PIPELINES: A new analysis by a clean energy think tank says changes to the natural gas market since the Mountain Valley Pipeline was announced in 2014 have undercut the economic case for building the long-delayed project. (Gazette-Mail)
ALSO: The Pittsylvania NAACP passes a resolution opposing an air permit for a Mountain Valley Pipeline compressor station near Chatham, Virginia. (Chatham Star Tribune)
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OFFSHORE WIND: As Virginia looks ahead to a growing offshore wind industry, a trade school begins training a homegrown clean energy workforce in a first-of-its-kind wind turbine technician program. (Energy News Network)
GRID:
• Tesla is secretly building a gigantic battery — big enough to power 20,000 homes on a hot summer day — that will connect to Texas’ grid. (Bloomberg)
• More communities are turning to giant batteries to protect vulnerable people and infrastructure during power outages, especially as prices decline. (NPR)
• South Carolina lawmakers hold a hearing with utility executives and tout the differences between the state’s grid and the one in Texas. (Post and Courier)
EQUITY: The U.S. Energy Department’s first-ever deputy director of energy justice says the country needs to examine the structural racism and inequality “baked into the energy system.” (NBC News)
OVERSIGHT:
• Another Texas utility regulator resigns following the deadly February blackouts that left millions of people without electricity or heat for days. (Associated Press)
• Texas’ attorney general launches an investigation into the natural gas market, which forced utilities to pay exorbitant prices for fuel last month. (Express-News)
• State lawmakers plan a slate of bills in response to the power outages, but experts are skeptical whether there will be meaningful change. (Texas Tribune)
COAL: South Carolina utility Santee Cooper restarted an idled coal unit last month as natural gas prices spiked amid a historic cold snap. (Post and Courier)
CLIMATE: A Florida lawmaker says adapting to climate change is a better solution than trying to reduce emissions, as a legislative committee advances sweeping legislation to help communities respond to rising sea levels. (Florida Politics)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A social media contest in Chattanooga encourages residents to take and share photos of the city’s 14 electric vehicle charging stations. (Times Free Press)
POLITICS: A dozen states, including Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee, sue President Biden over his executive order on climate change. (USA Today)
COMMENTARY:
• The undetected leak of 800 gallons of crude oil last year at a Mississippi storage site proves “there is no such thing as a safe oil pipeline,” an environmental group says. (Southern Environmental Law Center)
• South Carolina utility Santee Cooper’s reliance on old, dirty coal plants cost the debt-addled utility during last month’s arctic outbreak. (Fits News)