Energy + Environment
Elections, blue catfish, huge trees, education: The Mercury’s most-read stories of 2024
The Mercury’s top 10 most-read stories this year reflect our readers’ interests in a range of issues that most affect them and communities across the commonwealth. Since January, over 2.7 million people have visited our site and read our stories on state politics and government, local, congressional and presidential elections, Virginia’s environment and evolving energy […]
We suspected data centers were creating an energy crisis for Virginia. Now it’s official.
It is a truth universally acknowledged: a politician in possession of elected office must be in want of large economic development projects. Such is the power of this compulsion that it is proof against all reason. Certainly, it has been proof against everything critics of the data center buildout have said so far: that Virginia […]
Natural gas projects accelerate as Virginia’s energy needs soar
Virginia’s booming data center industry is driving unprecedented energy demands, straining the state’s natural gas infrastructure and prompting calls for new pipelines. A Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report warns that expanding pipeline capacity may be necessary to meet the surge, bringing with it additional logistical and environmental challenges. Some efforts to expand […]
Kaine and Cassidy co-sponsor bill to crack down on illegal fishing
A new bill in the U.S. Senate aims to combat illegal fishing practices and trade of endangered species worldwide, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy. The Louisiana Republican is sponsoring the proposal with with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. The Protecting Global Fisheries Act would expand the U.S. government’s authority to create and enforce maritime law […]
Virginia to host world’s first fusion power plant
Virginia could soon make history as the home of the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant, state officials and private sector leaders announced Tuesday. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a fusion power company founded in 2018 in Cambridge, Mass., unveiled plans to build the groundbreaking facility on a 100-acre site at James River Industrial Park in […]
Rules for solar on Virginia prime agricultural, forest land being considered
New rules for building solar energy projects on prime Virginia farmland and forested areas are part of the ongoing solar siting discussion in the state and are drawing ire from solar developers but support from the farmers and the forestry industry. The rules, known as House Bill 206 regulations, stem from legislation passed in the […]
With Trump presidency looming, state, federal leaders renew commitment to Bay cleanup
Top officials from all the Chesapeake Bay states and the federal government gathered in Annapolis Tuesday to reiterate their commitment to cleaning up the historically and economically critical estuary and strengthening the decade-long partnership that has helped improved the Bay’s health — even if that progress hasn’t been as swift and consistent as they might […]
Legislative report: Development of data centers could triple energy demands if unconstrained
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released its long awaited report on data centers Monday, detailing the expected soaring energy demands and large economic benefits of the industry ahead of the 2025 General Assembly session. Residents and activists have been clamoring throughout the past year over projections that energy demands could triple by 2040, […]
Virginia, regional governors to discuss Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals
After decades of work to clean up the polluted Chesapeake Bay, the federal, state and local partners within the 64,000-mile watershed have acknowledged they won’t reach their 2025 goals. But neither are they giving up. Representatives of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, the regional partnership of states within the watershed, will gather Tuesday in Annapolis […]
Feds propose parts of Bath, Highland counties as critical habitat for rusty patched bumblebee
The little bumblebee, considered a keystone species because of how it benefits the environment through pollination, could be getting some buzzworthy survival assistance along the Virginia and West Virginia state border. On Nov. 25, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed designating about 1.6 million acres of land across the country as a critical habitat […]
Va. Dept. of Transportation estimates Hurricane Helene debris cleanup will take 3 to 6 months
The Virginia Department of Transportation estimates that it will take about three to six months to collect debris from Hurricane Helene, the storm that took the lives of three Virginians and damaged swaths of Appalachia in the southwest region of the state, leaving behind over $4 billion in damages. The debris removal timeline is expected […]
Data centers approved, solar farms rejected: What is going on in rural Virginia?
If Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly are aligned on one thing, it’s their enthusiasm for bringing more data centers to the commonwealth. Where they part ways is in how to provide enough electricity to power them. Youngkin and most Republican legislators advocate for an “all of the above” approach […]