In Texas, a fragile power grid struggles to keep pace with industry

GRID: Texas’ grid manager increases its forecast for large-scale users from 111 GW to 152 GW — a 37% increase by 2030 that places even more pressure on an already wobbly power grid. (Dallas Morning News)

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PIPELINES: Mountain Valley Pipeline officials say cost of the nearly completed project has grown to $7.85 billion, more than $220 million higher than its latest cost estimate in February. (Roanoke Times, Cardinal News)

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SOLAR:

• A Vietnamese company plans a North Carolina factory to make solar panels and photovoltaic cells, spurred in part by a $16.4 million incentives package. (WRAL)
• A Virginia high school joins more than 40 other schools in adding a solar array as part of Dominion Energy’s “Solar for Kids” program. (WVEC)
• A Kentucky county board considers revising its solar ordinance to specify solar farms produce at least 10 MW of power to be sold at wholesale rates, as well as decommissioning requirements. (TimesLeader)

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WIND: Dominion Energy readies its first batch of monopiles for placement as it begins construction of its offshore wind farm near Virginia. (Virginian-Pilot)

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OIL & GAS:

• Satellite data show land in the Permian Basin oil and gas fields is sinking as drillers extract record-high volumes of oil, gas and produced water. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
• A federal court dismisses the Sierra Club’s challenge of air permits awarded by Louisiana regulators to a planned liquified natural gas export terminal. (E&E News, subscription)
• Officials with a planned offshore oil export terminal off Texas say the project is moving forward despite reports that cost and commercialization challenges could slow its development. (Maritime Executive, Reuters)
• Researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso say they’ve found a faster way to recycle wastewater from oil and gas production by using a virus to target two types of bacteria. (KFOX)

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TRANSITION:

• Louisville Gas and Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co. will replace two aging coal-fired units at a Kentucky power plant with a 645-MW hydrogen-ready gas turbine. (Power)
• Repurposing retired coal plants with advanced nuclear reactors could offset the economic losses coal-dependent communities are likely to face when facilities shut down, according to a study commissioned by utility regulators and state energy officials. (Utility Dive)

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NUCLEAR: Years of delay and tens of millions in cost overruns in Georgia Power’s expansion of nuclear Plant Vogtle will likely push utilities away from such large projects toward small modular reactors, experts say. (E&E News)

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UTILITIES:

• A new report finds the top six Tennessee Valley Authority executives have collectively made nearly $90 million since 2020, in part because of bonuses for decisions to expand the utility’s reliance on fossil fuels. (WPLN)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority delays release of its revised long-term plans to more thoroughly consider changing markets and regulations in its seven-state territory. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power register filings with West Virginia regulators to ensure they’re reimbursed for right-of-way maintenance and the cost of coal and natural gas to fuel power plants. (WV Metro News)

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POLITICS: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice vows to fight new U.S. EPA rules requiring coal-fired power plants to reduce or capture 90% of their greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade. (West Virginia Watch)

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