Virginia’s booming data centers drive pipeline buildout

OIL & GAS: Oil and gas companies move to expand pipelines across Virginia as the rapidly growing number of data centers strain energy demand and existing infrastructure. (Virginia Mercury)

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ALSO:

• The Gulf Coast oil and gas industry prepares to build out a wave of planned liquified natural gas export terminals as it anticipates President-elect Trump to lift a nearly year-long pause on federal permitting. (Houston Chronicle)
• North Carolina activists look to the state’s incoming Democratic officials to keep the state on track for its climate goals as utilities lean into fossil fuels and Trump aims to unleash oil and gas projects. (Inside Climate News)

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TRANSITION: A Texas electric cooperative will convert a coal-fired power plant into a solar and battery facility, aided by more than $1.4 billion in federal funding to support clean energy and maintain rural jobs. (Texas Tribune)

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GRID: The private company that oversees Puerto Rico’s power grid announces it’s restored power for 98% of its 1.47 million customers after a blackout knocked out power across the island on New Year’s Eve. (Associated Press)

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SOLAR:

• Former President Jimmy Carter is remembered for his progressive stance on energy production and independence, as exemplified by the 2017 conversion of his Georgia peanut farm into a 1 MW solar farm. (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)
• Dominion Energy operates a 1.6 MW Virginia solar farm that’s also home to beehives as the utility tests to see whether the pollinators can increase local farmers’ crop production. (Farmville Herald)

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WIND:

• An Oklahoma lawmaker files a bill to block tax subsidies for wind farms that were grandfathered in after a 2017 law outlawed tax breaks for new wind farms. (KOKH)
• A Texas judge orders a new trial to set a wind farm’s tax valuation after overturning a jury verdict valuing its property at $197.4 million because it included nontaxable federal production tax credits and power purchase agreements. (Bloomberg, subscription)

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COAL:

• An investigation finds Alabama regulators who eschew federal regulation of coal mining have largely rubber-stamped permits while doing little to address residents’ longstanding concerns about longwall mining. (Inside Climate News)
• A new book details the court battle that followed a 2008 coal ash spill in Tennessee and pushed the U.S. EPA to regulate the toxic substance. (Inside Climate News)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Virginia lawmaker will again introduce a bill to establish funding incentives for companies to build electric vehicle charging stations in rural parts of Virginia. (Cardinal News)

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OVERSIGHT: A clean energy nonprofit sues Georgia regulators for allegedly violating an open records law after the state fails to turn over public records from a state board member who the group claims used her personal email and cellphone for public business. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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CLIMATE: A family’s experience with Hurricane Helene and its aftermath illustrates how climate-exacerbated extreme weather disproportionately affects undocumented residents. (NPR)

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UTILITIES:

• A growing number of states are passing laws to prevent power cutoffs during heat waves as rates spike, but Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky lack such protections. (Inside Climate News)
• Duke Energy asks Florida regulators to allow it to bill customers $1.1 billion in costs from hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton. (S&P Global)
• Florida Power & Light seeks a $1.55 billion Florida rate hike, along with additional money to pay for solar and battery installations. (WGCU/News Service of Florida)

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POLITICS:

• Experts say global markets, the already-low price of natural gas, and the cost of building out the power grid make it unlikely Trump will be able to deliver on his promise to cut energy costs in half. (Houston Chronicle)
• Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget slowed the delivery of billions of dollars in disaster aid to Puerto Rico after 2017’s Hurricane Maria. (E&E News)

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COMMENTARY: A Virginia legislative commission’s report confirms the booming data center sector will triple power demand over the next 15 years, threatening not just the state’s emission reduction goals, but its ability to produce that much power even without them, writes a columnist. (Virginia Mercury)

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