Oil shock hits Puerto Rico’s power grid

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

• The spike in oil prices spurred by the war in Iran is disproportionately affecting Puerto Rico because oil-fired power plants make up 60% of its generating capacity. (Canary Media)

• “Oh, boy.…”: President Trump’s social media bragging about how his war in Iran is boosting oil companies’ profits generates eye-rolling and groans of consternation from industry insiders. (Politico)

• Trump promotes a deal for Indian energy company Reliance Industries to invest in a proposed oil refinery in Texas, but environmentalists who have previously fought permits for the project denounce it as a ​“zombie” project that will pollute air and water in the area. (Inside Climate News)

• The expansion of liquified natural gas export terminals reshapes the landscape in Louisiana, driving out much of the region’s longtime fishing industry. (WWNO)

• The U.S. saw record oil and gas production of an average of 118.5 billion cubic feet per day in 2025, with production in the Permian Basin jumping 11% from 2024. (Midland Reporter-Telegram)

DATA CENTERS

• Virginia lawmakers split on how to address data centers in the top state in the U.S. for the industry, punting on a budget while they debate whether to end billions of dollars in tax exemptions for data centers. (Inside Climate News, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• Workers break ground on a 49-acre workforce training center in Georgia to teach people how to install and maintain electrical and other systems at data centers. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• New Orleans residents organize against Meta’s proposed $27 billion Hyperion data center, which would consume three times the electricity that the city uses in a year. (WWNO)

• Google announces it will invest more than $1 billion over two years to grow data center infrastructure in western North Carolina. (Asheville Citizen-Times)

GRID

• Oil companies push for a more than $13 billion plan to build out electric transmission infrastructure in the Permian Basin, but a coalition of landowner and conservative groups are pushing regulators to revisit the plans due to concern about transmission lines and their effects on the environment and power bills. (Texas Tribune)

• Chattanooga, Tennessee’s municipal utility partners with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop microgrids to handle surging power demand from data centers and residential growth. (Knoxville News Sentinel, Utility Dive)

• PJM Interconnection’s independent market monitor warns of ​“clear warning signs” as its last two base capacity auctions have demonstrated a growing shortfall due to rising demand from data centers. (Utility Dive)

OVERSIGHT

• Alabama lawmakers advance legislation to revamp the state board that oversees utilities and power rates, but the details remain unclear as the state House and Senate pursue dueling plans with different approaches. (Inside Climate News)

• Trump’s call to cap Tennessee Valley Authority salaries at $500,000 per year would affect the CEO and 230 other employees, leading former board members to question whether the federal utility will be able to attract a qualified CEO at that level of pay. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

• Kentucky lawmakers advance a bill to exempt a commission created in 2024 to review utilities’ plans to retire fossil fuel-fired power plants from the state’s open records law. (Kentucky Lantern)

UTILITIES

• Virginia residents protest high power bills from Dominion Energy, but the utility blames the increase on colder weather and rising fuel and equipment costs. (WHRO)

ECONOMIC GROWTH

• A Virginia city council will consider deals to purchase 10 MW of gas-fired power from American Municipal Power and 5 MW of solar power from Avangrid Bright Mountain Solar in Kentucky to handle industrial growth. (Cardinal News)

COMMENTARY

• The Trump administration’s rush to auction off acreage in the Gulf of Mexico to the oil industry threatens Louisiana but also is illegal because it disregards environmental reviews required by law, writes a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity. (The Lens)