Trump tries to reinvigorate coal

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

FOSSIL FUELS

• Trump signs four executive orders aimed at reinvigorating the sagging coal industry by lifting regulations and pushing for it to power data centers. (Associated Press)

• The orders lead to praise by West Virginia officials but warnings from environmentalists who say the actions won’t save coal but will worsen emissions. (WV Metro News, WBOY)

• The Trump administration’s layoff of 25 workers in the respiratory health unit of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health leads to pushback from advocates who say the cuts threaten the health of Appalachian coal miners. (NPR, WV Metro News)

• Texas oil and gas companies see their stock prices plunge over uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariffs, including $77 billion in value lost by Exxon Mobil alone — and the industry expects more disruptions to come. (Houston Chronicle, Texas Tribune)

OVERSIGHT

• The Tennessee Valley Authority appoints a new head of government relations to ​“lead a focused, more efficient government relations staff” after President Trump fires two members of the federal utility’s board. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

• Two Georgia regulators face re-election for six-year terms that were supposed to expire in 2022, but elections were delayed due to a lawsuit arguing the at-large elections diluted the votes of Black residents. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

SOLAR

• A company builds a 1,000-acre, 72.5 MW solar farm in northwestern Louisiana near the Arkansas border. (KSLA)

GRID

• West Virginia lawmakers amend a bill to allow the development of microgrids to attract data centers by adjusting how tax revenue is collected and distributed in response to concern from county officials. (WV Metro News)

• A rural Virginia farmer pushes back on Dominion Energy’s threat to use eminent domain to take some of his land to build a transmission line. (WSET)

• City officials in Byran, Texas, approve a swap agreement with the Texas Municipal Power Agency to end joint ownership of electrical infrastructure. (KBTX)

CLIMATE

• The U.S. EPA’s $20 million grant for a flood relief project in a historic coastal Virginia neighborhood is among 400 such awards slated for cancellation by the Trump administration. (WHRO)

POLITICS

• Georgia’s legislative session ends without any significant action on rising power bills, regulation of the booming data center sector, or protecting the Okefenokee Swamp from a company’s plans to build a mine nearby. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

COMMENTARY

• West Virginia politicians who proclaim to be ​“Friends of Coal” should shift their support to coal miners instead of supporting a safety rule rollback at a time when record rates of miners suffer from black lung disease, writes an editor. (West Virginia Watch)