Collaborating for clean energy

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

Lights out: Hurricane Isaias came ashore on the Gulf Coast late last week, leading to nearly 1 million power outages at peak. About half of those outages happened in Florida, though all but about 16,000 Florida customers had their lights back on as of this morning. (Utility Dive, PowerOutage.com)

Fuel producers go dark: The arrival of Hurricane Isaias led fossil fuel companies to shut down two-thirds of Gulf Coast oil production and more than half of natural gas production last week, squeezing America’s already-strapped fuel supplies. The shortage spurred the Trump administration to release up to 4 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (NBC News, news release)

Torn over tariffs: After months of discussions, Duke Energy and industry groups have agreed on a large load tariff that data centers and other major power users will have to follow when they connect to the grid. It’s an attempt to protect everyday consumers from data center-induced price spikes, but clean energy groups who’ve been working on the tariff with Duke don’t support this final version. (News & Observer, Latitude Media)

Small towns go big: Mondale Robinson, the mayor of Enfield, North Carolina, has learned a lot about the power of collaboration as he’s furthered ambitious solar, geothermal, and other clean energy plans. That’s why he’s launching a nationwide coalition of rural and small town mayors, in hopes that their collective influence can push national policy and attract foundation support. (Canary Media)

Georgia on their mind: The solar industry is getting involved in Georgia’s Public Service Commission races this fall. A super PAC tied to the Solar Energy Industries Association is spending $250,000 on ads promoting Democrats Peter Hubbard and Shelia Edwards, who, if they win, would tip the board into Democratic hands. (Canary Media)

Banking on renewables: Green banks, which further clean energy projects in traditionally hard-to-finance sectors, have had a tough few years amid Trump administration funding rollbacks. But they’ve still managed to get lots of projects off the ground, including a community solar project for New Orleans’ oldest historically Black Catholic order of nuns. (Canary Media)

In my merger era: As Virginia’s State Corporation Commission begins public hearings on the merger of top utility Dominion Energy and Florida’s NextEra Energy, Virginia Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi (D) says the deal is ​“not in the best interest of Virginians.” A new report from IEEFA meanwhile makes the case that the merger would slow Virginia’s clean energy transition. (Utility Dive, IEEFA)

Virginia’s transformation: The world needs more electric transformers, and Virginia is rising to the occasion. Hitachi Energy recently broke ground on a $457 million expansion of its Halifax County factory — just one of several expansions and acquisitions happening in the state in response to booming transformer demand. (Cardinal News)

Bipartisan solar: Japanese solar manufacturer Toyo has cut the ribbon on a major expansion of its Humble, Texas, module plant, which will bring the facility’s nameplate capacity to 2 GW. Both a Trump administration official and a Democratic Congress member were at the ceremony, where they touted bipartisan collaboration on onshoring manufacturing. (PV Tech)

Battery breakdown: A 100-MW battery storage project is on track to begin a yearslong approval process in Virginia’s Mecklenburg County, with developers hoping to break ground in 2029. Meanwhile in Fayette County, Texas, the state Supreme Court has paved the way for residents to sue developers of a nearly complete battery storage project over alleged damages to their property rights. (Virginia Business, KVUE)

Charging ahead: Six Tesla Megachargers have opened for business at a Pilot truck stop along I-16 in Georgia, paving the way for Tesla Semis and other electric heavy-duty trucks to get rolling through the region. (Georgia Current)