Texas’ booming renewables sector stabilizes its fragile grid

GRID: An analysis shows the vast majority of 2024’s largest clean energy projects were built in Texas, which leads the U.S. in installed utility-scale solar and wind capacity and is gaining on California for battery storage. (Canary Media)

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ALSO:

• Texas’ grid operator reduced its number of energy conservation appeals from 11 in 2023 to just two in 2024, largely because the addition of 5 GW in battery storage technology has helped stabilize the grid, according to a new report. (Real Clear Energy)
• Georgia regulators approve a rule to allow Georgia Power to charge data centers and other new customers using more than 100 MW of energy to protect other ratepayers against risks associated with large-load users. (WXIA)

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WIND: Oklahoma lawmakers take aim at renewables with two dozen bills that restrict wind and solar development, including one bill to allow counties to block wind projects near crude oil hubs. (Tulsa World)

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OIL & GAS:

• President Trump’s initial batch of executive orders includes a provision that appears to benefit a single liquified natural gas export terminal, sparking criticism from a consumer advocacy group. (E&E News)
• An investment firm agrees to purchase a 774 MW gas-fired power plant in a part of Virginia that’s estimated to house a quarter of current U.S. data center capacity. (Reuters)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Trump’s rollback of a $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of electric vehicles could delay or halt South Carolina’s new and planned electric vehicle and battery plants, which it’s already spent millions to attract. (The State)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Shell and Mitsubishi name a startup company to provide carbon capture technology at a direct air capture hub they want to build in Louisiana, although the project is contingent on clean energy funding the Trump administration might roll back. (E&E News, subscription)

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NUCLEAR: The Tennessee Valley Authority selects contractors for the initial planning and design phases of a planned 300 MW small modular nuclear reactor in Tennessee. (Power)

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COAL: A Virginia bank says it’s lost $65.1 million in interest income since placing debt owed by West Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Justice’s family’s coal companies on nonaccrual status in mid-2023. (Cardinal News)

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: A Texas official calls on federal law enforcement to reject a federal housing agency’s claim the state mishandled flood mitigation funding from Hurricane Harvey by discriminating against Black and Hispanic residents. (Houston Chronicle)

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CLIMATE: Researchers discuss the possible role of climate change in a recent polar vortex that brought cold temperatures and snow to the Gulf Coast. (WWNO)

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UTILITIES:

• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s CEO discusses the incoming Trump administration, renewables and why the federal utility is returning its focus to nuclear development. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• Western North Carolina residents are angry at Duke Energy for opening lake floodgates during Hurricane Helene, which drenched and damaged downstream communities. (Carolina Public Press)

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COMMENTARY:

• South Carolina’s 2017 nuclear debacle shows why utilities need more transparency and accountability instead of a regulatory rollback proposed by state lawmakers, writes a former utility regulator. (Post and Courier)
• North Carolina farmers must deal with drought, damaging storms and other consequences of climate change even as Trump intentionally ignores the phenomenon, writes an opinion editor. (Raleigh News & Observer)

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