Can Virginia solve its power conundrums with clean energy?

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.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Virginia lawmakers begin their 60-day legislative session this week with bills positing clean energy as a key strategy for addressing the challenges of rising electricity prices and the rapid growth of power-hungry data centers. (Canary Media)

• Clean energy advocates roll out proposed legislation ahead of Virginia’s legislative session. (Virginia Mercury)

CLIMATE

• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today related to more than 40 lawsuits by Louisiana officials who want to hold energy companies liable for legacy environmental damage linked to oil and gas production. (New York Times, WBRZ)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Oil industry officials from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and other companies respond tepidly to Trump’s takeover of the Venezuelan oil industry, raising doubts about his claim that producers will spend $100 billion to rebuild the country’s crude oil infrastructure. (Politico)

• Trump says he might block Exxon Mobil from investing in Venezuela after its CEO refers to the country as ​“uninvestable” during a meeting at the White House. (Reuters)

• Duke Energy seeks approval from South Carolina regulators for a $3.2 billion, 1,400-MW gas-fired power plant that’s received significantly less public attention than Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper’s plans for a larger gas plant. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)

• Tariffs, market consolidation, growing geopolitical tensions, and rising production costs hit Texas’ oil and gas industry in 2025, leading to a wave of layoffs. (Houston Chronicle)

• A new study from Harvard’s School of Public Health raises health concerns about Tenaska’s proposal to build a second gas-fired power plant in a Virginia county. (WCAV)

• A new report from the Texas Oil & Gas Association claims producers paid $27 billion in state and local taxes and royalties in 2025. (Midland Reporter-Telegram)

SOLAR

• Arkansas residents sue a county judge over his authority to use industrial revenue bonds to support a NextEra Energy subsidiary’s nearly $300 million, 200 MW solar farm. (Arkansas Business)

HYDROGEN

• Duke Energy rolls out two electrolyzer units in a new Florida production system that’s the first demonstrated project in the U.S. capable of handling 100% green hydrogen. (Florida Politics)

NUCLEAR

• The nuclear industry’s leading publication names Tennessee atop a list of the top 10 states for nuclear development. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

DATA CENTERS

• Records show artificial intelligence company xAI spent an average of $4.5 million per month on electricity last year in Memphis, Tennessee, ramping up usage just as it appeared to fully connect to the municipal utility’s newly constructed substation. (Daily Memphian)

• A developer proposes a $3.7 billion project in Georgia encompassing 10 data center buildings spanning nearly 5 million square feet. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

COMMENTARY

• Texas should take the lead in reviving the domestic solar industry to compete with China across the global supply chain and boost America’s economic and energy future, writes the state director for Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation. (San Antonio Express-News)

• The Trump administration’s suspension of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project and its push to boost fossil fuels threatens wildlife and people through climate change and its related costs, writes a conservation advocate. (Virginian-Pilot)

NEW FROM CANARY

• 2025 wasn’t a great year for green steel ambitions. What happens now? — Maria Gallucci

• The biggest US solar-storage project yet takes shape in California — Jeff St. John

• Finally, New England’s clean-energy transmission line is ready to go — Sarah Shemkus

• How Trump’s offshore wind halt is derailing his party’s energy agenda — Kathryn Krawczyk