“Cancer Alley” residents face blue ammonia plants

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AMMONIA

• Louisiana residents in ​“Cancer Alley” communities already saturated with petrochemical pollution now face four proposed, commercial-scale ​“blue ammonia” plants that documents show would be allowed to discharge more than 2,800 tons of air pollutants annually. (Floodlight)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Oil and gas companies are beginning to look beyond the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford shale in the U.S. to opportunities in South America, Africa and the Middle East, raising questions about the limits of domestic production. (Houston Chronicle)

• Hundreds of residents appear at a hearing to oppose permits for 41 natural gas turbines proposed for Elon Musk’s xAI data center in Memphis, Tennessee. (Daily Memphian)

• Thermal imaging reveals xAI is continuing to fuel its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, including at a Mississippi facility, despite the U.S. EPA’s disapproval. (Floodlight/​Guardian)

• Virginia lawmakers consider legislation to add new restrictions on permits for the more than 9,000 backup generators used by data centers in the state. (Virginia Mercury)

• The Southern Environmental Law Center files an appeal on behalf of three environmental groups after Virginia regulators affirm their approval of Dominion Energy’s plan to build a 944 MW gas-fired power plant. (Virginia Mercury)

• Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison ask West Virginia regulators for approval to build a 1,200 MW gas-fired power plant and three solar projects next to a coal plant. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

• Antero Resources Corp agrees to pay a $3.8 million civil penalty and spend $5.8 million to improve vapor control after federal and West Virginia regulators allege air pollution violations at 242 of its oil and gas facilities. (WV Metro News)

• Greenbrier Minerals announces it will idle seven West Virginia coal mining operations, eliminating 530 jobs. (WV Metro News)

GRID

• Dominion Energy partners with FirstEnergy Transmission and Transource Energy to plan a 115-mile, 765 kV transmission line from the Ohio Valley to Virginia. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, WCAV)

• Experts say that new generation and reforms implemented after the Texas power grid nearly collapsed during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri have reduced the chances of failure during extreme weather, but the growth in demand from data centers is adding new strain. (Houston Chronicle)

STORAGE

• B2U Storage Solutions is using 500 batteries that once powered General Motors electric vehicles to bolster the power grid at a 24 MWh battery project in Texas. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR

• A Virginia county board moves toward establishing a solar development ordinance by setting a public hearing after a lengthy discussion of authority, environmental standards, and potential legal risks. (Martinsville Bulletin)

• Clearway Energy Group energizes a Texas complex with 300 MW of solar power and 200 MW of battery storage. (Renewables Now)

NUCLEAR

• Texas courts the nuclear power industry as it moves to test and build small modular nuclear reactors. (Texas Tribune)

CARBON CAPTURE

• A data analysis reveals Louisiana has more proposed carbon capture and sequestration projects than any other state, with at least 65 of the proposed 270 projects across the U.S. (Louisiana Illuminator)

OVERSIGHT

• South Carolina lawmakers move to restrict state energy regulators because of concerns about ​“unelected bureaucrats” hampering economic growth — part of a larger push by conservative state lawmakers across the country to remove controls on business, work places, and the environment. (New York Times)

• A longtime Republican Georgia energy regulator announces she will not seek reelection after two Democrats won seats on the commission last fall, largely by campaigning on affordable energy prices. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

UTILITIES

• Duke Energy adds an additional $16 billion to a spending plan that at $103 billion is the largest among utilities in the U.S., as it seeks to keep up with data center growth. (Utility Dive)

• Environmental groups press Georgia regulators to reconsider their approval of Georgia Power’s plan to build nearly 10 GW of gas turbines, storage batteries, and other energy. (WABE/​Grist)

• President Donald Trump is bending the Tennessee Valley Authority to become a tool in his push to achieve ​“energy dominance” after he replaced most of the federal utility’s board members. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

DATA CENTERS

• Virginia residents in ​“Data Center Alley” are pushing to restrain data center development, but have been blocked by local officials who’ve received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the industry. (Politico)

• Texas residents want local governments to restrict the rapid growth of data centers, but many elected officials — some perhaps enticed by the tax revenue — say they are powerless. (Texas Tribune/​Waco Bridge)

• Over the last year, the amount of power that data centers are seeking from Dominion Energy in Virginia has soared by 75% to nearly 70 GW. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• Virginia lawmakers seem to be developing a compromise around data centers to limit their effects on residents’ power bills while declining to stop or slow their development. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• Georgia lawmakers consider bills to pause or stop a tax break for data centers that will cost the state $2.5 billion this year — 664% more than what the $327 million they projected eight months ago. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Data centers are driving up power demand in American Electric Power’s territories, especially Texas. (Utility Dive)