ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
- Toyota announces the Camry, produced in a Kentucky factory and the best-selling car in the U.S., will only be available as a hybrid. (WDRB)
- An auto parts maker connected to Toyota will build a third Georgia factory to make electrical converters for hybrid vehicles. (Associated Press)
GRID:
- Reports find that while the eastern U.S. has added “some window dressing weatherization efforts,” the power grid remains at “elevated risk” of running short of power during severe weather this winter. (States Newsroom)
- Virginia’s booming data center industry is the subject of increased scrutiny by state officials and a Dominion Energy-led workgroup looking at ways to improve permitting for electric transmission and generation around the projects. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
- A report finds Texas’ power grid is at more risk of a shortage in reserves this winter than last, even as the state grid operator opts not to add more capacity. (Laredo Morning-Times, KTRK)
- The head of an Eastern Kentucky electrical cooperative says the U.S. EPA’s proposal to regulate carbon from power plants is “unlawful and unworkable.” (Kentucky Lantern)
- Entergy opens a $32.5-million facility to consolidate grid operations in Mississippi. (Vicksburg Daily News)
WIND: Dominion Energy forges forward with its plans to develop an offshore wind industry hub in Virginia despite the cancellation of a major turbine factory. (Virginia Mercury)
COAL ASH: Georgia environmentalists want the U.S. EPA to intervene after state regulators approve Georgia Power’s plan to leave coal ash partially submerged in groundwater at a power plant. (Rome News-Tribune)
OIL & GAS:
- A federal court strikes down a key air permit for a liquified natural gas export terminal in Texas after finding the state’s approval was “arbitrary and capricious.” (Grist)
- Climate activist Bill McKibben sounds the alarm on the Biden administration’s approval of a string of liquified natural gas projects on the Gulf Coast and elsewhere. (Canary Media)
- The arrival of new natural gas lines prompts residents of a Florida city to decide whether to switch from propane to the new service. (Vero News)
SOLAR: Two companies contract for the power produced by a 270 MW solar farm under construction in Texas. (PV Magazine)
STORAGE: Dominion Energy and a Virginia university partner to install a 1.5 MW metal-hydrogen battery as a back-up power source at a multi-purpose center. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
COAL: An investigation finds federal officials severely underestimated the extent of black lung disease in Appalachia’s coal-producing regions, as well as the likely impact of a new regulation to limit miners’ exposure to silica dust. (NPR)
CLIMATE:
- Coral reefs off the Texas coast remain relatively healthy after experiencing only moderate bleaching during this summer’s heat event that devastated reefs in Florida and elsewhere. (Associated Press)
- A Republican-controlled Texas board rejects seven of 12 proposed eighth-grade science textbooks, largely because they include policy solutions for climate change or were produced by a company with environmental goals in its mission. (Texas Tribune)
COMMENTARY:
- Recent labor wins securing new contracts with UPS and the “Big Three” automakers could prompt pushes to unionize large Kentucky employers Amazon and Toyota, writes an economic analyst. (Louisville Courier Journal)
- This summer’s extreme heat slowed Texas’ economy, pointing to the need to prepare cities and the power grid against continued warming, writes an editorial board. (Dallas Morning News)
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