Should N.C. utilities shoulder some fuel costs?

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.

UTILITIES

• Clean energy and consumer advocates push for North Carolina utilities to absorb some fuel costs rather than saddling customers with them, which a recent study suggests might push it away from price-unstable fossil fuels toward renewables. (Canary Media)

• The Texas Supreme Court ends five separate appeals representing thousands of people and businesses seeking damages from power generators that lost electricity during the 2021 winter storm, which led to more than 240 deaths and an estimated $300 billion in damages. (Texas Tribune)

SOLAR

• A federal judge allows Alabama Power to continue charging small solar customers one of the highest standby rates in the U.S., which experts say is stifling residential solar by nearly doubling the payback time for an installation. (Inside Climate News)

WIND

• West Texas’ once-rapid wind power buildout falls into uncertainty as the repeal of federal tax credits slims the financial case for clean power. (Grist/​Texas Observer)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Exxon Mobil and other Texas oil and gas companies are continuing to explore ways to reduce their carbon footprints despite the dismantling of regulations by the Trump administration, reflecting a belief that federal climate policy rollbacks will be temporary. (Houston Chronicle)

• The rarely convened Endangered Species Committee rules that federal endangered species rules will no longer apply to oil and gas drilling off the Gulf Shore after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth cites national security concerns. (Houston Chronicle, E&E News)

• A powerful Republican Kentucky lawmaker sponsors legislation to exempt a proposed 53-mile gas pipeline from state regulation after previously securing $30 million in state funding for the regional energy agency that proposed the project. (Kentucky Lantern)

GRID

• Oncor Electric Delivery and LCRA Transmission Services propose building a more-than-200-mile, 765 kV transmission line across Texas to help build out the electric grid around the Permian Basin. (Utility Dive)

• West Virginia regulators set several public meetings ahead of a planned decision by March 2027 on a proposed 107.5-mile, 500 kV transmission line that will pass through the state on its way from Pennsylvania to Maryland. (WV Metro News)

EFFICIENCY

• Dominion Energy’s EnergyShare program provides Virginia residents with bill payment assistance and weatherization programs for their homes. (WHRO)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• North Carolina transportation officials request proposals from firms that want to use federal funding to build and operate EV chargers. (WHKY)

DATA CENTERS

• Texas lawmakers plan to take a closer look at how to balance data center growth against the facilities’ effects on residents and water resources. (Houston Chronicle)

• West Virginians concerned about data centers are frustrated after the legislative session ended without any substantive action by lawmakers to mitigate potential harm or to give localities more ability to regulate the facilities. (West Virginia Watch)

OVERSIGHT

• A hardline Republican political action committee is backing the campaign of a candidate seeking to unseat a GOP incumbent on the Texas board that oversees the oil and gas industry. (Texas Tribune)

CLIMATE

• A federal trial could force Texas to add air-conditioning to dozens of prisons after several heat-related deaths. (Houston Chronicle, Texas Tribune)

COMMENTARY

• Virginia should not roll back a key tax exemption for data centers just as the sector begins to spread outside of ​“Data Center Alley” to numerous other localities that want to attract the facilities, writes a group of economic development officials. (Cardinal News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Next-generation geothermal needs more than a technology revolution — Maria Gallucci

• Will California fund or kill its thriving virtual power plant program? — Jeff St. John

• Arizona cuts key renewables policy as clean energy market takes off — Julian Spector