Union reps concerned about Trump’s push to privatize TVA

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.

UTILITIES

• Organized labor representatives say they’re concerned the Trump administration’s reported interest in privatizing the Tennessee Valley Authority could harm workers, especially if its assets are sold off to investor-owned utilities who are primarily obligated to shareholders. (Blue Ridge Public Radio/​Grist)

• The St. Petersburg, Florida, city council votes to move forward with a feasibility study of developing a municipal utility to replace Duke Energy when its contract expires next year. (Florida Politics)

• Virginia regulators consider awarding Dominion Energy its highest rate hike in more than 30 years as it plans new gas plants, builds an offshore wind farm, and considers new nuclear power to meet rising demand driven by data centers. (WHRO)

SOLAR

• Meta announces an $800 million planned AI data center will rely in part on power from a 100 MW solar farm in South Carolina owned and operated by Silicon Ranch. (Latitude Media)

• BHE Renewables builds a 106 MW solar farm with battery storage to power a titanium alloy plant in West Virginia. (WV Metro News)

• An Arkansas county official approves a taxable industrial development revenue bond that could open the way for construction of a 300 MW solar farm. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

• County Line Solar asks a Virginia county to amend its permit for a solar farm to allow it to comply with stormwater rules. (Charlotte Gazette)

GRID

• Hitachi Energy announces a $106 million investment to expand its transformer components factory in Tennessee. (Latitude Media)

• Virginia regulators approve Dominion Energy’s request to build an electrical substation and new power line to serve a lone 176 MW data center. (Inside Climate News)

• Alabama residents organize and press local officials to deny rezoning and other approvals for planned data centers that have quietly and rapidly moved toward development. (Inside Climate News, Inside Climate News)

• As Northern Virginia’s ​“Data Center Alley” nears capacity, the nearby Richmond region begins to boom as developers shift their focus. (Axios)

• Kentucky residents contemplate how to respond to potential projects that could be part of a data center boom as Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities seek to build multiple new gas-fired power plants to accommodate at least 20 data center projects. (Kentucky Lantern)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Louisiana regulators approve Entergy’s plan to build three gas power plants to power a Meta data center in the state. (Times-Picayune)

• Virginia regulators slow the process of approving Virginia Natural Gas’ request to build a gas compressor station near a historically Black neighborhood to consider public feedback. (Virginia Mercury)

• Georgia Power receives a large natural gas turbine that it ordered years ago for a gas plant expansion, just before wait times for such turbines began to stretch to five years or more. (Utility Dive)

• Alabama residents protest a state coal producer after the president of Colombia, where the company has a subsidiary, orders the halt of coal shipments to Israel to protest its actions in Gaza. (Inside Climate News)

MINING

• Canadian mining company Aclara Resources announces plans to invest $10 million to build a rare-earth elements separation pilot plant at a Virginia Tech corporate park. (Virginia Business)

CLIMATE

• North Carolina could end a program to send out heat alerts to residents because of the Trump administration’s efforts to slash federal funding related to climate change. (E&E News)

• The families of girls at a Texas summer camp who were among more than 130 people killed during flooding last month press state lawmakers to reform safety rules and require structures be moved out of floodplains and other hazardous areas. (Houston Chronicle)

COMMENTARY

• Data centers are driving up power bills for Virginia ratepayers, which will likely lead to more utility disconnections unless state lawmakers act to force data centers and tech firms to pay their fair share instead of passing infrastructure costs to vulnerable residents, writes a professor. (Cardinal News)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Trump admin orders dirty, expensive coal plant to stay open even longer — Jeff St. John

• Chart: Yes, US power prices are rising. Don’t blame clean energy. — Dan McCarthy & Ysabelle Kempe

• Peak Energy’s new battery is cooler than lithium-ion systems — Julian Spector

• California’s biggest virtual power plant may get a funding reprieve — Jeff St. John