Virginia moves to block local bans on solar farms

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

• Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to prohibit localities from blanket bans of solar farms and instead set up a framework for find sites for such projects. (Virginia Mercury, Cardinal News)

PIPELINES

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves Transco’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project to expand its gas pipeline network in Virginia and North Carolina. (WVTF, E&E News, Pipeline & Gas Journal)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Mettiki Coal announces it will permanently close a West Virginia coal mine and lay off 199 workers by this spring. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Country Roads News)

• Texas oil and gas companies estimate they released 1.6 million pounds of regulated pollutants during four days of cold weather during Winter Storm Fern, and a state policy called ​“enforcement discretion” allows officials to give them a pass. (Inside Climate News)

• Oklahoma and Utah state lawmakers introduce legislation to block most civil lawsuits against oil companies over their part in climate change, unless plaintiffs cite specific environmental or labor laws. (Guardian)

• The CEOs of Chevron and Exxon Mobil express continued skepticism about investing in Venezuela during earnings calls. (E&E News)

• An analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity suggests the Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore drilling could lead to more than 4,000 oil spills. (Inside Climate News)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Texas startup Blue Sky Infrastructure pursues permits for a planned underground carbon dioxide storage hub in Louisiana, but runs into opposition from local residents. (Times-Picayune)

NUCLEAR

• Oak Ridge, Tennessee, attracts a new wave of investment in nuclear energy, surpassing $10 billion in investment in the last five years. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

• Mississippi lawmakers propose legislation to incentivize nuclear power development. (Mississippi Today)

WINTER STORM FERN

• PJM Interconnection issues a notice it may tap backup generators at data centers and other large customers to boost the grid during Winter Storm Fern. (Utility Dive)

• Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and other states seeking federal aid during the winter storm find the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been significantly winnowed by the Trump administration’s cuts, pushing more responsibility back to states. (Tennessee Lookout)

• Duke Energy and Orlando, Florida’s municipal utility warn customers to cut back on power usage to avoid outages amid prolonged cold temperatures, and Tallahassee’s municipal utility comes close to hitting an all-time record for peak demand. (Orlando Sentinel, Tallahassee Democrat)

UTILITIES

• A Kentucky lawmaker introduces legislation to create utility disconnection standards, including prohibitions on disconnecting households during cold temperatures, if a customer has entered a payment plan, and on weekends. (Kentucky Lantern)

BIOMASS

• A fire breaks out at a Mississippi wood pellet plant that’s repeatedly been fined for air pollution violations. (Mississippi Free Press)

DATA CENTERS

• New Orleans’ city council bans construction of data centers for a year to give officials time to define the projects in city code and develop ways to regulate them. (WWNO)

• Texas is increasingly attracting data centers due to its open land and natural gas infrastructure. (San Antonio Business Journal)

CLIMATE

• Virginia has appropriated millions of dollars from its past membership in a regional carbon market to flood resilience plans, but many localities still haven’t actually moved past planning to break ground on flood mitigation infrastructure projects. (Cardinal News)

COMMENTARY

• The surging use of fossil fuels to provide power through Winter Storm Fern raises questions about Virginia’s plan to transition entirely to renewables by mid-century, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)