Kentucky utilities pitch gas, storage, coal to meet demand surge

GRID

• Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas and Electric ask state regulators to approve a $3.7 billion plan to build two 645 MW gas-fired units, a 400 MW battery storage facility and a selective catalytic reduction project at a coal plant to meet growing power demand from data centers and an electric vehicle battery plant. (Utility Dive)

• State lawmakers in Georgia, Texas and Virginia consider legislation to shift growing energy costs back to the power-hungry data center industry. (E&E News)

• A pair of companies announce plans for a West Virginia data center complex to be powered by coal, natural gas and biomass. (WSAZ)

CLIMATE

• Alabama leads Southeast states in helping pay for people to put stronger roofs on their houses as a response to climate change and a subsequent withdrawal by the insurance industry in areas prone to extreme weather. (Washington Post)

• Western North Carolina farmers are still waiting for federal money to begin flowing after they sustained damage from Hurricane Helene. (Blue Ridge Public Radio)

• Western North Carolina deals with several wildfires that have been exacerbated by high winds and loads of downed trees and other debris from Hurricane Helene last fall. (Blue Ridge Public Radio)

NUCLEAR

• Florida environmental groups warn that state regulators’ decision to extend the life of one of the oldest nuclear plants in the U.S. could result in a disaster due to its location in a flood-prone area that’s exposed to hurricanes. (Guardian)

SOLAR

• Dominion Energy completes construction of an 18 MW solar farm in Virginia. (WRIC)

STORAGE

• The Southern Company announces it will build a 150 MW battery storage facility in Alabama, the first such utility-scale project in the state. (Renewables Now)

EMISSIONS

• As West Virginia residents launch air quality monitoring sites, chemical companies press state lawmakers to ban such community-collected data from being used as evidence in government enforcement actions and citizen lawsuits. (Mountain State Spotlight)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A Houston refinery warns it will lay off 345 employees after it shut down the facility earlier this month. (Reuters)

• First Energy announces plans to begin construction of replacement natural gas facilities at two West Virginia coal-fired power plants scheduled for retirement by 2040. (WDTV)

• Another orphaned Texas oil well erupts with a leak as state regulators seek $100 million to address the growing problem in the western part of the state. (Houston Chronicle)

• A coal miner is killed while on the job in West Virginia, marking the second coal fatality in the state this year and the fourth in the U.S. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

• A Trump executive order removes protections for endangered whales, leading a federal agency to remove a notice to oil and gas companies to take extra caution while traveling to offshore operations off the Gulf Coast. (Houston Chronicle)

FUNDING FREEZE

• A rural Virginia county pauses its plans to build a climate resilience hub for residents to gather during flooding and other emergencies after Trump’s funding freeze blocks a nearly $1.76 million grant to pay for the project. (Cardinal News)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Two Texas Congress members send a letter to the U.S. EPA pressing it to expedite review of the state’s application to take over regulation of carbon capture wells. (news release)

UTILITIES

• A Virginia municipal utility official warns of a pending bill increase because coal plant retirements and growing demand have led to higher wholesale prices from grid operator PJM Interconnection. (Lynchburg News & Advance)