Leaky oil and gas wells go untreated despite $10 million Texas fund

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Southeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

OVERSIGHT

• Two years after Texas created a $10 million grant program to plug abandoned oil and gas wells, state officials still haven’t completed the rulemaking process or distributed any money, while leaks to the surface and potentially into aquifers used for drinking water have continued. (Texas Tribune)

• Texas’ grid operator names the former CEO of Talen Energy and the current president of a liquefied natural gas developer to fill two slots on its board of directors. (Houston Chronicle)

SOLAR

• Virginia lawmakers reconsider legislation to create a board to provide technical guidance to localities about proposed solar projects after the bill was killed and then brought back ahead of a looming deadline. (Cardinal News)

• A Texas lawmaker introduces a bill to prevent solar companies and sales agents from misleading customers about the cost and performance of rooftop systems or risk a fine of up to $100,000. (Houston Chronicle)

WIND

Dominion Energy affirms construction of its offshore wind farm near Virginia is still on track for completion by 2026, though its projected cost has increased 9% to $10.7 billion. (news release)

NUCLEAR

A nuclear power company partners with two universities to investigate whether waste heat from a 250 MW Texas nuclear power plant can be used to desalinate and purify water. (Midland Reporter-Telegram)

GEOTHERMAL

A Houston-based startup experiments with using a beam of electromagnetic waves to melt or vaporize rock, which could theoretically enable drilling up to 12 miles and unlock geothermal power in more places. (Houston Chronicle)

GRID

• Texas officials release a study finding building a new 765 kV transmission system across the state would cost only slightly more than expanding its existing 345 kV system to accommodate more growth in the Permian Basin and other regions. (Utility Dive)

• CenterPoint Energy asks Texas regulators to approve its $5.75 billion plan to strengthen grid infrastructure around Houston over a three-year year period. (Houston Chronicle)

EMISSIONS

Charlotte, North Carolina, updates its climate goals by slightly delaying a target to reduce fleet emissions and adding an interim target to reduce carbon pollution. (WFAE)

UTILITIES

• A renewable energy advocacy group calls on Congress to reform the Tennessee Valley Authority as it faces growing power demand from data centers, clean energy manufacturing projects and consumer electrification. (Kentucky Lantern)

• Georgia Power’s new long-term plan includes extensions for coal plants, but also conversions to natural gas, updates for hydropower and nuclear plants, and up to 4,000 MW of additional renewables by 2035. (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)

POLITICS

Climate activists rally behind Virginia’s clean energy goals to push Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to move to renewables by 2050. (WTVR)

COMMENTARY

• Young Floridians have seen the ugly effects of climate change their entire lives while state regulators have repeatedly approved utilities’ use of fossil fuels, write two plaintiffs in a youth-led climate lawsuit. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

• Virginia gets only 7.2% of its power from solar and rural localities reject nearly half of all solar proposals, raising questions about how the state will attain its goal of dropping fossil fuels by 2050, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)