VIRGINIA:
• Dominion Energy gave $200,000 to a Democrat-tied political action committee that purchased ads attacking the Republican candidate for governor as weak on gun rights in parts of rural Virginia. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Anti-pipeline protesters interrupt a speech by Jill Biden at a Democratic campaign rally in Virginia over candidate Terry McAuliffe’s previous support for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. (WAVY)
SOLAR:
• The University of Kentucky will source about a third of its power from a 125 MW solar farm that’s expected to be completed in 2025. (Associated Press)
• After two devastating hurricanes, advocates call for Puerto Rico to use solar power to replace electricity generated from expensive fossil fuels that have blighted neighborhoods. (Guardian)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Kentucky officials, researchers and others look to Ford’s $5.8 billion investment in electric cars and batteries to attract additional companies to build out the EV supply chain. (WDRB)
OIL & GAS:
• The oil and gas industry contributed $400,000 to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia in the third quarter — a fourth of his total $1.6 million haul for the period — as the Democrat opposes environmental provisions of his party’s proposed $3.5 trillion spending bill. (Bloomberg, New York Magazine)
• Climate activists in Tampa, Florida, criticize TECO Energy’s plan to raise rates for customers by 14% in part to pay to convert a generating unit from coal to natural gas. (WUSF)
NUCLEAR: Georgia regulators appear likely to approve a rate increase for Georgia Power customers to support the first of two nuclear reactors under construction at Plant Vogtle. (Associated Press)
GRID:
• The director of an Arkansas municipal utility complains the city is losing lineworkers to higher-paying contract work in other states, leaving a shortage of skilled workers to make repairs to the grid as energy demand rises. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• An SUV slams into a utility pole in Texas, knocking out power for hundreds of Entergy customers. (KBTX, KXXV)
COAL:
• A West Virginia official eyes piles of coal waste throughout the state as potential sources of rare earth elements for use in making electronics. (WV Metro News)
• A coal-fired power plant is imploded in Texas, with remediation work on the landfill and ash ponds to follow. (The Eagle)
CLIMATE:
• While U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin opposes clean energy measures in the Democrats’ budget bill, new data shows his home state of West Virginia is more exposed to climate-driven flood damage than anywhere else in the contiguous U.S. (New York Times)
• Austin, Texas’ city council approves a resolution advancing flood mitigation, response and insurance initiatives. (Austin Monitor)
COMMENTARY:
• South Carolina’s questionable legal environment around utilities contributed to the $9 billion Santee Cooper debacle and last week’s criminal trial of its former CEO, writes an editorial board. (Post and Courier)
• A former Texas regulator calls for the U.S. EPA to manage emissions from flares, storage tanks, and other oil and gas equipment. (Austin American-Statesman)