Dominion power plan ignores Virginia climate goals

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UTILITIES

• Virginia regulators consider Dominion Energy’s latest 15-year plan to meet power demand, which ends in 2039 and ignores the state’s mandate for it to produce 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. (Canary Media)

• Five years after the carbon-free electricity mandate’s passage, Virginia lawmakers grapple with how soaring power demand and looming changes to federal energy policy will affect their goal of decarbonizing the grid. (Virginia Mercury)

• President Trump nominates four new members to the Tennessee Valley Authority board, which has lacked a quorum for major decisions since he fired three members appointed by former President Biden. (Associated Press)

• After six rate hikes in the past three years, Georgia regulators approve a deal to keep Georgia Power’s rates flat for the next three years — aside from storm recovery and fuel costs. (Georgia Recorder)

• A West Virginia law takes effect that prohibits Appalachian Power from requesting or executing rate hikes between November and February, and restricts its ability to charge late fees, interest, and reconnection fees. (WVVA)

BUDGET BILL

• Georgia’s burgeoning electric vehicle and solar manufacturing sectors brace for an economic hit as the U.S. Senate passes a budget bill to roll back numerous clean energy tax credits and incentives. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• The federal debate over how harshly to rein in wind and solar incentives mirrors fights that played out in Texas, Oklahoma, and other state legislatures in recent sessions. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• Virginia Tech researchers analyze millions of real estate transactions to determine utility-scale solar installations raise the value of nearby agricultural and vacant land by 19%, while temporarily decreasing the value of nearby residential properties by 5%. (Cardinal News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Delta Utilities closes on its $484 million purchase of Entergy’s natural gas business in Louisiana and Mississippi. (The Advocate)

• The Texas Supreme Court rules that a company that holds an oil and gas lease — and not the surface owner — owns water produced from oil and gas drilling and fracking, clarifying a legal question as the state considers using such wastewater to alleviate shortages. (Houston Chronicle, Inside Climate News)

• With Trump in office, energy companies consider the possibility of building new gas pipelines to connect the Northeast with Appalachia shale formations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. (Reuters)

NUCLEAR

• Federal regulators renew Dominion Energy’s license to operate its V.C. Summer power station in South Carolina until 2062. (Reuters)

• Google says it will buy 200 MW of fusion power from Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ planned Virginia plant, though the power source still isn’t viable. (CNBC)

STORAGE

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk had a successful year with Texas lawmakers, successfully lobbying the state legislature to pass bills to make it faster and easier for homeowners to install backup power generators like the kind Tesla makes, as well as other bills related to SpaceX. (Texas Tribune)

GRID

• Texas’ grid operator projects peak demand to reach 87.5 GW this summer — 2 GW higher than the current record. (Houston Chronicle)

• West Virginia regulators discuss a proposed off-the-grid power plant that’s likely intended to power a data center complex during a contentious, five-hour public hearing attended by more than 300 people. (Country Roads News)

CLIMATE

• A Virginia regional planning commission’s ​“Fight the Flood” program connects local property owners with practical solutions to flooding and other problems that stem from climate change and sinking land. (WHRO)

COMMENTARY

• The managing director at Advanced Energy United hails Virginia’s law mandating a shift to carbon-free energy as a ​“first and crucial step forward,” while the Republican director of the Virginia Department of Energy argues its legacy ​“won’t be reduced emissions, but rather rolling blackouts and increased electricity bills.” (Cardinal News, Cardinal News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Senate’s​‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ would be a disaster for clean energy — Kathryn Krawczyk

• Redwood Materials built record grid-storage project using old EV batteries — Julian Spector