TVA selects new CEO

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

UTILITIES

• The Tennessee Valley Authority board selects its chief operating officer, Don Moul, to become the federal utility’s next CEO this month. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

• Georgia regulators grill Georgia Power executives about the utility’s long-term plan and its omission of a possible major gas expansion at a power plant. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Officials at two cities in a Florida county say they’re considering whether to replace Duke Energy with municipal utilities after the state approved more than $1 billion in cost recovery for Duke from three hurricanes last year. (WMNF)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Texas regulators say the state’s oil and gas industry produced more than 2 billion barrels for the first time in 2024. (Houston Chronicle)

• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear vetoes a bill to reduce the state’s power to regulate groundwater and ephemeral headwater streams, making it easier for coal companies and other polluters to contaminate water. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

• A Texas state senator’s businesses sue energy companies to collect more than $25 million in what he claims are unpaid oil and gas royalties from when prices spiked in 2021. (San Antonio Express-News)

• Federal officials say two workers were killed in October when one of them mistakenly opened a pipe at a Texas refinery that released acid gas, while the other was working downwind of the leak. (Houston Chronicle)

• Dozens of people express opposition as federal officials consider whether to allow oil and gas development proposals in a national forest along the Alabama-Florida border. (Inside Climate News)

GRID

• As Puerto Rico continues to struggle with the least reliable energy system in the U.S., advocates say a transition to widespread solar power is the best way to shore it up. (Politico)

NUCLEAR

• A subsidiary of chemical producer Dow applies to federal officials to build four small nuclear reactors to power its Texas manufacturing complex. (Associated Press)

• Researchers say nuclear energy can become competitive in Texas by 2030 only if gas prices well to 2.5 times their current levels and capital costs can be reduced by 84%. (S&P Global)

STORAGE

• Battery maker Stryten Energy announces plans to expand its domestic production, including at an Arkansas factory. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

• Tenaska applies to the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a $350 million battery storage facility in Tennessee. (Rogersville Review)

POLITICS

• Texas lawmakers consider a bill to add new​fees, permitting restrictions, and regulatory requirements for large wind and solar projects. (PV Magazine)

• A bipartisan pair of Florida lawmakers sponsor legislation to set up a task force to establish a framework for a state carbon sequestration program despite Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissing the idea as ​“part of climate ideology.” (Florida Politics)

COMMENTARY

• South Carolina lawmakers should address problematic legislation that would press state regulators to approve rate hikes to pay for utilities’ incentives to attract data centers, writes an editorial board. (Post and Courier)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• Environmental justice advocates are pushing Illinois to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Trucks standards even as the Trump administration looks to dismantle them, Kari Lydersen reports.

• Revel’s new EV charging station in San Francisco utilizes PG&E’s ​“flexible connection” approach to ease grid demand when several chargers are being used at once, Jeff St. John reports.