ICE raid will delay Hyundai plant opening

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

• Last week’s ICE raid at Hyundai’s under-construction EV battery plant in Georgia will delay its opening, and will likely discourage future U.S. partnerships with foreign manufacturers that have been a hallmark of clean energy development. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Grist)

• A Korean Air plane departs Atlanta, carrying workers who were detained in the Hyundai raid and then released to return to South Korea. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Long before last week’s raid, Korean companies encountered difficulties obtaining visas for international workers with the expertise and know-how to get clean energy facilities up and running. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

RENEWABLES

• Virginia’s commitment to phase out fossil fuels by mid-century spurred widespread investments in solar and wind development, but that growth is now endangered by Trump’s sustained attack on clean energy incentives. (Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism)

• Virginia’s Commission on Electric Utility Regulation discusses energy efficiency plans and uncertainty over community solar and energy storage as lawmakers look for ways to help utilities meet the state’s clean energy mandate and soaring power demand. (Virginia Mercury)

SOLAR

• Noble Plastics announces it will invest $8.5 million to expand its Louisiana headquarters and boost production to supply First Solar’s new factory. (Lafayette Daily Advertiser)

• Texas’ Solar for All program is left stranded after Trump’s U.S. EPA withdraws a nearly $250 million grant that had previously been paid out by the Biden administration. (Texas Tribune)

• Virginia advocates push the state to fight to preserve its Solar for All program, which would have made solar power more affordable for about half of all households in the state. (WHRO)

WIND

• Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson tells members of Trump’s cabinet that he supports Dominion Energy’s nearly-complete offshore wind farm near Virginia in an attempt to bolster a vulnerable Congress member who represents the area. (E&E News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Appalachian Power customers have paid a surplus on their power bills to fund the utility’s purchase of power from coal-fired power plants in Ohio, even as other states have walked away because of their excessive cost compared to alternatives. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

• Texas regulators approve Entergy’s construction of two gas-fired power plants totaling more than 1,200 MW of power. (Reuters)

• Democratic U.S. Sen Jon Ossoff of Georgia co-sponsors legislation to extend a federal grant program that helped fund gas pipeline projects in 10 Georgia cities. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

STORAGE

• Power Up Connect launches a fire code-compliant, 90 kWh mobile battery storage system with solar panels that it developed over a three-year collaboration with Dominion Energy. (news release)

DATA CENTERS

• Data center developer Prometheus Hyperscale partners with Conduit Power to build up to 300 MW of gas-powered generators and batteries to support at least two data centers it’s building at battery installation sites in Texas. (Utility Dive)

• A Virginia county board updates its zoning ordinance to require permits and limit data centers to industrial districts. (WHRO)

POLITICS

• West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey rolls out a ​“50 by 50” generation plan to more than double the state’s power capacity from its current 15 GW by building coal, gas, and nuclear power plants to meet rising demand from PJM. (West Virginia Watch)

• The Tennessee Valley Authority tries to comply with Trump’s demand to ​“unleash American energy” by building new facilities without running afoul of his voter base, which opposed and ultimately helped cancel its plan to build a gas plant in Tennessee. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

EMISSIONS

• A North Carolina county pledges to ensure healthy air despite the Trump administration’s move to reevaluate its soot standard. (WFAE)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Chart: Trump is slowing climate progress. Here’s how much. — Dan McCarthy

• California could save big if virtual power plants target​‘sweet spots’ — Jeff St. John

• Illinois farmers find that sheep and solar arrays go well together — Kari Lydersen