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Kentucky battery plant dropped for China

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.

STORAGE

  • U.S. battery startup EnerVenue raises $300 million in fresh funding to build a factory in Changzhou, China, after dropping a plan in 2024 to build a Kentucky factory. (Canary Media)

SOLAR

  • Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs legislation to establish new siting guidelines for solar farms and void local prohibitions, although local governments can still deny permits on a case-by-case basis. (Canary Media)

  • Filings indicate North Carolina regulators’ decision to halt Duke Energy’s solar procurements was driven in part by the state’s elimination of its goal to slash emissions 70% by 2030. (E&E News)

  • Hyundai Engineering secures $300 million in financing as it moves to build a 200 MW solar farm in Texas. (BusinessKorea)

WIND

  • Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia pushes back on Trump’s attempt to cancel offshore wind energy projects as she tries to win re-election in a competitive congressional district. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR

  • Commonwealth Fusion Systems files with PJM Interconnection to connect its planned Virginia power plant to the grid, marking the first time a fusion developer has taken such a step. (Axios)

FOSSIL FUELS

  • Four children in northern West Virginia sue gas company EQT over illness from exposure to ​“carcinogenic and radioactive pollutants” at the company’s fracking operations. (Pittsburgh’s Public Source)

  • The CEO of gas company EQT expresses optimism about the potential for supplying power at data centers in Appalachia. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

  • Texas regulators have been slow to allow oil and gas companies to clean up and reuse wastewater because of a ​“knowledge gap” and concerns about effects on local water supplies amid a worsening drought. (E&E News)

EFFICIENCY

  • Google commits $25 million toward energy efficiency upgrades for residents in Tennessee and Arkansas as it builds a data center in Memphis. (WHBQ)

CARBON CAPTURE

  • Louisiana lawmakers advance a bill to remove liability protections for carbon capture companies. (Rapides Parish Journal)

UTILITIES

  • NextEra Energy files a quarterly report showing it signed contracts for 4 GW of new renewable energy during the first quarter of 2026, and has negotiated a proposed $150 million settlement to end a lawsuit claiming executives made false or misleading statements about subsidiary Florida Power & Light. (Utility Dive)

  • San Antonio, Texas’ municipal utility CPS Energy moves to revamp its generation plan to use more natural gas and solar energy to meet rising power demand, with the increased reliance on gas potentially jeopardizing the city’s climate goals. (San Antonio Express-News)

  • CPS Energy distributes gas detectors to San Antonio residents after two separate home explosions in a city neighborhood. (KSAT)

DATA CENTERS

  • “It’s taken us two months longer to build the houses than what it did before the data centers were coming in”: Texas’ booming data center industry strains the supply of local electricians available to service the state’s ever-growing housing market. (Texas Tribune)

  • As Virginia lawmakers consider ending a key tax credit that’s made the state the biggest destination for data centers in the U.S., neighboring West Virginia aims to attract the facilities instead. (Cardinal News)

  • Tennessee lawmakers approve a bill requiring that data centers greater than 50 MW must pay for any infrastructure upgrades needed to satisfy their power demands. (Tennessee Lookout)

  • North Carolina records show Duke Energy received tax breaks for three data centers it owns, though it has declined to reveal how much energy they use or the amount of the tax breaks. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE

  • A new analysis of federal data by the Brookings Institution finds zip codes with more Black residents are more exposed to climate risk, especially in Louisiana. (Louisiana Illuminator)

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