Virginia set to enact slew of energy bills

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.

CLEAN ENERGY

• First-year Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is poised to approve a slew of bills to maximize use of the state’s grid, pave the way for more batteries and solar power, and take other steps to lower energy bills, although legislators still must resolve a standoff over whether to continue tax breaks for data centers. (Canary Media)

WIND

• Offshore wind experts question the legality of the Trump administration’s announced reimbursement to TotalEnergies of nearly $1 billion in lease fees for areas off the coasts of New York and North Carolina to invest in fossil fuels instead, saying no process exists for the federal government to return the funds. (Canary Media)

STORAGE

• AI infrastructure startup Crusoe signs a deal with Form Energy to purchase 120 MW of iron-air batteries from its new West Virginia factory while doubling down on used EV batteries to cheaply store electricity for computing. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS

• “It looks like we’re coming to the end of the field”: A Texas-based oil consultant says Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale will soon begin to decline. (The Advocate)

• Half of oil executives surveyed by the Dallas Federal Reserve say their drilling plans for this year haven’t changed despite rising oil prices, while 21% say they’ll increase drilling significantly. (Dallas Fed)

• Florida’s Canaveral Port Authority board unanimously votes to reject an unsolicited offer from a developer to build a liquefied natural gas plant. (Central Florida Public Media)

• North Carolina residents complain about data centers and Duke Energy’s plan to build two new gas peaker plants at a coal plant even while the utility is still cleaning up its onsite coal ash pond. (WFAE)

COAL

• Clintwood JOD, which operates coal mines in Kentucky and Virginia, files for bankruptcy due in part to owing millions in unpaid taxes and power bills. (WEKU)

• Kentucky Power asks state regulators to approve a $191 million project to build a new cooling system at a coal-fired power plant. (Mountain Eagle)

• A Virginia-based bank sells a portfolio of past-due loans connected to Republican West Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Justice’s coal companies that haven’t been earning interest since 2023. (Cardinal News)

NUCLEAR

• Fermi America, which aims to power data centers with nuclear, will work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on a pilot program to speed environmental reviews. (World Nuclear News)

GRID

• Virginia residents organize against a joint venture between Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission, and an Americana Electric Power subsidiary to build a 115-mile transmission line across nine counties. (VPM, Cardinal News)

HYDROGEN

• Researchers say an underground pool of geologic hydrogen beneath Kentucky could provide a carbon-free energy source. (WKMS)

UTILITIES

• Environmental and faith groups ask a court to review whether Georgia regulators broke the law by approving Georgia Power’s plans to add a slew of largely fossil fuel-fired power because of an anticipated data center buildout. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

DATA CENTERS

• The head of Texas’ Public Utility Commission says regulators are wrestling with how to accommodate large users joining the grid, and are considering an overhaul of the state’s power market in the process. (E&E News)

• Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis considers a bill aimed at forcing data centers to pay the cost of powering their facilities, but experts question whether utilities and regulators will effectively execute the policy. (Inside Climate News)

POLITICS

• Oklahoma’s governor appoints fossil fuel executive Alan Armstrong to be the state’s next Republican senator, with Armstrong saying he aims to focus on energy permitting reform. (E&E News)

• Virginia’s attorney general joins 24 other states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 12 cities and counties to sue the U.S. EPA over its repeal of a 2009 finding that carbon emissions endanger public health. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY

• A study shows the vertically integrated utility model used in the Southeast allows utilities to build new generation, boost the grid, and serve large-load customers like data centers without significantly affecting customers, writes a former FERC commissioner. (Utility Dive)