Trump props up Southeast coal plants

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

• The Trump administration rolls out a $175 million plan to extend the life of coal plants in six states, including three in West Virginia and one in Kentucky. (CleanTechnica, WV Metro News, Kentucky Lantern)

• West Virginia’s coal industry enjoys renewed national prominence after a series of actions from the Trump administration to spur activity at coal-fired power plants. (WV Metro News)

• A worker says he helped lay radioactive oil and gas drilling waste at a Texas site where an elementary school and housing subdivision were built. (Texas Observer/​Truthdig)

• The Trump administration repeals a Biden-era rule requiring fenceline monitoring at coke ovens, frustrating environmental and community advocates in Alabama and elsewhere. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Georgia residents oppose Westwin Elements’ plans to build a nickel refinery and add a battery supply chain component in the same county where Hyundai built its massive factory. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Leaders of a Kentucky county still feel optimistic about Ford’s now-shuttered EV plant, which is to be converted into a grid-scale battery factory with plans to reopen next year. (WKU Public Radio)

UTILITIES

• Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Don Moul continues to oversee the federal utility even after Trump promised to ​“make his life miserable” and says TVA has gone in a ​“very stupid, very bad direction.” (Chattanooga Times Free Press, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

• The Tennessee Valley Authority board, which is packed with Trump nominees, recommits to keep two coal-fired power plants open despite a planned 2035 retirement and eliminates its former commitments to renewable energy. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

• Duke Energy saw its profits grow $400 million from 2024 to reach $4.9 billion last year, as it plans to raise rates and build four new natural gas turbines in North Carolina. (WFAE, Utility Dive)

• Virginia legislation intended to control Appalachian Power’s rising bills advances but with a narrow focus. (Cardinal News)

WINTER STORM FERN

• Republican West Virginia U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and others try to weaponize Winter Storm Fern by arguing that coal, gas, and nuclear power propped up the power grid while renewables failed. (E&E News)

GRID

• Texas residents organize against Oncor’s plans to build more than 200 miles of the highest voltage lines in the state to help electrify the Permian Basin. (Dallas Morning News)

• FERC rejects American Electric Power’s request to sell up to 750 MW of capacity in an upcoming auction, saying it wouldn’t aid PJM Interconnection’s resource adequacy needs like AEP claims. (Utility Dive)

WORKFORCE

• A developer outlines plans to build 136 new workforce housing units in a rural Virginia county near a site where Hitachi Energy plans to dramatically expand its transformer factory. (Gazette-Virginian)

DATA CENTERS

• Virginia lawmakers advances legislation to require data centers to meet new environmental and energy standards to remain eligible for a state sales tax exemption, while killing a swath of other data center-related bills. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• A Texas county board narrowly votes against a temporary pause on new data centers and other industrial development after a state senator threatens legal action over the proposal. (Texas Tribune)

• A Republican Kentucky lawmaker introduces legislation to make new data centers cover their own utility costs in an effort to prevent those costs from spilling onto residential ratepayers. (Kentucky Public Radio)

POLITICS

• The race for the Republican nomination for a seat on the Texas board that oversees the oil and gas industry has ranged from debate over regulation to diversity efforts and possible foreign influence. (Texas Tribune)