Study: Clean energy factories boom in Trump-voting Southeast states

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

• A report by the American Clean Power Association finds clean energy manufacturing is booming in states that voted for President Trump, with an especially high concentration in the Southeast. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES

• Georgia Power secures a deal with Georgia regulatory staff to keep its base electricity rates flat for the next three years, with exceptions for fuel costs and the expense of Hurricane Helene recovery. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WABE)

• An audit finds Houston utility CenterPoint Energy ​“did not adequately follow its own practices” when it leased large generators that largely went unused during widespread outages that followed Hurricane Beryl. (Houston Chronicle)

• As Clearwater, Florida, officials consider establishing a municipal utility, Duke Energy commissions a third-party study that determines it would cost the city more than $1 billion to do so. (St. Pete Catalyst)

SOLAR

• A Virginia partnership intends to provide on-the-job workforce training to install solar panels in current and former coal-producing parts of the state. (Cardinal News)

• Connecticut-based Bijan Solar applies to rezone 40 acres in Georgia to build a solar farm and sell the energy to Georgia Power. (Augusta Chronicle)

OVERSIGHT

• A Louisiana court panel finds local officials failed to follow their own rules when they approved the $185 million expansion of a methanol plant that will increase air and water pollution, delivering a victory to activists fighting industrial expansions near largely Black, low-income communities. (The Advocate)

• U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials discuss the Trump administration’s commitment to speed permitting for projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority’s planned small modular nuclear reactor in Tennessee. (Oak Ridger)

GRID

• Kentucky residents push back on Western Hospitality Partners’ plan to build a 2 million square-foot data center complex that will use 600 MW of power in an otherwise rural community. (Kentucky Public Radio)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Texas lawmakers consider legislation to give oil and gas companies legal protection as they ramp up efforts to repurpose potentially toxic wastewater to relieve the state’s chronic water shortages. (Texas Tribune)

• Chevron’s CEO discusses the potential effects of tariffs and pending layoffs as it moves its headquarters from California to Texas. (Houston Chronicle)

• LyondellBasell moves to transform a historic Texas petroleum refinery into a chemical recycling unit for plastic waste, prompting pushback from local residents and environmentalists. (Houston Chronicle)

BIOMASS

• South Carolina residents say they’re wary about a company’s plans to redevelop a longtime paper mill into a biomass power plant. (Coastal Observer)

ALUMINUM

• Emirates Global Aluminum and the state of Oklahoma announce plans for a $4 billion aluminum smelter to nearly double domestic aluminum production, though it’s still unclear how it will be powered. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE

• The severity of Hurricane Helene caught North Carolina largely by surprise despite forecasters’ warnings, perhaps due in part to a lack of required training for local emergency managers. (ProPublica/​Post and Courier/​Assembly/​Blue Ridge Public Radio)

COMMENTARY

• Texas solar energy production set an all-time generation record of 27 GW last week while gas and nuclear power plants went offline, as wind and solar production powered the state grid through its first hot stretch of the year, writes an editorial board. (Houston Chronicle)

• Trump’s attacks on offshore wind could damage Virginia’s plans to boost generation to power data centers and position itself as a leader in the offshore wind supply chain, but the state’s Republican leaders have done little to defend it, writes a columnist. (Virginia Mercury)

• The administrator of a Georgia environmental justice nonprofit that repairs blighted buildings expresses frustration after the Trump administration cancels a $20 million grant from the U.S. EPA. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

NEW FROM CANARY

• State funding and strong educational partnerships with employers has helped South Dakota build a pipeline of clean energy manufacturing, operation, and maintenance workers in the wind-heavy state, Bart Pfankuch reports.

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejects grid operator MISO’s plan to fast-track new gas power plants to address its predicted power shortfall, Jeff St. John reports.