EFFICIENCY: North Carolina developers protest energy-saving changes to state building codes endorsed by clean energy and climate advocates, potentially pushing the question to a state legislature that’s heavily influenced by the homebuilding lobby. (Energy News Network)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster defends the state’s $1.3 billion incentive deal to land electric vehicle maker Scout Motors after conservative lawmakers criticized the company as too culturally progressive. (Rock Hill Herald)
• Tennessee lawmakers advance a $3 billion transportation plan that includes new electric vehicles fees to offset lost gas taxes. (Tennessean)
SOLAR:
• A Florida county board considers Florida Power & Light’s proposal to build a fourth, nearly 75 MW solar farm in the county. (NorthEscambia.com)
• A Virginia city considers a company’s proposal to build an 8 MW solar farm on a former landfill, with 5 MW reserved for a community solar program. (WAVY)
• A North Carolina city aims to install a 70 kW solar array on a municipal building by summer. (Winston-Salem Journal)
• A Virginia planning commission recommends against a 50 MW solar farm proposed on the site of a former mining operation. (Nelson County Times)
OIL & GAS:
• A river authority selects a site south of Austin, Texas, to build a 190 MW natural gas “peaker” plant. (Austin Monitor)
• North Carolina officials are still trying to clean up millions of gallons of gasoline leaked from a pipeline nearly three years ago. (Axios)
GRID:
• An interfaith group joins with Louisiana officials to announce four solar microgrids to give residents places to shelter during disasters. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• Consultants tell South Carolina lawmakers they could save customers money and promote renewables by changing the way electricity is delivered to introduce more competition and efficiency. (WFAE)
• South Carolina lawmakers respond to last year’s attacks on electrical substations by passing bills to stiffen penalties and to create a punishment scale based on the amount of damage. (WLTX)
UTILITIES:
• Florida lawmakers consider legislation to move power over regional utilities away from a city commission to a board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Independent Florida Alligator)
• Members of a South Carolina town council debate long-standing franchisee fees charged to taxpayers as part of their electric and gas bills. (Post and Courier)
BIOMASS: Mississippi regulators approve permits for a wood pellet plant, but opponents petition to shift oversight of the facility’s pollution to a county government. (WLOX)
EMISSIONS:
• Experts worry Texas may buck recently proposed U.S. EPA rules for particulate matter that could relieve air pollution in Black communities adjacent to industry. (Texas Tribune)
• Federal officials call on a judge to issue an injunction to force a Louisiana chemical company to invest in pollution controls to reduce its emission of a carcinogenic pollutant. (WWNO)
CLIMATE:
• Scientists blame recent flooding and tornadoes in Kentucky on climate change, but state lawmakers have declined to adopt specific greenhouse gas emissions targets or restrict fossil fuels. (Louisville Public Media)
• A Texas education board calls for schools to recognize the “positive” aspects of fossil fuels in textbooks after a member argues current teaching about climate change is too negative. (E&E News)
COMMENTARY: A professor blames Appalachian miners’ exposure to higher levels of silica dust and a corresponding spike in black lung cases on Republican presidential administrations who largely deregulated the coal industry. (Virginia Mercury)
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