OIL & GAS: An energy developer announces it’ll develop a 750-acre gas liquefaction plant and export terminal at a Texas port that until now was the state’s last major deepwater port undeveloped by large fossil fuel projects. (Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Environmental groups call for a study of whether the planned construction of a Scout Motors electric vehicle plant in South Carolina would trigger increased pollution and flooding in nearby Black communities. (The State)
• Automaker Kia announces it will invest $200 million into a Georgia factory to make an electric SUV starting in 2024. (Associated Press)
• Ford, which is building electric vehicle and battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky, asks the United Auto Workers union for flexibility to reduce production in case the EV market lags. (Bloomberg)
• Virginia transportation officials release an update on the plan they’re developing to install a network of electric vehicle chargers along interstate highways. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)
SOLAR:
• An energy company announces plans to expand a 150 MW municipal Florida solar project to 600 MW. (PV Magazine)
• A University of Florida student team wins first place in a solar car competition, with a vehicle that traveled 707.5 miles on solar power alone. (Palm Beach Post)
• The owner of a seafood restaurant chain in Memphis, Tennessee, announces plans to build a solar farm. (Daily Memphian, subscription)
STORAGE: Atlanta residents express safety concerns about NextEra Energy’s plans to build a battery storage facility near their neighborhood. (WGCL)
GRID:
• On the heels of a new record set last month, Texas’ grid operator projects multiple days of record-breaking energy demand this week amid a scorching heat wave. (Houston Chronicle)
• A study finds Southeast utilities collaborate less on grid transmission and interconnection than other parts of the country. (WPLN)
• Texas wind and solar projects surge, but experts say a lack of battery storage and transmission lines in the western part of the state limit the availability of renewable energy when it’s most needed. (Spectrum News)
CARBON CAPTURE: A state filing shows a 78 MW Texas power plant linked to a carbon capture facility may resume operations for the first time since it was taken offline in 2020. (E&E News, subscription)
CLIMATE:
• Critics worry Norfolk, Virginia’s $2.6 billion floodwall project won’t protect against flooding caused by high tides or heavy rain and exacerbated by sea level rise. (WHRO)
• A pair of architects in El Paso, Texas, design shade structures that will be tested in low-income neighborhoods that tend to lack shade. (El Paso Matters)
POLITICS:
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin completes a review of new regulations to advance his plan to withdraw the state from a regional carbon market. (Virginia Mercury)
• In New Orleans, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm agree clean energy projects facilitated by federal climate legislation will create jobs and lower energy bills in the state. (WGNO)
COAL ASH: East Tennessee children continue to play on a 23-year-old playground built on coal ash near a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)
COAL: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies reach an agreement with federal officials to pay more than $500,000 in past-due mine safety fine debt payments. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
COMMENTARY: A Texas water official calls for development of geothermal energy using oil and gas drilling techniques. (Big Bend Sentinel)
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