Hyundai affirms Louisiana green steel plans

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HYDROGEN

• Hyundai Motor Group says its plan to build a $6 billion low-carbon steel plant in Louisiana ​“remains unchanged” despite the Trump administration’s cuts to tax credits for green hydrogen to produce iron and its immigration raid on the company’s electric vehicle and battery factory in Georgia. (Canary Media)

• Danish manufacturer Topsoe pauses work on its $400 million Virginia electrolyzer factory, citing the early phaseout of federal green hydrogen incentives, and will now evaluate market conditions before deciding whether to proceed. (Latitude Media)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Oil and gas companies in Corpus Christi, Texas — a major refining and petrochemical hub — face likely water curtailments as the city has implemented major drought restrictions since December and officials project reaching emergency status next year. (E&E News)

• Kentucky regulators approve plans by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities to build two gas-fired power plants and extend the life of one coal-fired power plant, but not another. (Louisville Public Media)

• Environmental groups call for Virginia regulators to deny an air permit for Dominion Energy’s proposed 944 MW gas-fired power plant. (WRIC)

• A Virginia-based coal company announces it will lay off 118 people and idle its operations because of a downturn in the market. (Cardinal News)

• A Louisiana lawyer helping parish governments sue oil and gas companies for historic damage to the coast and groundwater says the lawsuits will boost the fossil fuel industry by helping to clear its environmental liability and cleaning up leftover oil and gas infrastructure on the coast. (The Advocate)

• The Obama-era head of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement calls out the Trump administration for suspending federally mandated methane monitoring at an Alabama coal mine after a fatal explosion there in 2024. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• United Auto Workers members at Volkswagen’s Tennessee begin voting whether to authorize a strike as contract negotiations remain deadlocked. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

GRID

• Texas’ grid operator reports that total large load interconnection requests have grown from 56 GW to 205 GW over the last year as data centers push to connect to the grid faster than traditional transmission planning can manage. (Inside Climate News)

• East Kentucky Power Cooperative and Kentucky’s attorney general challenge grid operator PJM Interconnection’s plan to make utilities pay for costs related to power plants that run under U.S. Energy Department emergency orders. (Utility Dive)

• After changing its zoning ordinance to restrict and require special use permits for data centers, a coastal Virginia county board is now reviewing a policy to detail how and where data centers could be built. (Virginian-Pilot)

NUCLEAR

• Fermi Energy announces a deal with South Korean firm Doosan Enerbility to produce nuclear equipment for its Texas energy and data center complex, and another deal with Hyundai Engineering & Construction to begin engineering work on its reactors. (E&E News)

STORAGE

• A Virginia county approves regulations for battery storage facilities as part of its zoning ordinance. (Amherst New Era-Progress)

POLITICS

• With less than a week until Election Day, rising electricity prices remain at the center of the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. (E&E News)

OVERSIGHT

• A southern Virginia county considers establishing an environmental commission to advise its board of supervisors after a protracted community debate earlier this year over a company’s proposal to build a data center complex and gas-fired power plant. (Danville Register & Bee)

CLIMATE

• Five homes in North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapse due to rising seas, encroaching surf, and other environmental factors tied to climate change. (WRAL, Inside Climate News)

• Hurricane Melissa makes its way across the Caribbean, slamming Jamaica and spurring more discussion over fossil fuel companies’ role in climate change-fueled tropical storms. (Inside Climate News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Connecticut and Maine team up to fast-track renewables — Sarah Shemkus

• Judge orders New York to finally come up with cap-and-invest rules — Colin Kinniburgh

• China moves to supercharge green hydrogen as US pulls back — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Critics decry company created to rush power to Indiana data centers — Kari Lydersen

• Eavor is about to bring its first-of-a-kind geothermal project online — Maria Gallucci