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Texas automaker invests in first-of-its-kind EV charging station initiative

plugging in

Soon, the country will have IONNA's "Rechargery" locations thanks to the support of Texas-based Toyota and other automakers. Rendering courtesy of IONNA

A charging network founded by eight of the world’s top automakers have announced that they have broken ground on their first electric vehicle charging station.

IONNA will work to transform a historic district gas station into a new "Rechargery" in North Carolina. The initiative is backed by Plano-based Toyota, along with BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, and Stellantis.

With plans to open locations across the country, the station will provide 10 covered parking bays and will be accessible to both CCS and NAC chargers. The charging ports will be capable of up to 400 kilowatts and 800+ Volts. The site will also include an indoor driver’s lounge, coffee service, food/beverage, restrooms, and WIFI.

“We are excited to announce our support of IONNA to deploy DC fast chargers throughout the U.S. and Canada,” Ted Ogawa, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, says in a news release. “We believe this will not only promote the adoption of BEVs and increase customer confidence in the technology, but it will provide our Toyota and Lexus customers with access to IONNA’s rapidly growing charging network in North America.”

IONNA will “enable urban and long-distance EV mobility for all with over 30,000 ultra-fast-and-reliable charging points by 2030” according to the company.

IONNA also announced Jackie Slope as the Chief Technology Officer. Slope previously worked with customer experiences at Crypto.com Arena and Madison Square Garden.

“Having spent my career raising the bar around the customer experience I am excited to find ways to innovate and elevate the charging experience by serving the customer above all else in this new and exciting industry,” Slope said in a news release.

While the North Carolina location is the first of its kind, IONNA plans to expand its Rechargery stations around North America soon.

In other EV news, Hyundai Motor and Kia launched a project on Sept. 25 to develop lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cathode material. Hyundai Steel and cathode material market leader EcoPro BM will aim to synthesize materials directly without creating a precursor for LFP battery cathode material production

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A Houston company has started construction on a Waco-area solar farm. Photo courtesy of INEOS

Houston company breaks ground on North Texas solar project

coming soon

A Houston-area company has broken ground on a new 310-megawatt solar project located in Bosque County, Texas.

League City-based INEOS Olefins & Polymers and Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources announced the groundbreaking on INEOS Hickerson Solar, which will reportedly save over 310,000 tons of CO2 every year.

“INEOS O&P USA is committed to leading the petrochemical community in adopting renewable energy solutions,” says CEO Mike Nagle in a news release. “This solar project is a crucial step in our global efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of INEOS businesses.”

The INEOS Hickerson Solar project will be constructed, owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, and the output will aim to cover the net purchased electricity load for all 14 of INEOS O&P USA’s manufacturing, fractionation and storage facilities. Commercial operation is expected by December 2025.

The project is expected to produce 730,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy annually, which is the equivalent to the annual electricity use of over 68,000 homes. INEOS hopes this will significantly contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 310,000 tons per year.

This follows the recently signed renewable power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy Resources, which is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from wind and sun.

The rig stands 225 feet tall and extends 8,000 feet below the subsurface. Photo via exxonmobil.com

ExxonMobil breaks ground on Texas carbon dioxide storage project

digging in

ExxonMobil announced this month that it has officially broken ground on a groundbreaking carbon dioxide storage site.

According to a release from the company, a new rig is currently being used to gather information about an underground site in Southeast Texas. The rig stands 225 feet tall, but more importantly extends 8,000 feet below the subsurface to investigate if the site is a safe place to store carbon underground.

“Everyone’s excited about this appraisal well because we’re literally breaking ground on a new chapter of our work to help reduce industrial emissions,” Joe Colletti, who oversees carbon capture and storage development along the Gulf Coast for Exxon, says in a statement.

Exxon plans to move the rig to other sites in the Gulf Coast in the future for clients Nucor Corp., CF Industries and Linde.

In the last year, Exxon has made agreements with these regional companies to store carbon captured from their operations.

  • Exxon agreed to transport and permanently store up to 2.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year from Linde’s hydrogen production facility in Beaumont, Texas when it launches in 2025.
  • Exxon agreed to store up to 2 million metric tons per year of CO2 captured from CF Industries’ ammonia plant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, starting in 2025.
  • Exxon agreed to capture, transport and store up to 800,000 metric tons per year of CO2 from Nucor’s direct reduced iron manufacturing site in Convent, Louisiana starting in 2026.

Together, the three agreements represent a total of 5 million metric tons per year that Exxon plans to transport and store for third-party customers.

“Our agreement with Nucor is the latest example of how we’re delivering on our mission to help accelerate the world's path to net zero and build a compelling new business,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a statement over the summer. “Momentum is building as customers recognize our ability to solve emission challenges at scale.”

In addition to the carbon storage agreements, the energy giant also completed the acquisition of Denbury Inc. this month in an all-stock transaction valued at $4.9 billion. The deal adds more than 1,300 miles, including nearly 925 miles of CO2 pipelines in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi to Exxon's CO2 pipeline network.

The deal was first announced this summer.

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Texas plugs in among states at highest risk for summer power outages in 2025

by the numbers

Warning: Houston could be in for an especially uncomfortable summer.

A new study from solar energy company Wolf River Electric puts Texas at No. 2 among the states most at risk for power outages this summer. Michigan tops the list.

