How batteries boost Chattanooga

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

• Chattanooga, Tennessee, municipal utility EPB has rolled out a 45 MW fleet of batteries that are keeping customers powered through outages and saving them money, and has plans to build more capacity. (Canary Media)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Toyota plans to move production of its hybrid Corolla from Japan to the U.S., investing $912 million at its plants in Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and West Virginia. (Axios, WSAZ)

• Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe tells Georgia business leaders the electric vehicle industry will overcome a hostile federal government and hesitancy by other automakers to benefit the states where it’s taking root. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Virginia electric vehicle retailer Recharged prepares to open a vehicle reconditioning and servicing hub to reduce its reliance on third-party vendors. (Richmond BizSense)

OVERSIGHT

• The Trump administration is considering moving the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters to Texas and appointing a state emergency manager in charge after the resignation of its acting head. (Politico, Houston Chronicle)

• Democratic Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger appoints a former state regulator, a Google lobbyist, and a lawyer from the Southern Environmental Law Center to co-chair her energy policy team. (Virginia Mercury)

GRID

• Grid Strategies releases a new report projecting that data centers will drive a peak grid demand boom to 166 GW by 2030, but warns utilities may be double-counting, including speculative proposals, and generally exaggerating projected demand growth. (Canary Media)

• Virginia’s booming data centers are driving an increase in power demand and electricity prices, accelerating a potential energy crisis that Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger spoke about during her campaign. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• Federal regulators approve Houston-based NRG’s plan to acquire a fleet of gas plants in Texas, the Northeast, and the Midwest to meet rising power demand from data centers. (E&E News)

• Residents and localities in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and other states move to place local ordinances on data centers because state lawmakers haven’t done so — and in some cases are rushing to accelerate their development. (Stateline)

• Appalachian Power seeks public input as it moves to determine the final route of a plan to rebuild 18 miles of transmission line through three Virginia counties. (Cardinal News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Virginia’s natural gas industry sees an opening with Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger’s victory after she campaigned on energy prices and didn’t take a stand against gas, although she declined to comment directly and opponents question the fuel’s affordability. (E&E News)

• The new president of the United Mine Workers of America expresses skepticism about the Trump administration’s executive orders to increase coal production while weakening worker protections and funding for emission reductions. (NPR)

• Texas residents organize to fight an oil waste disposal site that was poorly advertised and run by an operator with a poor regulatory and safety record. (Texas Observer/​Inside Climate News)

• Some fast-growing parts of Houston are sinking faster than any other big city in the U.S. due to compaction and the extraction of underground water, oil, and gas. (Houston Chronicle)

NUCLEAR

• Duke Energy is among numerous utilities across the U.S. now hedging over plans to build pricey new nuclear power plants despite a push by the Trump administration. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• The Tennessee Valley Authority pays out $260 million to 10,900 current and former employees in end-of-year payouts based on the utility’s performance. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

CLIMATE

• A report ranks Louisiana first in the U.S. for the amount of land likely to be lost to flooding by 2050, but rural communities have been reluctant to opt in to a free program led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build resiliency against natural disasters. (Daily Yonder)

COMMENTARY

• West Virginia should embrace the construction of new gas-fired power plants because it will gain tax revenue and jobs even if the gas is shipped to other states, writes the host of a talk radio program. (WV Metro News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Wisconsin lawmakers look to break utility grip on community solar — Kari Lydersen

• This Ohio county banned wind and solar. Now, residents are pushing back. — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• Chinese and European industry groups to decide on green-steel standards — Alexander C. Kaufman