CLIMATE: At least seven insurance companies have collapsed or canceled policies after Hurricane Ida led to $400 million in claims, severely diminishing Louisiana’s insurance market as the 2022 hurricane season arrives. (Grist)

ALSO:
• Austin, Texas, will create a climate disaster preparedness guide for residents on how to create local resilience hubs during emergencies. (Austin Monitor)
• FEMA awards a Virginia town nearly $1 million for damages to its downtown area from flooding during Hurricane Michael in 2018. (Charlotte Gazette)

WIND: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is noticeably absent from a wind energy partnership that includes the White House and 11 East Coast governors, although his office says he supports continued offshore wind development. (Associated Press, S&P Global)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Opponents of Rivian’s planned electric vehicle factory in Georgia ask a judge to overturn a deal allowing the company to rent land and buildings without paying typical property taxes. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk says new factories in Texas and Germany are “losing billions of dollars” due to a battery shortage and China port issues. (Reuters)

PIPELINES: A federal appeals court denies the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request for a new three-judge panel to reconsider permits that have been repeatedly struck down. (Roanoke Times)

GRID: Texas Republicans use the first day of hearings on the state’s power grid to push against renewable power in favor of building more natural gas power plants. (KUT)

SOLAR:
• An energy company begins operation of a 195.5 MW solar farm with 40 MW of battery storage in Georgia. (Solar Builder, Energy Storage News)
• An Oklahoma solar farm that incorporates pollinator-friendly plantings attracts a gathering of rare caterpillars. (KFOR)

EMISSIONS:
• An analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions across entire supply chains finds Texas’ Permian Basin is the third most climate-damaging oil and natural gas field on Earth. (Bloomberg)
• A clean energy group chides the Tennessee Valley Authority for its continued reliance on natural gas and projections that it won’t be carbon-free until 2092. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

UTILITIES:
• Leaked records show an Alabama consulting firm that worked for Florida Power & Light during the attempted sale of Jacksonville’s municipal utility conducted surveillance on a local newspaper columnist. (Florida Times-Union)
• Mississippi regulators reach a $300 million settlement with Entergy to pay or credit customers to offset future fuel price increases caused by volatility in global energy markets. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS: Shell’s president asked U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to accelerate permitting for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico during a meeting attendees say was constructive but produced no major breakthroughs. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR: A company that plans to create a new type of nuclear fuel acquires land for a facility in eastern Tennessee. (Oak Ridger)

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.