SOLAR: Virginia climate advocates develop a climate justice scorecard to measure the social and environmental impacts of large-scale solar projects on their neighbors. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Arkansas lawmakers hear clashing arguments from solar advocates and utilities as they consider rolling back net-metering policies, eventually emerging with a compromise bill that makes small adjustments to grandfathering and other details. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Advocate)
• A Kentucky county board member suggests adjusting zoning regulations to address solar decommissioning. (WKDZ)
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WIND: The Biden administration announces it will auction off roughly 300,000 acres in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore wind development. (Houston Chronicle, The Hill)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Georgia lawmakers advance bills to allow businesses to sell power from electric vehicle chargers by the kilowatt hour and to set guidelines for new taxes to replace a drop in fuel revenue. (Georgia Recorder)
• Electric boats and low-carbon sustainable marine fuels draw increasing attention at the Miami International Boat Show. (WLRN)
• Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine touts electric buses in a school district that will electrify about a third of its fleet this year. (Lynchburg News & Advance)
UTILITIES:
• Virginia lawmakers negotiate toward a compromise between two slightly different versions of legislation adjusting how regulators set allowable profit for Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power. (Virginia Mercury)
• Duke Energy begins the process of revising its legally mandated long-term plan for reducing carbon emissions in North Carolina. (WFAE)
COAL: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice pleads with an energy company to purchase and operate a coal-fired power plant that’s slated for closure in June. (Weirton Daily Times)
OIL & GAS: A Texas Gulf Coast liquified natural gas export facility prepares to resume commercial operations for the first time since a June fire. (Inside Climate News/Texas Observer)
TRANSITION: West Virginia officials cheer a company’s plans to build a titanium melt facility powered by a solar energy micro-grid, saying it could make the area a hub for the aerospace industry. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)
RENEWABLE GAS: A subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities announces plans to build and operate a dairy manure renewable natural gas plant in Florida. (news release)
GRID:
• Austin, Texas’ electric utility begins developing reforms after extensive and persistent power outages during last month’s winter storm. (Austin Monitor)
• Records reveal miscommunication between Duke Energy and law enforcement over security measures after December attacks on North Carolina substations. (WSOC)
• Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announces Nucor Corp. will build an advanced manufacturing facility to make transmission towers. (news release)
CLIMATE: A Houston-area Texas county prepares to release revamped flood plain maps that will be the first in the country to use a more accurate assessment of homes and businesses at risk. (Houston Chronicle)
COMMENTARY:
• The defeat of Republican attempts to repeal Virginia’s clean cars law ensures the state can take full advantage of new federal incentives, writes an energy analyst. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A student reporter at a Texas university calls for the installation of more electric vehicle chargers on campus. (Baylor Lariat)
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