Exxon pulls the plug on Texas hydrogen plant

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HYDROGEN

• Exxon Mobil drops plans to build a blue hydrogen facility in Texas after the Trump administration withdraws a $332 million federal grant and the company can’t find enough buyers willing to chip in. (Canary Media)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The Trump administration announces plans to ​“reconsider and seek comments” on a rule to reduce exposure limits for miners to airborne silica — a major contributor to a surge in black lung disease among younger miners — that mining companies and trade groups are fighting in court. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, E&E News)

• A judge approves the sale of Houston-based petroleum company Citgo to Amber Energy for nearly $5.9 billion after years of legal wrangling involving its Venezuela-owned parent company. (Houston Public Media, Reuters)

• Asset manager Blackstone finances construction of a $1.2 billion, 625 MW gas-fired power plant in West Virginia. (Engineering News-Record)

• Virginia residents express safety concerns about the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s proposed Southgate extension into North Carolina. (WSET)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• South Korean diplomats visit Georgia to try to rebuild connections after the Trump administration raided Hyundai’s electric vehicle and battery manufacturing complex, delaying construction and triggering outrage in Korea. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

GRID

• Virginia regulators authorize a separate ​“GS-5” rate category for large electricity customers, which could make it a model for other states looking to deal with the booming data center sector and its voracious power needs. (Politico)

• Independent power producers and the PJM Interconnection’s market monitor urge federal regulators to reject American Electric Power’s proposal to sell off 750 MW in a capacity auction, saying it appears the utility and its subsidiaries are trying to offload capacity for data centers that didn’t materialize. (Utility Dive)

• Earthjustice and other advocacy groups consider fighting data centers through legal challenges to disturbances to endangered species and fighting the Trump administration’s encroachment on state powers, including its orders to keep coal-fired power plants open. (E&E News)

• A $10 billion data center project backed by the family of Georgia’s lieutenant governor would be one of the largest ever built and could more than triple the water usage of the county where it’s to be located, but little else is known. (Georgia Recorder)

UTILITIES

• Alabama Power announces a two-year rate freeze after meeting state regulators, leading U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville to praise the move as a step toward ​“energy dominance” in the state. (AL.com, AL.com)

OVERSIGHT

• The U.S. EPA signs a new agreement with Virginia, West Virginia, and other states around the Chesapeake Bay to recommit to a historic pollution plan after they failed to reach their targets to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution by this year. (WHRO, E&E News)

COMMENTARY

• An editorial board calls Florida Power & Light’s $6.9 billion rate increase ​“a swindle, a scam and a sellout of the vast majority of FPL’s six million customers” because Florida’s public counsel and other critics were left out of the settlement between the utility and some of its largest corporate customers. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

• Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger can follow through on her promises to tackle rising energy costs by making data centers pay more, pushing more agriculture at rural solar farms, and leaning into battery storage, writes a columnist. (Virginia Mercury)

• Georgia’s lame-duck Public Service Commission could approve Georgia Power’s request to spend $20 billion in new power generation, locking in new gas plants and higher rates despite staff warnings and last month’s election of two new commissioners who defeated incumbents, writes an analyst. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)

NEW FROM CANARY

• As solar booms and coal fades, Greece’s mining region struggles to adapt — Dan McCarthy

• Ohio fines FirstEnergy $250M in landmark decision on HB 6 scandal — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• FirstEnergy seeks looser reliability rules as outages grow more common — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• Colorado mandates ambitious emissions cuts for its gas utilities — Alison F. Takemura