SOLAR: Mississippi’s two regulated electric companies push back against state regulators’ new rule expanding incentives for customers to install solar panels and other renewable energy systems. (Mississippi Today)
ALSO:
• A 317 MW solar farm that will be Texas’ second largest solar power facility takes shape west of Houston. (KHOU)
• A North Carolina solar business announces it’s closing after a news report about disgruntled customers, reported problems with its equipment supplier and a sales decline. (WRAL)
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POLITICS:
• U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin picks up at least one Republican vote and a Democratic vote for his energy permitting reform bill, although many Republicans say they’ll vote against it to deny Manchin a win after his support for a climate spending package. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WRKN)
• U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia rails against a provision to force completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in a federal energy permitting reform bill, saying “it could open the door to serious abuse and even corruption.” (Virginia Mercury)
• Candidates for a Louisiana regulatory board seat representing one of the districts hardest hit by Hurricane Ida debate energy affordability, infrastructure and net metering. (Louisiana Illuminator)
ELECTRIC VEHICLE:
• Korean media reports Kia is accelerating plans to make electric vehicles at a Georgia factory so it can access federal tax credits it can’t claim until it begins making vehicles in North America. (Reuters)
• Georgia receives $130 million in federal funding to build electric vehicle chargers along two interstates. (WMAZ)
EMISSIONS: An environmental data company announces it used satellites to detect the smallest offshore methane emission ever seen from space at an oil and gas platform off the Louisiana coast, raising the potential for much tighter emission tracking. (NOLA.com)
CARBON CAPTURE: A Louisiana parish council unanimously passes a resolution asking state and federal officials to pause permitting for carbon capture projects after previously passing a moratorium on the technology until it develops better regulations. (The Advocate)
CLIMATE:
• As Louisiana faces up to $31 billion a year in storm surge damage from rising seas, federal and state officials signal they’re likely to approve a more than $2 billion project to funnel water and sediment from the Mississippi River to build new wetlands. (NOLA.com)
• Florida city leaders and power officials prepare the power grid and stormwater drainage systems for hurricanes. (WTVT)
TRANSITION: A new survey by a housing collaborative shows Louisianians are reluctant to make a major shift from oil and gas to renewables because they think elected leaders “have sold their souls to the oil companies” and will fail to diversify the state’s economy. (WWNO)
UTILITIES:
• Appalachian Power names a new president and chief operating officer. (WSET)
• Residents in Florida and Louisiana express frustration with skyrocketing electric bills. (WFLA, KLFY)
COMMENTARY:
• A Virginia editor unpacks the procedure and politics behind Manchin’s legislative bid to force completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline by embedding approval in a spending bill. (Cardinal News)
• A columnist questions how Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will respond to a requirement to draft a plan to transition to a net-zero carbon energy economy by 2045. (Virginia Mercury)
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