OIL & GAS: A new report shows that jobs in fracking-intensive counties in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania grew at less than a fifth of the national average, calling into question the robust growth predicted a decade ago. (Ohio River Valley Institute, Inside Climate News)
ALSO:
• An oil company plans a $20 million oil export terminal with railroad service, massive oil tanks and underground pipelines over two historic slave cemeteries at Louisiana’s St. Rosalie Plantation. (WWL-TV)
• In one of the sunniest, most solar-friendly regions in the country, El Paso Electric proposes upgrades for a natural gas plant that regulators say will be obsolete by 2045. (Texas Observer)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• San Antonio contracts with Blink Charging to install more than 140 electric vehicle chargers at 32 city-owned sites. (San Antonio Express News)
• Alabama awards a quarter-million-dollar grant to a growing company that will support Mercedes-Benz’s plan to make electric vehicles. (WBRC)
• An electric-vehicle battery manufacturer announces plans to build a new factory in Tennessee. (WKRN)
• A Spanish company that makes axle components for Volkswagen’s electric cars will open a new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Associated Press)
• Savannah, Georgia, considers a partnership with Georgia Power to build more charging stations across the city. (WTOC)
STORAGE:
• A Texas company proposes building a 600 MW battery storage facility at a former power plant site in Morro Bay that would be the world’s largest utility-scale battery storage facility. (Paso Robles Daily News)
• The U.S. International Trade Commission issues a 10-year ban on imports by a South Korea battery maker currently building a Georgia factory, but will temporarily allow it to continue to supply components for Ford and Volkswagen electric vehicles. (WAGA, Reuters)
EFFICIENCY: A Florida lawmaker proposes reforming a state financing program to help homeowners pay for energy efficiency and storm hardening upgrades. (Florida Politics)
POLITICS:
• Seventeen Democrats launch a climate, environment and energy caucus in the Texas state legislature. (Texas Tribune)
• Nine of the 15 mayoral candidates in Chattanooga endorse a sustainability plan developed by environmental, community and business leaders that includes sweeping energy goals. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• Georgia lawmakers advance a bill to prohibit localities from adopting building codes with restrictions on fossil fuels or energy sources. (Albany Herald)