EMISSIONS: Louisiana’s governor signs an executive order establishing a task force and setting intermediate targets to reach net-zero emissions statewide by 2050. (Associated Press)
ALSO: Oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum says it will finance development of a facility in Texas that will pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. (Reuters)
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UTILITIES:
• Memphis Light Gas & Water will solicit proposals from power suppliers this fall to see if it can get a better deal than what TVA provides. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• TVA employees are stuck in a holding pattern as they wait to see if they will resume their jobs after President Trump intervened to end a planned job outsourcing. (Government Executive)
WIND: NextEra Energy’s 250 MW Skeleton Creek wind power project in Oklahoma is on track for completion by the end of the year, developers say. (Enid News & Eagle)
SOLAR: Duke Energy closes a $109.4 million investment from Goldman Sachs for commercial and industrial solar projects. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)
OIL & GAS:
• West Virginia University researchers get $1.5 million in federal funding to help develop technology to reduce emissions from natural gas production. (WV News)
• The Port of Corpus Christi was the nation’s top crude exporter last year and aims to ship out Canadian crude and Bakken Shale oil. (S&P Global)
• If he’s elected president, Joe Biden pledges to stop new drilling on federal lands and waters to address growing concerns over climate change, which would greatly impact the Texas oil and gas industry. (Houston Chronicle)
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PIPELINES:
• A Texas construction company sues Mountain Valley Pipeline to get $103.8 million it says it’s owed, asking that the pipeline be sold. (Kallanish Energy)
• Some analysts and investors believe natural gas is not going away, regardless of climate change, as it accounts for up to 40% of generation. (CNBC)
• A South Texas pipeline company lays off 22 workers, joining other energy and pipeline companies downsizing during the pandemic. (San Antonio Business Journal)