Louisiana oil and gas wells now underwater

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.

FOSSIL FUELS

• An investigation estimates more than 3,600 wells once drilled in Louisiana on land or in wetlands are now located in open water as a result of erosion, sinking land, and rising seas. (Times-Picayune/Advocate) 

• Residents in Chesterfield County, Virginia, call for a community-focused environmental justice analysis of Dominion Energy’s plan to replace a retired coal plant with a gas peaker plant. (Inside Climate News)

• Diversified Energy Company, the largest oil and gas well owner in the country, asks West Virginia lawmakers to exempt it from water protections passed in response to the 2014 Elk River chemical spill because they increase costs and delays. (Mountain State Spotlight)

• Oklahoma residents worry about oil sheens and orange-colored water on the Arkansas River near HF Sinclair’s refinery. (KOKI)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Hyundai announces a $2.7 billion expansion for its Georgia plant to increase production and eventually build 10 different electric and hybrid models. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• A report finds companies are still investing in EV manufacturing facilities in the Southeast despite a general slowdown, though it’s still too early to determine whether that’s entirely due to Trump’s policies. (WABE/​Grist)

SOLAR

• Texas’ grid has seen 17 solar generation records this year, and has set four battery storage discharge records so far in September. (IEEFA)

• Six companies plan to invest more than $1.8 billion to build six solar projects in Mississippi totaling more than 1,300 MW, though some residents oppose them. (WLBT, WLBT)

• Dominion Energy presses a Virginia county board to approve a 98 MW solar farm after it was rejected last year. (Mecklenburg Sun)

• Diligence Offshore Services partners with Accusolar to develop 391 MW of floating solar panels in Port Arthur, Texas. (KFDM)

• A Virginia county board rejects a proposal for a 35 MW solar farm after significant community opposition. (Roanoke Times)

• A Texas judge rules the state didn’t exceed its authority when rejecting a property tax break for a solar farm because the applicant had included inaccurate information on the application. (Bloomberg)

PIPELINES

• The Mountain Valley Pipeline presses a West Virginia appeals court to remand two previously dismissed lawsuits against protestors who allegedly obstructed construction. (WV Metro News)

GRID

• The ever-growing concentration of data centers in Northern Virginia is testing the grid, stretching utilities, pushing power bills higher, and shifting state politics. (Fauquier Times/​Prince William Times)

• Environmental groups challenge West Virginia regulators’ award of a permit for a data center and accompanying gas-fired power plant. (WV Metro News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Houston leads the country with 20.7% growth in clean energy jobs in 2024, nearly three times as much as the second-place city. (Houston Business Journal)

TRANSITION

• The U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement selects five sites in Virginia, ranging from a resort to a veterinarian clinic, to receive abandoned mine land funding to build in economically distressed places that previously produced coal. (Capital News Service)

NUCLEAR

• The Tennessee Valley Authority demolishes a cooling tower at a Tennessee nuclear power facility as it shifts to building small modular nuclear reactors. (WKRN)

HYDROELECTRIC

• The Tennessee Valley Authority assesses and repairs its dams one year after Hurricane Helene tested their limits. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

• The Tennessee Valley Authority rewinds a large rotor to extend the life of a dam in Tennessee. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

COMMENTARY

• Many southwestern Virginia residents are skeptical about officials’ push to build gas-fired power plants and eventually small modular nuclear reactors to power data centers, especially given a lack of transparency and community involvement, writes a local activist. (Cardinal News)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Can virtual power plants relieve hot spots on neighborhood power grids? — Jeff St. John

• Chart: See how solar is booming globally — Dan McCarthy

• A coal-burning steel plant may thwart Cleveland’s climate goals — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• EV Realty lands $75M to expand electric truck charging in California — Jeff St. John