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South Carolina Nuclear Reboot: More Twists and Turns

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Last month this blog posted a story about the possible rebirth of the abandoned, partially constructed VC Summer nuclear power plant in South Carolina. After state-owned Santee Cooper and what was then South Carolina Electric and Gas pulled the plug on the project, SCANA, SCE&G’s parent, filed for bankruptcy. Dominion Energy bought SCANA, while NextEra Energy made a failed bid for Santee Cooper. This morning, NextEra announced that it will acquire Dominion in an all-stock deal. The timing is interesting because just last week, the South Carolina Public Service Commission approved a $5 billion 2,200 MW natural gas project to be jointly constructed by Dominion and Santee Cooper. This was subsequent to the December MOU between Santee Cooper and Brookfield Asset Management to potentially restart construction on the Summer facility. Additionally, earlier this month Brookfield established a partnership with The Nuclear Company for the project. While the NextEra-Dominion merger is subje...
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NY Service Sector Remains in Contraction

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While conditions improved modestly in the last month, the New York-Northern New Jersey service sector remained in contraction territory in May, according to the results of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Business Leaders Survey . The top line business activity index remained in negative territory, but improved to -5.8 in May from -14 in April, while the business climate index sat at a very unfavorable -46.9, only 2.4 points better than in April. The one bright spot in the report was  employment, with the employee count edging into positive territory at 1.9 from -2.4 in April. The six-month forward expectations indices indicated a slight uptick in optimism, with the forward-looking business activity index increasing 7.3 points to 10.2, while the business climate expectations also increased 7.3 but remained in negative territory at -14. The forward-looking employment and capex indexes were flat m/m. Both remained in minimally positive territory. 
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Strong Empire

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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a very solid May Empire State Manufacturing Survey this morning. The survey’s results indicate strong growth in the New York manufacturing sector. The headline general business conditions index increased 8.6 points to 19.6, while the new orders index rose 3.4 points to 22.7. The May increases pushed both indexes to four year highs. The employment indexes however, dipped slightly lower in the month. Finally, the six-month forward looking indexes reflected growing optimism, with general business conditions expectations index increasing to 33.5 from 19.6 in the prior month. Likewise, the new orders, shipments, and capex expectations indexes also improved m/m. The employment expectations indexes were mixed, with the employee count index increasing 2.5 points while the average workweek index fell five points.
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Census: Fastest Growing Cities are in Texas

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The US Census Bureau released its Vintage 2025 population estimates for towns and cities today. The report reflects data from the July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025 period.  Not surprisingly, Census found that the cities with the largest percentage increases in population during this period were all in Texas. We note that for the purposes of this exercise, Census defines US cities as those with populations of 20,000 or more. The picture is similar for pure numeric rankings. Of the cities to see the largest numeric increase in population during the reference period, Texas cities ranked second, third and fourth, while Charlotte, NC took the number one spot and Seattle, WA number five. 
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New U-Michigan State Economic Forecast Calls for Better 2027

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Economists at the University of Michigan believe that the state’s labor economy is currently in a “soft patch”, but that brighter days are ahead. They expect the state's employers to shed 5,900 jobs in calendar 2026, but then add 13,400 in 2027 and 9,300 in 2028. The forecast assumes no further escalation of the conflict in Iran and gradual reductions in the price of oil. According to the press release, the forecast will be presented to Michigan’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference on May 15.
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Maine Businesses Set Out Economic Goals for State

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The Maine State Chamber of Commerce released its Maine Economic Vision 2035 report this week. The report sets out policy prescriptions to grow the state’s economy over the next ten years. These policy goals and proposals are primarily focused on productivity, investment, education, competitiveness and affordability. You can access the glossy 32-page presentation here .
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Alaska Confidence Index Stuck at Post-COVID Low

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The Northern Economics Alaska Confidence Index , produced quarterly since 2010 by Alaska Survey Research continues to scrape the lows of the COVID era. The index is compiled from responses to six questions about the health of the state’s economy and of respondent’s personal financial situation, and is standardized to a 0-100 scale. The most recent survey in March 2026 produced an index value of 42.6, which is only 0.2 points higher than the index’s historical low set in October 2023. The index has been stuck in the mid-to-low 40s range since late 2021. For context, the index hit a historical high of 61.9 in September 2014.
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