Louisiana companies consider building their own renewables

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

GRID

• Louisiana companies increasingly consider building or buying their own energy to bypass utility Entergy, its general lack of renewable power, and spiking rates due to data center development. (Floodlight)

OVERSIGHT

• President Trump abruptly fires a Biden-nominated member of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors, drawing criticism from energy and environmental organizations for creating ​“uncertainty.” (Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• As Hyundai’s large Georgia plant opens, its shift from announcing it would build exclusively electric vehicles to also producing hybrids indicates the auto industry’s increasing uncertainty about the EV transition. (NPR)

• A truck stop chain and other businesses are stepping in to build electric vehicle chargers now that Trump has blocked federal funding for doing so. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

• Experts say Trump’s tariffs on vehicles could benefit Tesla because its electric vehicles are made domestically, although the EV company still is exposed to cost increases because many of its parts are imported. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• A Virginia county considers a 5 MW solar farm, which if approved would be its ninth solar farm and the last in a particular area before it reaches a pre-set saturation limit for solar development. (Martinsville Bulletin)

FOSSIL FUELS

• “I have never felt more uncertainty about our business”: A recent survey shows 61% of oil and gas executives say they’re more uncertain about their future under Trump now than they were during the final part of President Biden’s term. (E&E News)

OFFSHORE WIND

• As offshore wind opponents use sea life safety as a reason to fight projects, studies show turbine platforms often become homes for haddock, lobsters, and other creatures. (Canary Media)

POLITICS

• West Virginia lawmakers are considering legislation that could potentially raise power bills and limit local control out of a desire to attract more data centers and to compete against China in developing artificial intelligence. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

• First Energy officials oppose two bills in the West Virginia legislature to adjust guidelines for rate adjustments and to require utilities keep a minimum coal supply on hand. (WV Metro News)

• A former Arkansas regulator warns state legislation to allow utilities to charge for capital projects at the beginning of construction is the culmination of an effort to ​“undo and destabilize rate regulation.” (Arkansas Business)

FINANCE

• Tennessee and 17 other states end their investigation of Wells Fargo after it drops its greenhouse gas reduction goals. (Bloomberg)

COMMENTARY

• Congress should move to use the Congressional Review Act to undo Biden-era ​“bone-deep, down-to-the-marrow stupid” rules limiting oil and gas development and allowing lawsuits against energy producers over environmental justice violations, writes Louisiana U.S. Sen. John Kennedy. (NOLA.com)

• Virginia policymakers should move to streamline permitting and establish an appeals process to challenge local government restrictions on energy development to ensure the state can relieve rising power prices and strain on the grid, writes a lobbyist. (Cardinal News)