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How Florida surpassed California in utility solar installations

By Mason Adams

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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.

SOLAR

  • Florida surpassed California for solar additions in 2024 by adding more than 3 GW of utility-scale solar, largely because of a state rule that lowers costs and speeds construction by letting developers skip siting reviews for projects under 75 MW. (CNBC)

  • Solar installers in coastal Virginia race to meet surging demand for rooftop installations as customers try to secure a federal tax credit before it expires. (WHRO)

FOSSIL FUELS

  • The National Institute for Occupational Safety returns its mobile black lung screening unit to use in West Virginia for the first time since federal cuts and a subsequent court mandate to restore services. (West Virginia Watch)

  • Exxon Mobil’s CEO muses about the possibility of purchasing other oil companies after buying Texas fracking giant Pioneer Natural Resources in 2023 but more recently failing to block Chevron’s $53 billion deal to buy Hess. (Wall Street Journal)

WIND

  • Dominion Energy projects President Trump’s tariffs will increase the cost of its offshore wind farm near Virginia by $500 million, with the utility planning to pass half of that cost to ratepayers. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

GRID

  • West Virginia residents’ efforts to fight a proposed data center have been hampered not just by a lack of information, but by a newly passed state law that strips local oversight of such projects. (Mountain State Spotlight)

  • American Electric Power projects data centers will account for 18 GW of a total 24 GW of new load it will interconnect by 2030, with more than half of that located in Texas. (Utility Dive)

  • A West Virginia state lawmaker comes out against NextEra Energy’s plan to build a 105-mile transmission line to power data centers in Virginia. (WV News)

  • A Mississippi mayor confirms Elon Musk’s xAI company has purchased a defunct Duke Energy gas-fired power plant to provide energy to the company’s supercomputer in nearby Memphis. (Tennessee Star)

UTILITIES

  • Georgia Power proposes adding 10 GW over the next five years through new gas-fired units, battery storage, and some solar to meet an expected spike in energy demand from data centers. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

  • Tennessee Valley Authority officials say the federal utility is in a good financial position as it grows its revenue, pushes down its debt, and invests in new generation. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

POLITICS

  • Former Congress member and Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger rolls out an energy policy that backs both renewables and natural gas, and would push for data center developers to pay for upgrades to the power grid. (Inside Climate News)

  • Duke University researchers project a North Carolina bill to eliminate Duke Energy’s emissions reduction mandate and allow it to charge for projects before they’re completed will cost ratepayers $23 billion, despite lawmakers’ assurances it will save $13 billion. (WCNC)

  • Experts say North Carolina Republican lawmakers’ passage of a bill requiring legislative approval for rules with projected impacts of more than $1 million over five years will slow response to emerging environmental and public health threats. (North Carolina Health News)

CLIMATE

  • The survivors of July 4 weekend flooding in Texas’ Hill Country tell state lawmakers they want them to approve more preventative measures, better access to resources, and a fix for the lack of communication around the disaster. (KSAT)

  • Researchers say rapidly intensifying hurricanes approaching from the Gulf could threaten staff and prisoners living in tents at President Trump’s new ​“Alligator Alcatraz” detainment center in the Florida Everglades. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

COMMENTARY

  • Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push to develop small modular nuclear reactors in the state is based on unproven technology and wobbly assumptions, writes an energy columnist. (Virginia Mercury)

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