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Virginians oppose gas plant PJM wants to fast-track

By Mason Adams

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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.

FOSSIL FUELS

  • Tenaska’s proposed 1.5 GW gas-fired power plant in Virginia that grid operator PJM has tabbed for fast-tracking faces significant public opposition and could see delays at the local level. (Inside Climate News)

  • “I’m not sure we can track how much we are losing”: Oilfield thefts are booming in the Permian Basin. (Hobbs News-Sun)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

  • The United Auto Workers and Volkswagen remain deadlocked over contract negotiations at the automakers’ Tennessee plant, where the union submitted a counterproposal to what Volkswagen says is its final offer. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

UTILITIES

  • Florida Power & Light’s request for a rate hike based on charging tech companies a percentage of their expected energy use at data centers could set a precedent for other power companies in the state. (Tampa Bay Times)

  • Texas customers who paid sky-high energy bills to Houston-based power provider Griddy Energy after the 2021 winter storm may be out of luck despite a settlement promising reimbursement, because the bankrupt company has paid out most of its remaining funds to financial backers, lawyers, and others. (Houston Chronicle)

STORAGE

  • Chattanooga, Tennessee’s municipal utility switched 400 customers to two large batteries earlier this month, marking the first time it’s tapped into the 2.5 MW battery storage system to avoid an outage. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

GRID

  • Texas launches a $1.8 billion initiative to pay for backup power systems and microgrids in critical facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes. (Daily Yonder)

SOLAR

  • Solar advocates participate in a panel discussion in Georgia about recycling solar waste now that the U.S. EPA has delayed rulemaking around the topic. (Inside Climate News)

  • Virginia’s Clean Energy Advisory Board meets to discuss finding new funding after the Trump administration killed the Solar for All grant program. (Virginia Public Radio)

PIPELINE

  • A Virginia county struggles to figure out what to do with a fuel tank storage site seven years after the Colonial Pipeline closed the facility because of maintenance costs. (Lynchburg News & Advance)

NUCLEAR

  • Radiant Energy announces plans to build a mass-produced nuclear generator factory in Tennessee, becoming the sixth company to take advantage of the state’s $70 million Nuclear Energy Fund. (WKRN)

  • The U.S. Department of Energy cites an existing program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee for its role in developing materials as it aims to accelerate nuclear fusion technology. (E&E News)

MINING

  • Oil majors broaden their approach in Texas to pursue lithium and other rare elements for batteries, solar cells, and other products. (Inside Climate News)

POLITICS

  • Virginia Democrats campaign against high electric bills and rising demand from data centers in the home stretch of this year’s gubernatorial and legislative elections with a ​“The Energy Bills are Too Damn High” tour. (Virginia Mercury)

  • Voters in Wise County, Virginia, will decide whether to participate in a potential local electric authority that would not handle residential electric service but instead focus on large businesses that need new power generation. (Cardinal News)

  • The IRS files notice of a federal tax lien against coal baron and West Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Justice and his wife for more than $8 million in unpaid assessments. (Politico)

CLIMATE

  • U.S. Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth aims to cut spending for ​“climate change crap” despite significant damage to a Marine Corps base in North Carolina and an Air Force base in Florida in 2018, and military deployment to more than 230 climate emergencies since 2022. (Floodlight/​Guardian)

  • The nonprofit Center for Climate and Energy Solutions selects the Austin-San Antonio region to lead an effort to get local governments, the private sector, and neighborhoods to collaborate on a climate change resilience plan. (Austin Monitor)

COMMENTARY

  • An editorial board urges Louisiana’s leaders not to cancel projects and retreat from its commitment to restore wetlands and protect the state’s coast from erosion and climate change. (The Advocate)

  • South Florida should capture methane from landfills and convert it into renewable gas to power heavy-duty vehicles and reduce the use of diesel fuel, writes the CEO of renewable gas company Nopetro Energy. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

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