21 May 2025

CLEAN ENERGY

• Former President Biden’s climate package created new jobs and spurred the clean energy transition in West Virginia, but Trump and congressional Republicans’ moves to roll back the legislation could halt progress, raise energy prices, and further increase the state’s reliance on coal. (American Prospect)
• A Texas farmer crusades against wind and solar farms, successfully blocking tax exemptions for one project, failing at another, and now prompting a state lawmaker to introduce legislation to more strictly regulate renewable energy development. (Texas Tribune)

COAL ASH

• Alabama’s Coosa Riverkeeper environmental group announces plans to sue Alabama Power over allegations its coal ash pond next to a retired coal plant is polluting groundwater and violating federal hazardous waste and coal ash regulations even after it was capped. (AL.com, Inside Climate News)

NUCLEAR

• The Tennessee Valley Authority becomes the first utility to submit a construction application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a small modular nuclear reactor, which it will construct in Tennessee. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, WBIR)

UTILITIES

• Louisiana regulators vote against a proposal to open the state’s energy market to more retail competition, upholding Entergy’s grip as the state’s power provider and rejecting arguments from petrochemical companies that the structure raises prices and limits power generation. (Times-Picayune)
• Renewable energy advocates urge North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein to oppose legislation allowing Duke Energy to charge ratepayers for projects while they’re still under construction, arguing the utility spent $8.9 billion on 19 nuclear reactor projects that were canceled or closed early. (Port City Daily, news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Hyundai unveils the three-row, all-electric SUV IONIQ 9, which it will make at its Georgia factory. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

OVERSIGHT

• The newly confirmed chairman of Texas’ Public Utility Commission says he’s focused on repairing the board’s reputation after Winter Storm Uri knocked out power and killed at least 246 people in 2021, as well as shielding ratepayers from the cost of new power infrastructure. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR

• A Kentucky county board approves a solar ordinance requiring a standard 1,000-foot setback, though neighboring property owners can agree to reduce the distance. (WNKY)

EFFICIENCY

• Louisiana regulators affirm their decision to terminate the state’s ​​energy efficiency initiative. (KADN)

STORAGE

• Lithium-ion battery recycler Li-Cycle, which has plants in Alabama, Arizona, and New York, files for bankruptcy. (Solar Power World)

GRID

• Regional grid operator PJM warns that “extreme scenarios” this summer could stretch its capacity due to generator retirements and the lack of new resources. (WTRF)

FINANCE

• A Texas county joins Corpus Christi and a college in considering legal action against potential property tax exemptions for power plants owned by San Antonio municipal utility CPS Energy. (Corpus Christi Caller-Times)

COMMENTARY

• North Carolina residents should hold Duke Energy accountable for moving to build new gas-fired power plants and pipelines despite its previous commitment to close down fossil fuel plants and shift to renewables, writes a conservation advocate. (Butner-Creedmoor News)
• Liquified natural gas exports will accelerate climate change while raising Americans’ power bills by creating scarcity, writes a retired Army commander who is now a climate advocate. (Utility Dive)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Just seven steel plants that rely on coal-fired blast furnaces remain in the U.S., and they’re all in cities with some of the worst air quality in the country, Alexander C. Kaufman reports.
• Clare Fieseler compiles a detailed timeline of the ups and downs of the Empire Wind project from the moment President Trump signed his executive order banning new offshore wind to the announcement that he conceded to let construction resume off New York.