Dueling pipelines in Virginia and N.C.?

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.

FOSSIL FUELS

• Filings show Williams Cos. and Mountain Valley Pipeline want to begin construction on their projects to expand pipelines in the same area of Virginia and North Carolina as soon as next month, despite concerns about redundancy. (E&E News)

• U.S. EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi visits Kentucky to celebrate the Trump administration’s rollback of mercury and air toxics standards on coal-fired power plants. (Kentucky Lantern, Associated Press)

• The U.S. Department of Energy selects Duke Energy’s 2,200 MW coal-fired power plant in North Carolina to receive up to $34 million to fund upgrades to help extend its life to 2040. (WFAE)

• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s customers — which consist of 153 local utilities and 62 large users — appear to broadly support its decision to indefinitely extend the life of its two largest coal-fired power plants. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

• The largest independent natural gas producer in the U.S. announces it will move its headquarters to Houston to take advantage of the close proximity to liquified natural gas export terminals. (Houston Chronicle)

• Officials with the South Fork Coal Company failed to appear during a hearing with West Virginia regulators to discuss multiple longstanding violations at its mines. (Appalachian Voices)

WIND

• Texas sues Global Fiberglass Solutions for dumping and abandoning more than 3,000 wind turbine blades and pieces into what have become two unauthorized parts graveyards. (Houston Chronicle)

• Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project near Virginia is among those that have won recent court victories over the Trump administration, but experts say dozens more projects in earlier stages have little chance of moving forward under current policies. (Stateline)

• A company operating a 204 MW Texas wind farm in the last year of its tax abatement files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (KFDX/KJTL)

NUCLEAR

• The Trump administration is considering awarding a $25 billion contract to little-known, Texas-based nuclear power company Entra1 Energy to build new energy infrastructure using money pledged by Japan to avoid tariffs. (Politico)

UTILITIES

• Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to study regulatory changes intended to cut costs, reduce power outages, and improve service by tying utility profits to performance instead of spending. (Virginia Mercury)

• Houston-based CenterPoint Energy expects its peak load to increase 50% by 2029, largely due to data centers and the reshoring of advanced manufacturing operations. (Utility Dive)

• Chattanooga, Tennessee, electricity provider EPB saw its all-time record for power demand during Winter Storm Fern last month. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

TRANSITION

• A West Virginia county that once was one of the U.S.’s largest coal producers and is now one of the poorest in the country braces for impending cuts to Medicaid and food stamp programs. (60 Minutes)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Louisiana officials respond to an Environmental Integrity Project report citing risks from 65 proposed carbon capture projects in the state, the most in the U.S. (KALB, EIP)

DATA CENTERS

• New research suggests Texas could overtake Virginia as the top destination for data centers by 2030. (Austin American-Statesman)

• Virginia lawmakers introduce budget changes to end the state’s data center sales and use tax exemption in 2027 instead of its previously planned date of 2035. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Cardinal News)

• West Virginia residents lobby state lawmakers to give them more protection against data center projects after they passed a law last year to strip oversight from localities. (West Virginia Watch)

POLITICS

• A Republican candidate for the Texas board that oversees the oil and gas industry promises to cut regulations on the industry. (Marshall News Messenger)

COMMENTARY

• The Trump administration’s moves to undercut regulation of greenhouse gases and to prop up fossil fuels will drive up energy bills and damage human health, writes the former mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. (Charlotte Observer)