TVA rolls out long-term plan for up to 26 GW of new power

UTILITIES: The Tennessee Valley Authority rolls out a long-term plan that presents 30 different pathways to balance energy generation with growing power demand, including the construction of between 9 GW and 26 GW of new power by 2035. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

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SOLAR:

• A study finds several Southeast states could attain 45% solar generation by 2035, which would save utilities roughly $20 billion per year. (PV Magazine)
• FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison break ground on a 5.75 MW solar farm, their third utility-scale solar project in the state. (news release)

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WIND: A long-delayed plan to build a 75 MW onshore wind farm in Virginia is pushed back yet another year, with plans to begin construction next year and begin generating power by 2026. (Roanoke Times)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A planned Hyundai electric vehicle and battery plant in Georgia that’s being supported by local, state and federal incentives sparks protests from farmers and residents concerned that it will use roughly 4 million gallons of water per day. (E&E News)

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PIPELINES: An energy analyst discusses how the 580-mile Matterhorn Express Pipeline between west Texas and Houston will relieve bottlenecks and likely spur more oil and gas production in the Permian Basin. (Texas Standard)

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OIL & GAS:

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues two federal agencies and Biden administration officials for declaring the dunes sagebrush lizard endangered, saying the listing is intended to undermine the oil and gas industry. (Texas Tribune)
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and five other major U.S. universities have accepted more than $100 million from oil and gas companies over the last 20 years, placed fossil fuel leaders among their boards, and failed to disclose conflicts of interest for fossil fuel industry research, student organizers report. (The Guardian)

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NUCLEAR: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin trumpets the federal climate package’s role in a deal to restart Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania. (WV News)

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GRID:

• A Duke Energy official discusses the utility’s grid-hardening efforts in Florida, including plans to bury more than 700 miles of power lines. (St. Pete Catalyst)
• Georgia Power projects data centers will account for more than 80% of its new large customer power demand. (Atlanta Business Chronicle, subscription)

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POLITICS: Republican governors from Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and Tennessee meet in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to discuss energy efficiency, nuclear power, ethanol and the grid’s growing demand for power. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

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COMMENTARY:

• A Southeast clean energy group and an Appalachian advocacy organization criticize the Tennessee Valley Authority’s new long-term plan for vagueness and apparent reliance on building out more natural gas infrastructure to meet escalating energy demand. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Appalachian Voices)
• Texas’ companies’ plans to invest big in carbon capture would prolong the oil and gas industry with technology that endangers water supplies and wouldn’t be viable without government subsidies, write two environmentalists. (Austin American-Statesman)
• A Texas election for a powerful regulatory post currently held by a Republican “queen of the oil patch” has been largely overlooked because of a misleading name and failure by voters to understand what’s at stake, writes a columnist. (Houston Chronicle)

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