Lower-carbon iron in Arkansas

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.

INDUSTRY

• U.S. Steel announces plans to invest $1.9 billion to build a direct reduced iron facility at its Big River Steel Works complex in Arkansas, marking an expansion beyond the company’s coal-based steel mills and presenting a model for cleaner steelmaking. (Canary Media)

• Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum are still looking for a long-term power contract for their planned $4 billion aluminum smelter in Oklahoma. (Canary Media)

STORAGE

• The U.S. Geological Survey publishes a study finding Appalachia contains enough lithium to curb exports and power the U.S. for centuries. (Bloomberg, Fortune)

• Octopus Energy and Lunar Energy roll out a Texas program that offers customers a high-capacity 30-kWh home battery with fixed energy pricing for three years. (Utility Dive)

• A company official says Novonix’s contract with a Volkswagen battery subsidiary won’t likely change despite the automaker’s decision to cease production of an EV at its Tennessee factory. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

SOLAR

• Silicon Ranch debuts a 40-acre, 5 MW solar farm in Tennessee where cattle graze between panels, demonstrating the potential for farmers to mix larger livestock with solar generation. (Associated Press)

• Texas’ attorney general announces a fraud investigation into certain solar companies that residents have accused of false promises and targeting the elderly. (CBS News)

OFFSHORE WIND

• Democratic Congress members launch an investigation into the Trump administration’s deal with TotalEnergies to abandon its offshore wind leases. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR

• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves 20-year license renewals for the two reactors at Florida Power & Light’s St. Lucie Power Plant. (TC Palm)

PIPELINES

• The Mountain Valley Pipeline’s developer informs federal regulators it intends to resume work on its MVP Southgate spur from Virginia into North Carolina after a federal appeals court declined to halt construction amid ongoing litigation. (E&E News)

EMISSIONS

• Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signs legislation to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to incentivize utilities to invest in more clean energy by imposing a carbon price for every ton of greenhouse gases beyond a set ceiling. (Grist)

UTILITIES

• A former Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear operator and executive agrees to President Trump’s salary cap of $500,000 and comes out of retirement to serve as the utility’s interim CEO. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

• North Carolina residents rail against ​“fossil fuels from hell” to protest Duke Energy’s proposed rate hike. (WFAE)

GRID

• Virginia regulators order Dominion Energy to explain its rationale for timing when data centers connect to transmission lines. (Virginia Mercury)

• A Virginia county board approves a resolution opposing a 765 kV transmission project that opponents say would burden county residents without providing the county any direct benefits. (Farmville Herald)

• Residents of nine largely rural Virginia counties worry about a proposed 115-mile transmission line proposed by Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy, and a subsidiary of American Electric Power. (Bay Journal)

COAL

• A resurgence of black lung disease ravages Appalachian coal miners as the industry pushes the Trump administration to delay implementation of a federal rule to reduce miners’ exposure to silica dust. (YaleEnvironment360)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Louisiana lawmakers advance legislation to remove the state’s $250,000 cap on damages related to carbon-capture release incidents, which would remove a liability limit and place the industry on equal footing with other sectors. (Lafayette Daily Advertiser)

DATA CENTERS

• Compass Datacenters pulls out of a massive project in Virginia after a court ruling halted its progress amid heightening opposition. (WJLA)

• Entergy secures a deal with Meta that will lead to $15 billion in capital investment, bumping the utility’s four-year capital investment plan to $57 billion total. (Utility Dive)

• Virginia environmental regulators begin reporting levels of particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide in the state’s ​“Data Center Alley.” (WRC)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Used EVs are on the upswing in America — Dan McCarthy

• New winter rates saved at least $37M for Massachusetts heat-pump owners — Sarah Shemkus

• Two California bills would push utilities to get more out of their grids — Jeff St. John