SOLAR: Dominion Energy and airport officials break ground at Washington Dulles International Airport on a 100 MW solar and 50 MW battery facility that is the largest renewable energy project at a U.S. airport. (Virginia Mercury, Associated Press)

ALSO:
• A Virginia county board votes down a proposed 80 MW solar farm after its planning commission recommended against it because it doesn’t align with the county’s planning documents. (Fauquier Now)
• Alabama residents express fear and concern about a solar company’s plans to build a 160 MW solar farm, with some raising unfounded claims about water pollution. (Andalusia Star-News)

OIL & GAS: An Appalachian think tank warns against the region’s continued reliance on natural gas development and explains why the industry has failed to generate more jobs even as its production output skyrockets. (Inside Climate News, Ohio River Valley Institute)

STORAGE:
• Texas battery storage systems provided a record amount of power to the state grid last week, including on an especially tight evening when state officials had called for conservation measures. (E&E News)
• A Virginia county board votes to approve a large storage facility that uses arrays of Tesla batteries. (Roanoke Times)
• An iron-air battery storage factory under development offers economic hope to a West Virginia town that was home to one of the nation’s largest steel mills until it was demolished in 2019. (NOVA Next)

GRID: The Southwest Power Pool saw record grid demand in its 17-state region this week. (KSNW)

TRANSITION: Dozens of Kentucky residents speak out against utilities’ plans to build two natural gas plants to replace nearly a third of its coal generation, warning against continued reliance on fossil fuels. (Louisville Public Media)

UTILITIES: A Louisiana city council votes down a proposed ordinance to set regulations to block utilities from disconnecting power service in extreme weather conditions. (KALB)

CLIMATE:
• Climate advocates hope a summer of record-breaking heat waves, wildfires and extreme weather events might lead voters to press candidates to address solutions. (Palm Beach Post)
• An advocacy group that promotes science-based curriculum urges Texas officials to approve a series of science textbooks because of how they describe climate change in a straight-forward, no-nonsense way, even while the state considers curricula with cartoons that promote climate denial and the benefits of fossil fuels. (Houston Chronicle; E&E News, subscription)

COMMENTARY: Florida should follow Texas’ example and build more solar, wind and battery power as it seeks to alleviate high electric bills and ensure there’s plenty of power as temperatures escalate, writes an environmentalist. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

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Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.