Ford turns away from EVs, toward battery storage

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.

STORAGE

• Ford’s retreats from electric vehicles to the tune of a $20 billion loss, and is now investing $2 billion to retool its Kentucky plant for the grid storage market. (Canary Media)

• After its partnership with Ford falls through, Korean battery maker SK On announces plans to shift a Tennessee factory under construction from electric vehicle batteries to stationary energy storage systems. (Utility Dive)

WIND

• A court document reveals the Trump administration is reviewing whether to send Dominion Energy’s nearly-complete offshore wind farm in Virginia back to the U.S. Interior Department for reconsideration. (Reuters)

PIPELINES

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s amended application for its proposed 31-mile Southgate spur from Virginia into North Carolina. (WVTF, WV News)

• Today is the deadline for comments about the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s plan to build a new compressor station in Virginia to boost its capacity. (WVTF, Cardinal News)

UTILITIES

• The U.S. Senate confirms four of President Trump’s nominees to the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, restoring a quorum months after he fired several members. (Tennessee Lookout, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

• Georgia regulators are set to vote today on Georgia Power’s request for nearly 10 GW of new energy infrastructure, primarily to serve data centers. (Georgia Recorder)

• North Carolina regulators hear from the public on Duke Energy’s plans to combine its two service territories in North Carolina. (WFAE)

• A Kentucky lawyer charters a bus to take people to a regulatory hearing on Kentucky Power’s proposed rate increase. (Mountain Eagle)

CLEAN ENERGY

• West Virginia regulators consider Appalachian Power’s request to purchase two out-of-state renewable energy plants to follow through on its contract to provide at least 20% clean energy to Nucor Steel West Virginia. (WV Metro News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Energy Transfer suspends plans for a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana to focus on a backlog of pipeline projects. (E&E News)

• The U.S. House passes a bill that would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission new authority to order power plants to keep running past their retirement — a move aimed at keeping coal-fired facilities online. (E&E News)

• Natural gas is gaining more of a foothold in historically coal-reliant West Virginia, but evidence suggests gas-fired power plants are becoming more expensive and take longer to build. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, Inside Climate News)

• Environmental and Indigenous groups sue to block reissued federal and state approvals for liquified natural gas export facilities in Louisiana and Texas. (E&E News)

• A coal miner dies at a West Virginia mine. (WV Metro News)

SOLAR

• Solar manufacturer T1 Energy breaks ground on its factory in Texas that, when in full production, could double the U.S.’s current capacity to manufacture silicon solar cells. (Axios)

• A Virginia county board denies a permit to a proposed 35-acre solar farm. (Roanoke Times)

AFFORDABILITY

• Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger rolls out plans to bolster battery storage and boost energy efficiency to decrease the need for expensive power lines and lower ratepayers’ bills. (Virginia Mercury)

DATA CENTERS

• The CEO of Texas’ grid operator says data centers will be required to disconnect during grid emergencies to avoid rotating outages. (Houston Chronicle)

• Houston-based VoltaGrid wants to build a fleet of 33 gas-burning engines to provide around-the-clock power to a Georgia data center. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Kentucky residents raise concerns about the lack of transparency around a proposed hyperscale data center because of its use of non-disclosure agreements. (WEKU)

NUCLEAR

• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces the state’s innovation bank will award $275,000 to the University of Virginia’s College at Wise to build a nuclear control room simulator for workforce training. (news release)

MINERALS

• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announces that South Korea-based Korea Zinc will invest $6.6 billion to build a minerals refinery on the site of a shuttered mine, with the U.S. government holding a 40% stake. (Tennessee Lookout)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Chart: Clean energy remains dominant in the US — despite Trump — Dan McCarthy

• PJM’s capacity costs hit record as grid falls short on supply — Jeff St. John

• Trump admin orders Washington state coal plant to stay running — Jeff St. John

• New Hampshire clean energy program goes national with federal funds — Sarah Shemkus