EMISSIONS:
• Virginia’s participation in a regional carbon market has helped the state lower emissions from electricity despite booming growth of energy-hungry data centers. (Energy News Network)
• Virginia’s legislature is divided over Republican efforts to back out of that regional greenhouse gas program, as well as California’s vehicle emission standards. (Virginia Mercury)
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POLITICS:
• Dominion Energy proposes energy legislation in Virginia that includes new restrictions for wind- and solar-producing competitors, but its sponsor hints the provision is merely a bargaining chip. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Researchers find efforts by several Southeast states to punish investment firms that take sustainability into consideration could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions in additional interest payments. (States Newsroom)
SOLAR:
• Advocates lobby for West Virginia to approve a community solar program, but some lawmakers see it as a threat to continued coal production. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• West Virginia regulators schedule a public hearing on a planned $125.4 million solar facility. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A Virginia town again delays consideration of zoning changes and a related 5 MW solar facility proposed on residential land. (Gazette-Virginian)
• More than 140 people have filed complaints against a Tennessee solar company that’s now under investigation in three states. (WBIR)
GRID:
• A large Louisiana electric cooperative receives more than $500 million in federal money for grid hardening after seeing severe damage by four hurricanes in 15 years. (The Advocate)
• Texas natural gas generators did better during last month’s cold snap than in the 2021 winter storm, but a 34% drop in capacity points to continued challenges and drives calls for additional grid reform. (Texas Monthly)
• A Texas city council and its electric board will discuss its transition from a municipal utility to a “wires company” that’s part of the state grid. (KCBD)
STORAGE: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to withdraw the state from consideration for Ford’s $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory cost one of its poorest regions a reported 2,500 jobs. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
COAL: West Virginia regulators renew a coal company’s surface mining permit despite numerous citations for failure to reclaim a highwall. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
OIL & GAS:
• Scientists call for restrictions on oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico to protect a newly discovered, high endangered species of whale. (Texas Tribune)
• Advocates hope a new federal office will aid the cleanup of Louisiana’s more than 4,600 orphaned oil and gas wells. (NOLA.com)
PIPELINES: Tennessee residents rally against an energy company’s plans to build a 32-mile natural gas pipeline to a transitioning coal plant. (WTVF)
CARBON CAPTURE: Local Texas chamber of commerce officials say a $7 billion carbon capture plant will still be built despite delays, cost increases and a shift in its business model from producing automotive gas to sustainable jet fuel. (KOSA)
BIOGAS: A Tennessee city with a landfill that takes waste from a third of the state’s counties signs a contract with a company that will turn much of the trash into biogas or bio-coal. (WPLN)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A West Virginia town will unveil a new electric vehicle charging station. (Beckley Register-Herald)COMMENTARY:General Motors’ new electric Hummer should rattle Tesla and the oil and gas industry as an indicator of how fast the EV revolution is playing out, writes an energy columnist. (Houston Chronicle)
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