Texas gas plant loan program approves biggest payout yet

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

• NRG Energy Inc. secures a $216 million loan to fund a 456 MW gas-fired power plant near Houston from the taxpayer-funded Texas Energy Fund, marking the largest such loan approved since state lawmakers created the fund two years ago. (Houston Chronicle, Dallas Express)

• Arkansas regulators considers proposals from the state’s two largest utilities for rate increases to build gas-fired power plants, with Entergy planning a 754 MW plant and SWEPCO wanting to fund two gas-fired plants in Texas to replace coal plants. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

• Oklahoma-based pipeline company Williams projects liquified natural gas will grow from 15% to 25% of the gas market over the next decade. (Bloomberg)

• The Trump administration removes endangered species and historic preservation reviews from federal orphaned well programs to speed the cleanup of thousands of sites, but lawyers warn the move could result in litigation. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• Duke Energy announces a $985 million profit last quarter as it moves to build a wave of new gas-fired power plants, sell off pieces of the utility, and merge two entities that will save a projected $1 billion through 2038. (WFAE)

• Florida Power & Light announces a settlement with business interests but not consumer groups on its proposed, nearly $10 billion rate hike that includes what would be the highest rate of shareholder profit in the U.S. (Tampa Bay Times)

• A Memphis, Tennessee, college fraternity raises money to help a woman pay her power bill a week after her service is disconnected after the municipal utility resumes disconnections amid cooler weather. (WREG)

SOLAR

• A Virginia county board considers whether to negotiate a $25,000 siting agreement with a proposed 5 MW solar project. (Lynchburg News & Advance)

• A new Texas company that refers people to residential solar and storage companies places misleading signs around Houston purportedly offering free back-up generators despite the fact they’d still pay for power and would have to take out a loan for installation. (Houston Chronicle)

GRID

• At least five West Virginia county boards and a growing number of state lawmakers come out in opposition to NextEra Energy’s proposed 105-mile transmission line to benefit Virginia data centers. (State Journal)

• A judge declares a Virginia county board’s approval of the rezoning of 1,700 acres of homes and farms for a developer to build 37 data centers is ​“void” because it failed to comply with state and local notice requirements ahead of public hearings. (Fauquier Times)

• Memphis, Tennessee’s municipal utility deploys crews to restore power after pop-up thunderstorms knock out electricity to more than 10,000 customers. (WHBQ)

• A Florida man is sentenced to two decades in prison after he’s convicted of conspiring to damage or destroy electrical facilities in Maryland. (Florida Politics)

CLIMATE

• West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announces the state will partner with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study flood risk management strategies in 20 counties, nearly four years after the study was first announced and nine years after it was first requested. (Mountain State Spotlight)

• North Carolina officials inch closer to approving multiple Hurricane Helene aid programs as the western part of the state continues to recover nearly one year after the storm. (NC Newsline)

POLITICS

• West Virginia U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito says the Trump administration’s move to repeal its greenhouse gas endangerment finding will almost certainly face legal challenges and likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. (State Journal)

COMMENTARY

• President Trump’s attack on wind and solar will put Virginia and the U.S. at a disadvantage, writes an editorial board. (Virginian-Pilot)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• DOE is raising power bills by thwarting transmission line, says Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich — Jeff St. John

• This hydrogen microgrid is the first of its kind. Is it a good idea? — Julian Spector

• Tech giants look to low-carbon cement to curb their huge climate impact — Maria Gallucci

• Building electrification and fast, affordable construction can coexist — Kathryn Krawczyk