. PJM refiles its reliability backstop with March 2027 bidding, buyer groups backed by the hyperscalers endorse a Senate bill that would charge big loads for both new and existing grid, and ERCOT asks the PUC to toss the first Batch Zero appeal.
In this episode
- Big Tech’s Data Center Blitz Is Burning Through Cash and Scaring Wall St. – DNYUZ — New York Times
“Four of the tech industry’s biggest companies set a spending record in the last quarter as they raced to build artificial intelligence, leading to a worrisome new milestone: Most of them are spending more cash on data centers than they get from running their businesses.”
- PJM backstop procurement: March 2027 bidding proposed — Jonas Muthoni
“Under PJM’s revised approach, the allocation of backstop charges would be tied to firm large-load growth between actual summer 2026 peak demand and the forecast for the 2028–2029 delivery year.”
- Are data centers ready to pay double to unclog the grid? | Latitude Media — Latitude Media
“BAAJA would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to rewrite a 1994 policy that allowed electricity customers to pay either the “embedded” costs of the existing grid, or the “incremental” cost of its expansion — not both. Instead, computational loads larger than 20…”
- ERCOT Asks the PUC to Throw Out the First Batch Zero Appeal With Prejudice | Morning Briefing, Oct 29, 2026 — Morning Briefing, Oct 29, 2026
“It says Medina County Power NR I "has not satisfied the requirement to have a qualifying study to be classified as Base Load" and asks the commission to "deny the requested relief and dismiss the Complaint with prejudice."”