West Virginians are paying for fossil fuel reliance

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FOSSIL FUELS

• West Virginia doubles down on coal, natural gas, and oil, becoming the fifth leading energy producer in the U.S. even as its residents grapple with soaring energy prices in a potential preview of what experts say could happen as Trump boosts fossil fuels at the expense of renewables. (New York Times, West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

• Texas mineral acquisition company Pony Oil grapples with a $534 million lawsuit from Pioneer Natural Resources that alleges Pony prevented Pioneer from drilling 11 planned wells in the Permian Basin by taking over a so-called top lease on certain land. (Houston Chronicle)

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces a $562 million loan for NRG Energy’s 721 MW gas-fired power plant in Baytown, making it the third such loan from the state’s Texas Energy Fund. (Houston Chronicle)

• Southwest Louisiana fishermen press state and federal regulators to hold Venture Global accountable for how it’s dispersing dredged sediment from a shipping channel it’s creating for its liquified natural gas terminal. (Louisiana Illuminator)

• A Dallas Fed survey finds oil and gas executives are skeptical about the Trump administration’s push to ​“drill, baby, drill” amid lower oil prices, higher production costs, and geopolitical uncertainty. (Houston Chronicle)

GRID

• Democratic and Republican governors in PJM Interconnection’s member states demand change to address rising power prices and a long interconnection queue, but analysts warn that leaving PJM might cost customers even more. (Canary Media)

• West Virginia residents grow frustrated at the lack of transparency around proposals for data centers and related projects like power plants, hydrogen production facilities and carbon storage facilities. (Mountain State Spotlight, Charleston Gazette-Mail)

• West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey says he wants assurances that NextEra Energy’s proposed MidAtlantic Resiliency Link — a 107.5-mile transmission line and substation — will benefit his state instead of acting as a pass-through between Pennsylvania and Virginia. (WV News)

UTILITIES

• The North Carolina Business Court takes up the town of Carrboro’s case against Duke Energy for allegedly funding a decades-long deception campaign to dismiss the link between climate change and extreme weather. (Inside Climate News)

• The head of a Virginia town’s municipal utility says it’s considering building another solar facility and producing more power from diesel generators and its hydropower plant on the James River as it looks for ways to defray the rising cost of power it purchases. (Lynchburg News & Advance)

• A recent report gives generally low grades to Florida utilities for delaying the transition from fossil fuels after state lawmakers repealed long-standing renewable energy goals. (Public News Service)

• Appalachian Power officials reflect on the effort to fix nearly 1,500 broken poles, more than 200 miles of downed power lines, and more than 470 damaged transformers in the push to restore power to 282,000 customers in the wake of Hurricane Helene one year ago. (WDBJ)

OVERSIGHT

• An investigation finds that federal response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina has been slow, and in some counties, homeowners with the highest incomes received two to three times as much housing assistance as those with lower incomes. (ProPublica/The Assembly)

• People are flocking to an oil-rich but sparsely populated West Texas county to assert political control. (Houston Chronicle)

TRANSITION

• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces $11 million from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for applications to convert abandoned coal mining land into industrial parks, energy projects, or other infrastructure uses. (Virginia Mercury)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Kentucky secures another $17.8 million in federal funding to build electric vehicle chargers. (Northern Kentucky Tribune)

BIOFUELS

• Green Plains announces the sale of a Tennessee ethanol plant to POET Biorefining-Obion for $190 million. (news release)

CLIMATE

• Even though Tennessee is an inland state, residents there are paying much closer attention to hurricane season after flooding from Hurricane Helene killed 18 people and devastated the region’s infrastructure last year. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

• A cooperative of more than 100 communities along the Mississippi River launches an initiative to improve immediate relief for flooding, drought, and other weather-related disasters. (New Orleans Public Radio)

• New York nonprofit the Commonwealth Fund ranks West Virginia last in the nation on a scorecard measuring climate and health due to the fact it relies on coal for 86% of its electricity. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

COMMENTARY

• Louisiana must take action to identify, catalog, and step up enforcement to ensure that oil and gas companies address more than 7,500 unplugged wells in offshore and inland state waters, writes an editorial board. (The Advocate)

• Rivian’s chief policy officer affirms the electric vehicle maker’s decision to build its East Coast headquarters and factory in Georgia, calling out the state’s role in leading the industry. (Atlanta Journal-Constutition)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Did California just screw up the largest virtual power plant in the US? — Jeff St. John

• Carrier wants to pair batteries with air conditioners to help the grid — Julian Spector