Expert: NextEra wants in on Virginia’s ​“Data Center Alley”

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UTILITIES

• NextEra Energy’s proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy represents a move to buy ​“the keys to America’s data center capital” and the grid upgrades that go with it. (Canary Media, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• The Jacksonville, Florida, city council continues its investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace culture and racism at its municipal utility. (WJXT)

• A bill to allow industrial facilities to build private power plants and grids that could compete with electric utilities seems to have run aground in the Louisiana state senate, in large part because utilities Entergy and Cleco oppose the measure. (Louisiana Illuminator)

ELECTIONS

• Hard-right challenger Bo French declares victory over incumbent Jim Wright in the Republican primary for a seat on the powerful Texas’ Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry. (Texas Tribune, Politico)

• Three candidates for a seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission advance from their party’s primaries to November’s general election for two open seats on the utility regulation board. (WWNO)

GRID

• Texas moves to add nearly 26 GW of power to its standalone power grid, making up more than a third of the mostly solar, wind, and battery energy being added to U.S. generating capacity this summer. (Utility Dive)

• Rural Virginia residents protest plans to build a 765-kV system of transmission lines across more than a 100 miles to support data centers. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR

• Enbridge secures deals with soda and snacks giant PepsiCo and filtration products and solutions provider Donaldson Company to take power from an 815-MW solar farm in Texas. (Renewables Now)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The U.S. EPA is moving to weaken wastewater emissions limits from coal-fired power plants, including leachate from unmanaged coal ash ponds and landfills. (Kentucky Lantern)

• West Virginia and Kentucky are among 22 states that will split nearly $680 in annual federal grants to reclaim abandoned minelines. (Louisville Public Media)

• Two Democratic Pennsylvania Congress members introduce legislation to crack down on coal companies that try to shift responsibility to taxpayers for cleaning up coal mines by declaring bankruptcy or closing down. (TribLive)

PIPELINES

• The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that nearly two-thirds of the approximately 44.9 billion cubic feet per day of pipeline capacity that’s now under construction is located in Texas, followed by Louisiana. (Midland Reporter-Telegram)

DATA CENTERS

• A new Tennessee law blocks local governments and utilities from paying for infrastructure improvements for data centers or from raising rates because of their energy demands. (WATE)

• Louisiana officials announce Applied Digital Corp. plans to build a $3.6 billion, 300-acre data center. (Louisiana Illuminator)

POLITICS

• A candidate for Alabama’s Public Service Commission sues the state and calls on a court to at least temporarily halt a new law adding four seats to the three-person commission and a ​“secretary of energy” position to set its agenda, arguing the changes are unconstitutional and hurt minority voters. (AL.com)

• Two Democratic Virginia Congress members introduce legislation to limit utility rate increases to just once a year nationwide, create a public-facing dashboard with more data about utilities, and to develop protection plans for water and grid infrastructure in communities with data centers. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY

• Puerto Rico’s power grid faces a pivotal moment in which policymakers are moving to rebuild transmission and distribution that was devastated by Hurricane Maria while still keeping rates and costs down, writes the chair of the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau. (Utility Dive)