SOLAR: Florida installed 2,499 MW of solar-generation capacity in the first half of 2023, outpacing California and Texas and already exceeding the amount it’s ever installed in an entire year. (South Florida Sun Sentinel) 

ALSO:
• Virginia regulators approve Appalachian Power’s plan to shift to more renewable energy to comply with state law, including purchasing power from six solar farms. (Roanoke Times)
• Korean solar manufacturer Hanwha is winding down production in Korea even as it accelerates investment in its new Georgia factory because of federal clean energy subsidies and dwindling Korean demand. (Korea Times)
• A company announces plans to build a 120 MW solar farm in Oklahoma and sell power to municipal utilities. (KECO)

CLIMATE:
• Undocumented workers who have helped clean up Gulf Coast communities after hurricane damage are reluctant to travel to Florida after Hurricane Idalia because of a new state immigration law. (Miami Herald)
• A new study finds rising temperatures from climate change imperil leatherback sea turtles in Florida. (Miami Herald)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A lack of working electric vehicle chargers causes problems for U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and her team as they road-trip from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Memphis, Tennessee. (NPR)
• Alabama officials announce a third round of funding to build electric vehicle chargers. (Montgomery Advertiser)
• Duke Energy launches a pilot program with ​​in partnership with GM, Ford and BMW to offer a subscription program for electric vehicle owners to charge their vehicles during off-peak hours. (Wilmington StarNews)

GRID:
• Summer heat waves and record-breaking power demand have raised new questions about the reliability of Texas’ state power grid and lawmakers’ efforts to boost reliability by incentivizing natural gas plant construction. (Associated Press)
• A Texas lawmaker drafts legislation to require the state to connect its independent power grid to regional networks. (KBMT)
• Southeast states have been the target of multiple attacks on the power grid over the first half of 2023, including incidents in two Florida counties that affected 6,056 people over two months. (Politico)
• An Oklahoma power utility asks state regulators for permission to replace two generation units at a power plant. (KFOR)

OIL & GAS: West Virginia regulators approve a natural gas company’s plan to replace more than 1,000 miles of pipeline over 24 years. (WBOY)

COAL:
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family’s coal companies owe $3.09 million in delinquent federal mine safety fines, nearly a fifth of total mine safety debt nationwide. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• An Appalachian Power official tells West Virginia regulators that post-pandemic recovery and Russia’s war in Ukraine are contributing to spiking power prices and a scarcity of coal to run power plants. (WV Metro News)

CARBON CAPTURE: A company that wants to build a carbon capture facility at an Arkansas ammonia plant looks to make community connections before construction begins. (El Dorado News-Times)

OVERSIGHT: West Virginia regulators are keeping confidential extensive sections of a consultant’s report studying Appalachian Power’s coal management practices at three power plants, arguing they’re shielding “trade secrets.” (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

COMMENTARY:
• Wind energy advocates should not be too disheartened by the disappointing results of a recent offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, as it marked an important first step for the burgeoning sector, writes a professor. (NOLA.com)
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bungled the state’s use of federal clean energy funds, writes a climate activist. (Orlando Sentinel)

More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West

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.