Southeast feels the brunt of Trump’s clean energy cuts

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

CLEAN ENERGY

• President Trump’s rollback of clean energy funding is causing chaos among companies that previously announced they’ll invest $165.8 billion to build factories making electric vehicles, batteries and more, with 80% of those projects located in Republican-led congressional districts and many in the Southeast. (New York Times)

• Renewables are booming in Texas, as 4,374 MW of new battery projects and nearly 9,700 MW of solar came online in 2024 alone. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Tennessee solicits applications this spring for a $24 million state program to add about 65 fast chargers even as Trump blocks federal spending on similar projects around the country. (Tennessee Lookout)

STORAGE

• An energy company holds an open house for its proposal to build a 300 MW battery storage facility in Texas. (Petoskey News-Review)

• Georgia officials say a battery company that canceled plans to build a factory must repay $27 million to the state and the county where it hoped to build. (Atlanta Business Chronicle, subscription)

WIND

Facebook’s parent company signs an agreement to purchase 115 MW of power from a 140 MW Oklahoma wind farm. (Power Technology)

GRID

• Texas lawmakers file legislation to require senior living facilities to have emergency generators after widespread outages during hurricanes, wildfires and other extreme weather in recent years. (Texas Tribune)

• A Georgia lawmaker introduces a bill to block utility companies from increasing rates for costs incurred from upgrades to provide power to commercial data centers. (Georgia Recorder)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Two new reports suggest Trump’s plan to boost liquefied natural gas exports will drive up domestic gas prices with profits going largely to foreign investment firms. (Sierra)

• A coal trade group cautiously watches to see how Trump’s burgeoning trade war with China will affect its exports there. (WV Metro News)

• A West Virginia lawmaker is personally reaching out to India, Italy and Japan to pitch the state’s coal and gas after China imposes a 15% tariff on the products in retaliation for Trump’s new tariffs. (Wheeling News-Register)

NUCLEAR

• South Carolina state utility Santee Cooper looks for a developer to complete its failed 2,200 MW expansion of a nuclear power plant to meet an anticipated power shortage driven by a spike in demand from data centers. (Inside Climate News)

• Texas A&M University selects four companies to consider building advanced nuclear reactors on a research campus. (Houston Chronicle)

HYDROGEN

Trump’s rollback of clean energy funding raises questions about the future of the Appalachian hydrogen hub, even as some proponents argue the project’s reliance on natural gas could be a selling point for the administration. (Allegheny Front)

COMMENTARY

Despite a legislative commission’s report warning Virginia’s growing data center sector will strain the power grid and cost residents, state lawmakers already have killed all but a handful of bills to address the issue, writes a columnist. (Virginia Mercury)