Hyundai grows U.S. investments despite immigration raid

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.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• “My top three priorities are U-S-A”: Hyundai plows ahead with investing in its Georgia factory despite an immigration raid last month as it looks to expand its presence in the U.S. (New York Times)

• The Rural Reimagined program partners with local groups in Appalachia to offer free two-week test drives of electric vehicles in parts of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and Tennessee. (Yale Climate Connections)

UTILITIES

• Georgia Power meets with state regulators to pitch its long-range plan to add 10 GW of power and boost generation by 42% over the next five years, with 60% of that coming from gas-fired power plants. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

STORAGE

• The Trump administration cancels more than $700 million in funding for battery and manufacturing projects, including $316 million intended to help battery recycler Ascend Elements build a Kentucky factory. (E&E News)

• Dominion Energy touts the potential benefits of battery energy storage in a Virginia county as its board considers changing its zoning ordinance to allow such a facility. (Gazette-Virginian)

• Recurrent Energy energizes a 200 MWh standalone battery storage facility in Texas. (news release)

WIND

• A planned 166 MW Texas data center complex will draw power directly from a ​“stranded” wind farm in an area where there aren’t enough transmission lines to deliver its power to the grid. (Texas Tribune)

FOSSIL FUELS

• North America’s liquefied natural gas export capacity could more than double by 2029, driven by major U.S. projects under development along the Gulf Coast. (E&E News)

• Rising liquified natural gas exports and a lack of pipeline capacity has raised the price of natural gas, incentivizing utilities to fall back on coal instead. (Politico)

• “We’re beating Texas, that’s important”: Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry discusses the state’s involvement in the liquified natural gas industry in a ​“fireside chat” at the Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

• Entergy Mississippi breaks ground on a $1.2 billion, 754 MW gas-fired power plant to replace an outdated facility as part of its ​“Superpower Mississippi” plan to upgrade the grid. (WJTV, news release)

• Texas-based Greenland Energy announces plans to drill an onshore oil well in Greenland by taking advantage of a loophole in a law intended to ban oil drilling. (Fortune)

PIPELINES

• Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan plan a 1,300-mile gas pipeline network to link the Texas refining hub with markets in Arizona and California. (Reuters)

• Enbridge begins construction of a $1 billion, 122-mile gas pipeline across Tennessee to supply a Tennessee Valley Authority gas-fired power plant that’s also under construction. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

SOLAR

• Texas-based startup Janta Power raises $5.5 million in seed money for its three-dimensional solar tower systems, which it says allow for three times more capacity per acre than traditional solar panels. (Dallas Innovates, Inside Climate News)

• Leeward Renewable Energy announces the launch of operations at a 177 MW solar farm in Tennessee. (news release)

• Solar advocates tout renewable energy as a solution to alleviate grid strain and rising power demand at the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association’s annual meeting. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

LITHIUM

• Select Water Solutions and Mariana Minerals break ground on a Texas facility to extract lithium from produced water generated by oil and gas facilities. (KTEN)

CLIMATE

• Coastal Virginia officials draft a climate action plan to cut up to 90% of the region’s emissions by 2050 if the state continues its shift to renewables and electric vehicles. (WHRO)

COMMENTARY

• Virginia lawmakers need to pass legislation to implement proper oversight and regulation of the state’s booming data centers to address their power demands, effects on neighbors, and other issues, writes an editorial board. (Virginian-Pilot)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Can cargo shipping stay the course toward cleaner fuels? — Maria Gallucci

• Rondo Energy turns on first major thermal battery — at an oil field — Jeff St. John

• Electra announces deals with Meta, Nucor to scale its clean-iron tech — Maria Gallucci

• The startup trying to make​‘DIY’ home batteries happen — Jeff St. John