Georgia + cleantech’s ​“long-term relationship”

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Southeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN TECH

• A new report finds 82,000 Georgia residents now work in the state’s cleantech industry, with the majority in the energy efficient appliance industry, followed by renewables, electric vehicles and storage. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

UTILITIES

• Entergy Louisiana’s CEO talks up Meta’s decision to build a $10 billion data center, which will require three new gas-fired power plants, as the utility also considers adding two additional gas plants and a 3,000 MW solar facility to address new demand and retiring facilities. (The Advocate)

• An environmental group reports six investor-owned utilities, including Duke Energy and Georgia Power, disconnected 20% more customers over nine months in 2024 than they did the year before. (Grist)

• Duke Energy asks a North Carolina court to dismiss a town’s lawsuit alleging the utility deceived it about climate change. (Daily Tar Heel)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A Florida county’s transit agency pauses work on a $28 million grant to convert its fleet to electric buses amid Trump’s freeze on grant and loan disbursements; it’s already placed orders for 13 buses but hasn’t paid for them yet. (Tampa Bay Times)

SOLAR

• Florida residents say they’re concerned about rising power bills as Duke Energy moves to build a nearby solar farm. (WTXL)

NUCLEAR

• South Carolina state utility Santee Cooper moves to find buyers for two unfinished, 1.1 GW nuclear reactors after mothballing them in 2017 when the planned expansion of a nuclear plant collapsed. (Utility Dive)

GRID

• Federal regulators affirm the transmission rules that govern an exchange market for Southeast utilities to trade energy, rejecting arguments by groups challenging regulators’ approval of the market. (Utility Dive)

• The CEO of power generation company Constellation says it decided to buy out Houston-based Calpine to create the largest independent power producer in North America and court tech companies building data centers. (Houston Chronicle)

BIOGAS

• Florida lawmakers advance a bill to block waste-to-energy plants from being built within a half-mile of houses, schools or commercial properties. (Florida Politics)

FOSSIL FUELS

• West Virginia regulators settle with the Sierra Club over the state’s 2021 order for coal plants to run at 69% capacity, which the settlement affirms was not a requirement but a target. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

• A Mississippi restaurant adapts its menu to operate without natural gas during a multi-day outage. (WCBI)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Louisiana residents voice concerns about carbon capture projects during a meeting with state and local officials. (KALB)

COMMENTARY

• A Virginia county’s development of an ordinance to ban utility-scale projects could push Democratic state lawmakers to introduce legislation to overrule localities, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)

• North Carolina lawmakers are rushing to pass a bill to eliminate an interim carbon emissions reduction goal for Duke Energy because of cost concerns while completely ignoring the volatile price of natural gas and greater cost of climate change, writes an editor. (NC Newsline)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• RMI research finds pairing renewable and fossil fuel generation into ​“power couples” could help data centers meet rising demand without drawing from the grid, Jeff St. John reports.

• Democratic lawmakers in Vermont face significant challenges passing any bills to advance clean energy measures this session, as Gov. Phil Scott attempts to roll back parts of the state’s landmark climate law, Sarah Shemkus reports.