Rivian Breaks Ground On New EV Factory -- Will Georgia, A Swing State, Go All Blue In The Mid-Terms? September 16, 2025

Locator: 49129RIVN.

Rivian's new East Coast headquarters to be located in Atlanta, Georgia. Announced in July, 2025.

Georgia has become a swing state. Atlanta is the key. So, where should be build a huge factory built with federal loans? LOL. How about Atlanta?

US senators representing Georgia:

• Jon Ossoff, democrat
• Raphael Warnock, democrat

Governor: Brian P Kemp, began second term in 2023; first elected in 2018

• term limits in Georgia; two consecutive terms; must wait at least four years after end of second term to run again
• next Georgia governor election: 2026, mid-terms national election
• Kemp: said he won't run but was seen as a strong contender;

2026: Offoff is the incumbent running for re-election

• In the January 5, 2021, Georgia Senate runoff election, Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David Perdue with a margin of victory of 1.2% . Ossoff received 50.6% of the vote to Perdue's 49.4%

Massive GOP blunder: a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on September 4, 2025, detained hundreds of workers at a Hyundai-LG battery plant under construction in Ellabell, Georgia, near Savannah. South Korea oversees of project detained and returned to South Korea.

As of mid-September 2025, there is no public polling data that shows how the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at a Georgia Hyundai factory directly affected politicians' poll numbers.

However, the raid has created significant political fallout, highlighting a conflict between economic development and immigration enforcement, especially for Republicans.

If Georgia becomes a strong blue state, rather than a swing state, blame will be placed at the feet of the president who allowed this to happen, under his watch. My hunch: GOP needs to correct this debacle soon and soon may not be soon enough.

There were better ways to do this.

Specific location for new Rivian EV factory: 

The new Rivian EV factory will be built in Morgan and Walton Counties, near Social Circle, Georgia, approximately 40-50 miles east of Atlanta.

This approximately 5 billion dollar manufacturing campus is expected to create over 7,500 on-site jobs and significant economic benefits for the region. Construction was previously halted but has since restarted with the help of a large federal loan, with production slated to begin in 2026.

Ticker RIVN: RIVN up about 3% today.

Proposed Data Centers For Texas -- RBN Energy -- September 16, 2025

Locator: 49128LDC.

If you want to learn geography: study an applicable war.

If you want to learn Texas geography: study the large-data-center campaign.

Links: RBN Energy. Other.

CloudHQ's SAT Campus, west of San Antonio: 600 MW spread across five data centers; site control only; no permits. Will connect to ERCOT.

Data City, near Laredo: this is one to watch. Will not connect to ERCOT.

The GigaPop Red Oak, in Red Oak, expected to be completed in 2026, next year. Oncor.

The Grand Prairie, Grand Prairie, another one to watch. To be completed in 2026.

PowerCampus Austin, Austin: developers were ready to begin construction but issues with Oncor and project delayed.

Provident data center, Ellis County: Oncor and plan approved by ERCOT.

The Stargate, Taylor. Huge. Made headlines. OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. Multiple data centers across Texas.

Sweetwater 1 and 2, Nolan County: currently under construction.

TRACT Caldwell County Data Center: Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, operates outside of ERCOT.

Market Continues To Hit New Highs -- September 16, 2025

Locator: 49127B.

Tim Walz: says he will run for re-election in 2026. 

If he wins, he will be the longest-serving governor in Minnesota's history. Explains a lot.

Surrounding states watching closely, this "California-on-the-Prairie."

If the state can afford it, Minnesota will have nation's first single-payer state health care program. Link here. My hunch: this will be the "plank" on which Tim Walz wins or loses. Watch outcome of the NYC mayor race to see how Walz might do.

My hunch: Tim Walz runs and wins. Remember, his presidential / vice-presidential ticket came in second. Bernie Sanders, Pocahontas, Gavin Newsom, many others cannot make similar claim.

Hamas: to use remaining hostages as shields.

TikTok: nailed it. Oracle will buy.

Robert Redford: died

US retail sales: come in strong, stronger than expected. 

AAPL: nice little jump at the open.

Chord: nice little jump at the open.

ORCL: nice little jump at the open.

