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As Trump pushes pay cap, TVA CEO will retire

By Mason Adams

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This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Southeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

OVERSIGHT

  • Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Don Moul announces he’ll retire after one year in the job as President Trump says he’ll cap pay for TVA employees at $500,000 per year — far less than the $5.7 million Moul received in 2025. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

SOLAR

  • A federal report shows Puerto Rico’s rooftop solar capacity reached 1.5 GW last year, passing natural gas to become the second-largest generation source behind petroleum liquids and to make up about 20% of the island’s energy generation. (Utility Dive)

  • Georgia proponents argue for the growing use of plug-in ​“balcony” solar systems, but legislation to exempt the systems from regulatory requirements failed to pass the state legislature. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

EMISSIONS

  • Virginia prepares to reenter the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon market this summer, and Dominion Energy moves to petition state regulators to shift the cost of credit auctions onto ratepayers. (Virginia Mercury)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

  • Republican Virginia lawmakers call for a 90-day pause on the state’s gasoline tax to offset rising costs from Trump’s war in Iran, but they still remain skeptical of EVs that could liberate motorists from fossil fuel price swings altogether. (Inside Climate News)

FOSSIL FUELS

  • Two West Virginia coal miners die within 24 hours at separate coal mines with long records of safety violations. (West Virginia Watch, WV Metro News)

  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports it’s completed cleanup of an oil spill from an Appalachian Power substation into a West Virginia lake that occurred over the winter. (WV Metro News)

NUCLEAR

  • Kentucky residents cram into three public meeting rooms to speak out against the state’s push to develop more nuclear power, with some criticizing plans for a uranium enrichment facility and another facility to re-enrich depleted uranium tails. (WKMS)

PIPELINES

  • Mountain Valley Pipeline officials say they expect to build and begin operation of a new compressor station in Virginia by the end of the year. (Roanoke Times)

  • North Carolina and Virginia residents continue to push back against the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s plan to build its 31-mile Southgate spur. (Spectrum News, Hoodline)

GRID

  • A Kentucky judge dismisses East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s attempt to use eminent domain to build a transmission line through a mile of forest owned by Berea College, though the utility plans to appeal the ruling. (The Edge)

  • Environmental advocates encourage Duke Energy to apply for the U.S. Department of Energy’s $1.9 billion for transmission upgrades to allow it to connect new renewables, improve energy security, and improve climate resilience in North Carolina. (WFAE)

DATA CENTERS

  • Google is pursuing gas power for a massive Texas data center despite its pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2030. (The Guardian)

  • Microsoft is also looking to secure 1.4 GW of gas power from a West Virginia microgrid project for its data centers. (Latitude Media)

  • Georgia lawmakers fail to pass numerous bills addressing data centers, including measures to protect consumers from rising data center costs and to roll back big tax breaks for the facilities. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

  • A growing number of North Carolina localities are considering temporary bans on data centers due to concern over their water and energy usage requirements. (BPR/​Grist)

UTILITIES

  • Disconnections at both of Duke Energy’s utilities in the Carolinas rose sharply in February, with about a fifth of customers at Duke Energy Carolinas behind on their payments. (WFAE)

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