Today’s headlines: Texas effectively bans data centers, Valar Atomics raises $1 billion, and more

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

DATA CENTERS

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directs the state’s utility regulators and grid managers to halt data center interconnections until they audit all pending applications. (E&E News)

• Richmond County, North Carolina, residents push back against a $10 billion, under-construction Amazon data center that county officials secretly approved and which will use diesel-powered generators for backup power. (Inside Climate News)

NUCLEAR

• Small modular reactor startup Valar Atomics raises $1 billion in its latest funding round, bringing its reported valuation to $6 billion. (TechCrunch)

OFFSHORE WIND

• Dominion Energy estimates its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will end up costing about $11.7 billion, up $300 million from its most recent estimate due to grid upgrade costs and federal tariffs. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR

• European countries are starting to build large solar farms near the Arctic Circle and other areas once deemed too dark or cloudy for effective production as lower panel and equipment prices and higher power costs make these projects viable. (Bloomberg)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The Interior Department announces plans to roll back an Obama-era regulation meant to prevent and quickly clean up oil and gas drilling blowouts and spills in the Arctic Ocean. (E&E News)

• American Electric Power buys 3 GW of gas turbine capacity as its utilities look to add 15 GW of gas power as well as 6 GW of solar and 5 GW of wind through 2035. (Utility Dive)