Schwab's Sonders: expects a 25-basis point cut; Dow turns sharply down.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $64.44. 

Combination of "Gaza Burning" (Israel to launch large-scale invasion to take Gaza City; market will be disappointed by JPow's decision tomorrow; all major analysts suggesting oil shortage going forward if no new investments; Ukraine droning Russia's refineries; Russia says it may need to start limiting oil exports.

Apparently IDF have surrounded Gaza City.

New wells:

• Wednesday, September 17, 2025: 24 for the month, 117 for the quarter, 557 for the year,
• None.
• Tuesday, September 16, 2025: 24 for the month, 117 for the quarter, 557 for the year,
• 40768, conf, Hess, HA-Grimestad-152-95-3031H-10,
• 39740, conf, Grayson Mill, Darlene 13-24F XW 1TFH,

RBN Energy: in midstream space, a medley of natgas and produced water M&A and IPOs. 

This summer, like the spring, winter and fall that preceded it, has seen a lot of dealmaking among midstreamers. And not just M&A and divestitures by the folks who gather, transport and process hydrocarbons but a major acquisition — and a rare IPO! — in the produced water slice of the midstream pie. Apples and oranges, maybe, but there are two common themes, namely that bigger is better and that zeroing in on core areas is key. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss some of the most significant midstream deals of Q3 2025. 

In our most recent look at midstream dealmaking at the end of Q2, we looked at Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ roughly $9 billion acquisition of the Colonial Pipeline system; Targa Resources’ $1.8 billion purchase of the remaining 45% ownership interest in what had been the company’s 55/45 Badlands joint venture (JV) with units of Blackstone; and Hess Midstream LP’s buyout of Global Infrastructure Partners’ (GIP) 7.2% ownership interest in the master limited partnership (MLP) for $560 million. (Chevron, which closed on the acquisition of Hess Corp. in mid-July, now holds a 37.2% stake in Hess Midstream, with public shareholders owning the other 62.8%.)

Today, we discuss an even more diverse group of midstream deals, beginning with what may be the most valuable acquisition of a produced water specialist ever. Western Midstream Partners said August 6 that it will buy Aris Water Solutions in a deal valued at about $2 billion, including $1.5 billion in equity and cash and the assumption of about $500 million in debt. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2025.

Figure 1. Western Midstream’s and Aris Water Solutions’ Produced Water Assets. Source: RBN 

Disclaimer

Locator: 49126MUSIC.

Note: all blogs written / posted during the midnight hours are subject to more errors than "normal." My editor will not have a chance to read / edit posts uploaded during the middle hours. Assume everything posted between 2200 hours and 0200 hours has significant typographical and content errors.  

Link here.

Link here.


If this was the only song Dylan ever did ... it would have been more than enough ... 

Meanwhile:

 

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Trump's British Visit

We'll finish with this. Link here.

 

I just finished a long article on Great Britain and its prime minister. It puts Trump's visit to the UK in perspective.

The Claremont. "Land's End" by Christopher Caldwell.  Link here.

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 Disclaimer
Brief Reminder 

Briefly:

• I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.
  
• I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 
• Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.
  
• If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them. 
• Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken, US economy, and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution.
• I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom.
• Longer version here.  

Midnight Fugue -- September 16, 2025

Locator: 49125MUSIC.

I can't tell the whole story but when I was sent back to England -- northern England, Yorkshire, near the Scottish border -- for extended periods of time between 2004 and 2007 or thereabouts -- I often went for midnight walks lasting two to three hours. I carried my little portable Walkman and listened to Hank Williams (senior).

Often, around midnight, every night, I would pass a small village church. The doors were always unlocked and I would go in, and I would sit in the front pew, and meditate, which mostly meant listening to my CDs on my portable Walkman. 

I never walked alone.

This song always reminds me of those halcyon days.

I may have to expand on this some day -- there's so much more to the story and explains why the military is such an incredible opportunity for so many. I can't imagine my life having not made the USAF my career. Funny how things turn out. 

And then from there, YouTube went to this:

I agree 1000% with whomever wrote this:

If they don't play this banger at my funeral I'm getting up and walking out! 

Time for another road trip!