How the data center boom could harm Black communities

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DATA CENTERS

• South Carolina considers reopening power plants in at least two rural Black communities as it looks to lure data centers to the state. (Capital B)

• A renewable developer prepares to build three solar projects in Arkansas this year to help power Microsoft data centers. (Arkansas Business)

CLEAN ENERGY

• A nonprofit launches a fund that will leverage private and federal funds to help finance clean energy projects in western North Carolina. (BPR News)

• Two Arkansas agencies say they have access again to nearly $200 million in federal funds promised for clean energy projects. (Arkansas Times)

STORAGE

• A battery materials company cancels plans to manufacture a key EV battery component at a Kentucky factory and will return a $164 million Department of Energy grant. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• A Virginia planning commission approves a permit for a 3 MW community solar project that would power about 600 low- to moderate-income households and some businesses. (Fredericksburg Free Press)

GRID

• Texas’ grid operator tells federal regulators it thinks adding generation is a better energy security strategy than new interregional transmission. (Utility Dive)

COAL

• Kentucky Power asks state regulators to reconsider a 2021 decision that investing in a coal-burning power plant was not in the best interest of its customers. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

OVERSIGHT

• Georgia schedules Public Service Commission elections for November following years of legal battles and delays over voting methods. (WUGA)

• Most Southeast states get failing grades on a nonprofit’s recent scorecard rating how much control people have over their energy systems. (Inside Climate News)

OIL & GAS

• Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana call on the Trump administration to scrap Biden-era rules designed to make oil companies pay for cleanup of abandoned offshore wells and platforms. (E&E News)

• Oklahoma lawmakers advance a bill to increase the surety it collects from larger oil and gas producers to fund plugging of abandoned wells. (KGOU)

NUCLEAR

• Kairos Power continues to prepare a Tennessee site to build a 35 MW molten salt reactor demonstration project this decade. (Oak Ridger)

WIND

• A wind turbine mysteriously collapses on a clear, windless day in Oklahoma; no injuries were reported. (The Oklahoman)

CLIMATE

The Virginia Supreme Court rejects an appeal seeking to revive a youth-led climate lawsuit accusing fossil fuel companies of violating young people’s constitutional rights. (E&E News)