Dominion and NextEra to merge

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.

SOLAR

• Solar energy is set to produce 78 billion kilowatt hours in Texas this year and overtake coal on the state power grid, undercutting the Trump administration’s attempt to boost fossil fuels and block renewables. (Canary Media)

• Israeli solar developer Arava Power agrees to acquire a 50% ownership stake in a 670-MW Texas solar from Texas-based OCI Energy. (PV Magazine)

UTILITIES

• Virginia-based Dominion Energy and Florida-based NextEra Energy announce they will merge to form the world’s largest regulated utility, serving approximately 10 million customers in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. (New York Times, CNBC, Business Wire)

DATA CENTERS

• The U.S. Justice Department considers intervening in the NAACP’s case against Elon Musk’s xAI and a subsidiary that alleges the companies are illegally operating a gas-fired power plant in Mississippi to support a Memphis, Tennessee-area data center. (New York Times, Utility Dive)

• The independent monitor for PJM Interconnection finds data centers drove a 76% year-over-year spike in wholesale power prices from 2025 to 2026. (E&E News)

• Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs legislation directing state regulators to assign power costs to data centers and allowing Dominion Energy to spend up to $900,000 a mile to bury power lines, although she stripped out a requirement for data centers to cover the cost of buying electricity from PJM. (Inside Climate News)

• Appalachian Power schedules an open house in Virginia as it considers rebuilding 17 miles of 138-kV transmission line, upgrading four existing substations, and building a new substation to support a Google data center. (Cardinal News)

• Representatives from Fundamental Data meet with West Virginia residents to discuss a planned data center, but fuel more concern with discussion of a planned gas-fired power plant and the potential for another gas plant and a nuclear power plant. (Country Roads News)

WIND

• The U.S. Department of Defense’s halt of routine federal permits for wind energy development has impacted 54 projects in Texas. (Texas Tribune)

• The emergence of ​“tall wind” turbines up to 700 feet high are starting to take root in Mississippi, giving the wind industry a foothold in the state. (Mississippi Today)

CLEAN ENERGY

• A new report from Atlas Public Policy shows North Carolina has seen the most cancellations of announced clean energy manufacturing during the Trump administration, including the loss of 6,100 jobs when EV maker Vinfast scaled back plans for a factory. (WFAE)

COAL ASH

• Tennessee Valley Authority officials distributed a 35-page booklet at a public hearing about the agency’s coal ash remediation plan at the Cumberland Fossil Plant in Tennessee, which an expert called ​“unbelievable” and part of a ​“misleading public campaign.” (Inside Climate News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Caturus LLC announces the successful closing of $9.75 billion in financing for a planning liquified natural gas export facility in Louisiana. (Reuters, news release)

NUCLEAR

• A Virginia county prepares for two informational meetings this week as state officials study whether a nuclear microreactor might be feasible. (Cardinal News)

WORKFORCE

• The oil and gas industry pours millions of dollars into workforce training programs in Texas K-12 schools to try to replace workers that are nearing retirement age. (Hechinger Report)

• An electrician’s apprentice in Texas says he works nearly 60 hours a week to make a living wage and feel ​“comfortable” in Houston. (Houston Chronicle)

OVERSIGHT

• Duke Energy moves to merge its two companies in western and eastern North Carolina in 2027, which it says will save customers money on their power bills. (WFAE)

• Agency records show the first director at the Tennessee Valley Authority to be fired by President Trump last year was the only board member who did not support the hiring of a CEO who was also opposed by Tennessee’s U.S. senators. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)