“Go ahead and finish it”: Think tank pauses anti-wind push

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WIND

• “My view is go ahead and finish it” — a conservative think tank that previously opposed Dominion Energy’s 2.6 GW offshore wind farm near Virginia declines to lobby for the project’s cancellation, which would leave ratepayers on the hook for $6 billion already spent. (Canary Media)

• West Virginia lawmakers consider a bill to eliminate a state law that grants a lower tax rate for wind farms, but much of the debate boils down to whether the state should rely on coal or work with companies that want cleaner energy. (WV Metro News)

GRID

• Critics argue that PJM Interconnection should bypass federal approval to fast-track ​“dispatchable” gas-fired power plants and instead add new resources to existing projects like battery storage to wind and solar farms. (Canary Media)

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praises the state grid’s improved reliance ahead of a cold snap with temperatures forecasted to be lower than during a 2021 winter storm that led to widespread outages. (Austin American-Statesman, Spectrum News)

• West Virginia officials court the data center industry, even as the power-hungry facilities have caused debate over rising power demand and loud noise. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

SOLAR

A Virginia county planning commission considers an amendment to its zoning ordinance to allow community solar projects in industrial districts. (Gazette-Virginian)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The Tennessee Valley Authority announces plans to build a 500 MW gas-fired power plant in Mississippi. (The Dispatch)

• Environmental and consumer advocacy groups ask Louisiana regulators to deny Entergy’s push to build three gas-fired power plants to power a data center for Facebook’s parent company. (NOLA.com)

• Kentucky lawmakers advance a bill to allow coal companies to release more water pollution by reducing the list of what bodies of water can be protected by state regulators. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

• Trump’s block on infrastructure and clean energy spending could affect nearly $90 million in funding for West Virginia to clean up abandoned natural gas wells. (Mountain State Spotlight)

NUCLEAR

The Tennessee Valley Authority works to resolve outages at three of its seven nuclear reactor units. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, subscription)

OVERSIGHT

• A union official says Trump’s order to place 170 U.S. EPA employees on leave because of their connection to diversity, equity and inclusion policies could hamper the agency’s ability to permit new highways, pipelines and other construction projects in Texas. (Houston Chronicle)

• Georgia lawmakers consider a bill to re-establish an independent consumer advocate in utility rate cases. (Georgia Recorder)

• Oklahoma’s attorney general says he’s closely watching natural gas markets to ensure state residents aren’t hit from spiking costs from a pending winter storm like they were in 2021. (KOKH)

COMMENTARY

• Two Democratic Virginia lawmakers display hypocrisy by proposing legislation to require site assessments for data centers ahead of permitting and construction without doing the same for proposed solar farms, writes the head of a consumer advocacy group. (Cardinal News)

• There’s room for more distributed solar in Virginia, but not enough to replace larger utility-scale solar farms, much less to help the state meet its clean energy goals, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)