Virginia group experiments with growing crops under solar panels

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.

SOLAR

• The Piedmont Environmental Council launches a crop-based agrivoltaics demonstration project in Virginia in hopes of demonstrating how solar generation can complement, not harm, agricultural lands as the state strives to transition from fossil fuels while satisfying escalating power demand. (Canary Media)

• Harris County, Texas, sues to challenge the Trump administration’s cancellation of $54 million in Solar for All grants to the county to help lower-income families afford solar panels and battery storage systems. (Houston Chronicle, Utility Dive)

• D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments closes on $129 million in financing for two Texas solar farms totaling 250 MW. (Renewables Now)

• Florida regulators approve roofing company S-5!’s metal roof mounting mechanism to secure solar panels in designated high-velocity hurricane zones. (PV Magazine)

NUCLEAR

• Radiant Industries plans to open a factory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to make portable nuclear microreactors. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

WIND

• Crossover Wind begins operating a 155 MW wind farm in Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Labor unions, Democratic leaders, and coal miners say the Trump administration’s measures to boost coal are only benefitting companies, while leaving miners afflicted by black lung by the wayside. (New York Times)

• Coal miners plead with the Trump administration to enforce the Biden-era rule to limit miners’ exposure to silica dust and protect them against black lung. (Inside Climate News, E&E News)

• Kentucky Power tells state regulators it will apply for federal funding to cover the cost of repairing a failing cooling tower at a 54-year-old coal-fired power plant, although it doesn’t yet have an estimate on how much the project will cost. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

• Corpus Christi, Texas, has become a destination for Exxon Mobil, Tesla, and other energy companies because of its tax deals, Gulf Coast port, and pipeline network, but the city now faces an impending water shortage. (Wall Street Journal)

• Kentucky’s lone Democratic Congress member focuses on helping coal communities transition instead of trying to shield the industry from environmental rules and market pressures. (E&E News)

GRID

• A coalition of 11 governors threaten to withdraw their states from grid operator PJM as they press for more say in grid decisions that are resulting in rising power bills, largely due to a surge in data center development. (Grist)

• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin touts manufacturer Hyper as it cuts the ribbon on a new headquarters for its business that makes data center components that more efficiently regulate temperature and supply power. (Virginia Mercury)

• Georgia activists complain about the lack of a comprehensive state database to track the number, size, and location of the state’s proliferating data centers. (Capital B Atlanta)

POLITICS

• Data centers, their voracious power needs, and the resulting effect on energy bills have become a big campaign issue in Virginia’s off-year elections. (Semafor, Virginia Mercury)

• Early voting begins in Georgia’s elections for two seats on the Public Service Commission, which routinely sees lower turnout than higher profile elections. (WSB, WRDW/WAGT)

EFFICIENCY

• A WalletHub study ranks South Carolina, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee as the least energy-efficient states in the contiguous U.S. (KARK, WalletHub)

CLIMATE

• A volunteer network consisting largely of faith-based groups has emerged in Louisiana to help disaster victims who can’t qualify for aid or have otherwise fallen through the cracks of the federal disaster response system. (Louisiana Illuminator)

COMMENTARY

• Federal lawmakers need to accelerate permitting approvals for generation and transmission upgrades to keep energy prices low and allow utilities to meet rising demand from data centers and other projects, writes the CEO of Conservatives for Clean Energy. (Cardinal News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Inside the Colorado factory where AtmosZero is electrifying steam — Alison F. Takemura

• Ohio to fast-track energy at former coal mines and brownfields — Kathiann M. Kowalski

• Canceled solar megaproject reveals new Trump-era threat to renewables — Julian Spector

• Boston is piloting window heat pumps in affordable housing — Alison F. Takemura