WIND: An offshore wind farm near Virginia is one of two national projects the Biden administration hopes will provide a foothold for its goal of growing the industry to 30 GW by 2030. (Reuters, Washington Post)
NATURAL GAS:
• Texas lawmakers tout a prohibition against localities banning natural gas hookups as a way to ensure against another energy crisis like February’s storm, but experts say the legislation could actually spur more blackouts. (KUT)
• Georgia lawmakers attempt to pass a bill restricting localities from banning natural gas hookups will set back clean-energy plans in Savannah and four other cities with plans to move away from fossil fuels, says a local alderman. (WSAV)
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GRID:
• The Texas state senate unanimously passes a bill to require weatherization of power plants and additional transparency around blackouts that includes a state alert system. (Texas Tribune, The Eagle)
• Texas lawmakers advance legislation to add new fees on solar and wind generators as “unreliable” energy sources that can’t be easily called upon all times at a moment’s notice. (Houston Chronicle)
UTILITIES:
• The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy calls on the Tennessee Valley Authority to lead the utility industry by converting entirely to carbon-free electricity generation by 2030. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• A developer acquires the former Little Rock headquarters of Arkansas Power & Light with the goal of transforming it into a post-pandemic co-working space. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
COAL:
• A series of legislative proposals in West Virginia and other coal-producing states would make it harder to close coal plants and slow the transition to clean energy in an attempt to save jobs. (Bloomberg)
• Doctors hired by coal companies are less likely to diagnose black lung disease from X-rays than independent or miner-hired doctors, according to a new study with implications for a disease that is resurgent across central Appalachia. (Ohio Valley ReSource)
PIPELINES:
• Virginia regulators say they’ll need up to a year before they can issue a water quality certification for stream crossings by the Mountain Valley Pipeline. (Roanoke Times)
• A Gulf Coast pipeline company touts its planned expansion in Louisiana and Texas as a way to expand shippers’ market access to natural gas. (S&P Global)
SOLAR: A 98 MW solar farm begins operation in South Carolina and will deliver electricity for state-owned utility Santee Cooper. (PV Magazine)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Korean battery maker SK Innovation looks to April 11 as the deadline for President Joe Biden to overturn a trade decision against it, lest it take action that could include withdrawing from its Georgia factories. (Reuters)
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CARBON CAPTURE: Canadian e-shopping company Shopify will pay a Texas company to pull 10,000 metric tons of carbon out of the atmosphere at a sprawling “direct air capture” facility. (Grist)
COMMENTARY: New estimates show that five southwestern Virginia coal counties are losing population because people are moving out, joining the ranks of 13 other state “exodus” counties and raising a tricky policy question for the candidates running for governor. (Roanoke Times)