Dominion leads offshore wind charge

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.

WIND

• Dominion Energy says its 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind will begin delivering power by the end of this month, spearheading the offshore wind industry’s relentless push forward despite Trump’s attempts to squash it. (Canary Media)

BATTERIES

• Texas-based home-battery maker Base Power plans to build a 100 MW battery network for a member-owned utility, establishing a fleet of home batteries that’s comparable to a natural-gas-fired peaker plant. (Canary Media)

• SK Battery America Inc. lays off nearly 1,000 workers at its Atlanta EV battery plant, citing market instability. (Associated Press)

SOLAR

• Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina’s installation of a 1 MW solar array last year is inspiring other nonprofits to follow suit, including a nearby Goodwill headquarters, which is building its own 400 kW array. (Canary Media)

• Qcells resumes solar panel manufacturing in Georgia after conquering a customs hurdle that has held up work since November. (PV Magazine)

• Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to block landlords with more than four rental units from prohibiting the use of plug-in balcony solar panels. (Virginia Mercury)

• A Virginia planning commission tables a proposal to build a 5 MW solar farm on 33 acres after residents speak out in opposition to it. (Roanoke Times, WSLS)

FOSSIL FUELS

• West Virginia lawmakers disagree about legislation requiring coal-fired power plants to operate even when it makes no economic sense to do so. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

• Exxon Mobil’s board of directors unanimously recommends the oil giant relocate its legal headquarters from New Jersey to Texas because of its friendlier business environment. (Texas Tribune, Houston Chronicle)

• Trump announces on Truth Social that Indian multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries will invest $300 billion to open the first oil U.S. refinery in 50 years in Brownsville, Texas. (Reuters, Spectrum News)

• Northeast Natural Energy announces it will supply gas to a pipeline expansion project by Hope Gas in West Virginia. (WV News)

GRID

• Grid operators MISO and SPP are considering two 500-kV transmission projects that grew out of a study to find projects that would benefit both systems along their border in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. (Utility Dive)

COAL ASH

• Appalachian Power asks Virginia regulators for approval to move nearly 6.8 million cubic yards of coal ash from a power plant it closed in 2015 to a nearby West Virginia landfill. (Cardinal News)

OVERSIGHT

• Three Democrats and three Republicans qualify to run for an open seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission, and two Republicans will compete to challenge a Democratic incumbent on another seat. (WABE/​Grist)

• Alabama lawmakers advance legislation to expand the state’s utility regulation board, allow the governor to appoint four new members and then phase in elections, and to block rate hikes through June 2029. (WBRC)

DATA CENTERS

• Mississippi regulators approve a plan by Elon Musk’s xAI to build a power plant with 41 natural gas-burning turbines to power a large data center near Memphis, Tennessee, despite residents’ concerns about noise and air pollution. (Mississippi Today, CNBC)

• Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia are among at least 11 states where lawmakers have considered temporary bans and other measures to rein in data center development amid concerns about energy prices and environmental impact. (Stateline)

• A southern Virginia industrial authority approves an agreement to sell 2,990 acres at an industrial megasite to an entity associated with a data center developer, although the deal is contingent on Appalachian Power’s ability to provide 299 MW of power. (Virginia Business)

COMMENTARY

• Data centers developers should follow the example of solar farms in Kentucky by placing their facilities not on farmland but on reclaimed coal mines and landfills, writes a mining and environmental engineer. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

• The potential sale of land in southern Virginia to a company with data center connections and a performance agreement to create 2,050 high-paying jobs could create complications around state lawmakers’ consideration of whether to eliminate a tax break for data centers, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)