Report: EV factories may be leading utilities to dirtier decisions | KLRT [Video]

New factories producing EVs and their batteries are bringing more jobs to the Southeast, but utilities are trying to meet the power demands of these factories with natural-gas power plants rather than renewable energy, reports Energy News Network.

Anticipated demand from the auto industry—as well as solar-panel manufacturing and data centers—is leading utilities to forecast single-digit percentage growth every year through the end of the decade in some regions, according to report.

That’s a big change considering that demand has stayed flat—or declined—in most of the U.S. for the past decade and a half.

Scout EV plant groundbreaking

In the Southeast, major utilities seem more focused on natural gas as the solution for meeting this anticipated demand. The Georgia Public Service Commission just this week approved utility Georgia Power’s plan to build three new methane and oil-burning plants, as well as to buy energy from sister company Mississippi power, delaying retirement of one of that company’s coal-fired …