Wolf River Electric analyzed the number of large-scale outages that left more than 5,000 utility customers, including homes, stores and schools, without summertime electricity from 2019 to 2023. During that period, Texas experienced 7,164 summertime power outages.

Despite Michigan being hit with more summertime outages, Texas led the list of states with the most hours of summertime power outages — an annual average of 35,440. That works out to 1,477 days. “This means power cuts in Texas tend to last longer, making summer especially tough for residents and businesses,” the study says.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the electric grid serving 90 percent of the state, predicts its system will set a monthly record for peak demand this August — 85,759 megawatts. That would exceed the current record of 85,508 megawatts, dating back to August 2023.

In 2025, natural gas will account for 37.7 percent of ERCOT’s summertime power-generating capacity, followed by wind (22.9 percent) and solar (19 percent), according to an ERCOT fact sheet.

This year, ERCOT expects four months to surpass peak demand of 80,000 megawatts:

  • June 2025 — 82,243 megawatts
  • July 2025 — 84,103 megawatts
  • August 2025 — 85,759 megawatts
  • September 2025 — 80,773 megawatts

One megawatt is enough power to serve about 250 residential customers amid peak demand, according to ERCOT. Using that figure, the projected peak of 85,759 megawatts in August would supply enough power to serve more than 21.4 million residential customers in Texas.

Data centers, artificial intelligence and population growth are driving up power demand in Texas, straining the ERCOT grid. In January, ERCOT laid out a nearly $33 billion plan to boost power transmission capabilities in its service area.

Texas cities swelter with 50+ more hot days, new climate study shows

summer temps

Mother Nature is cranking up the summertime heat in Texas.

New data from Climate Central shows Houston and Austin are among nine major U.S. cities that now experience at least 50 more days per year with above-normal summer temperatures than they did in 1970. Other Texas cities that made the list were El Paso, McAllen and Tyler. Climate Central is a nonprofit organization that provides climate science research and analysis.

“Climate change is driving increasing temperatures across Texas and causing hotter summers. Austin and Houston now experience at least 50 more days above normal than they did in 1970,” said Kristina Dahl, vice president of science at Climate Central. “This isn’t just about discomfort; it’s about the growing risks to public health and infrastructure. We must prioritize climate resilience and stop burning fossil fuels to address these escalating challenges.”

For Austin, the number of above-normal-temperature summer days climbed by 50 from 1970 to 2024, according to Climate Central. During that period, the average summer temperature in Austin increased by 4.7 degrees.

In Houston, the quarter-century increase in the number of above-normal-temperature summer days was even higher — 56. The average summer temperature there rose by 4.6 degrees from 1970 to 2024, according to Climate Central.

Climate Central says that of the 242 cities it analyzed, 97 percent had seen a rise in the number of hotter-than-normal summer days (June, July and August) between 1970 and 2024. The study found the average jump in summer temperatures since 1970 was 2.6 degrees.

Outside Texas, cities on the list were Reno, Nevada; Albany, Georgia; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and New Orleans.

In the summer, the cities that warmed up the most from 1970 to 2024 were:

  • Reno, up 11.3 degrees.
  • Boise, Idaho, up 6.3 degrees.
  • El Paso, up 6.2 degrees.
  • Las Vegas, up 6.1 degrees.
  • Salt Lake City, up 5.9 degrees.

“As heat-trapping pollution continues to warm the planet,” Climate Central explains, “summer temperatures are arriving earlier and getting hotter — and dangerous heat extremes are becoming more frequent and intense.”

Climate Central’s study was based on weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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A version of this article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston-area clean energy projects lose more than $700M in federal funds

funding cut

The federal government has canceled more than $700 million in funding for three clean energy projects in the Houston area.

In all, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently wiped out $3.7 billion in funding for 24 carbon capture and decarbonization projects across the country.

Houston-area projects that took a hit are:

It’s unclear how the loss of federal funding will affect the three Houston-area projects.

All $3.7 billion from the DOE was awarded in 2024 and 2025 during the Biden administration—in some cases days before President Trump took office.

“While the previous administration failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars, the Trump administration is doing our due diligence to ensure we are utilizing taxpayer dollars to strengthen our national security, bolster affordable, reliable energy sources, and advance projects that generate the highest possible return on investment,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a release.

Advocates for clean energy sharply criticized the DOE’s action:

  • Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, said cancellation of the 24 DOE-funded projects “is a major step backward in the nationwide deployment of carbon management technologies. It is hugely disappointing to see these projects canceled — projects that had already progressed through a rigorous, months-long review process by technical experts at DOE.”
  • Iliana Paul, deputy director for the Sierra Club’s industrial transformation campaign, complained that the Trump administration “killed dozens of major investments in American competitiveness, good jobs, and cleaner air to support Trump’s tax cuts and line the pockets of billionaires. These projects were not just pro-climate; they were pro-jobs, pro-innovation, and pro-public health. American workers, fenceline communities, and forward-thinking companies have had the rug pulled out from under them.”
  • Conrad Schneider, senior U.S. director of the Clean Air Taskforce, said the DOE’s move “is bad for U.S. competitiveness in the global market and also directly contradictory to the administration’s stated goals of supporting energy production and environmental innovation. Canceling cutting-edge technology demonstrations, including support for carbon capture and storage projects, undercuts U.S. competitiveness at a time when there is a growing global market for cleaner industrial products and technologies.”
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