SOLAR: Advocates press a Virginia county to streamline its permitting process for rooftop solar after a balky application website, high fees and nitpicky plan reviews slow installations and lead some companies to stop doing business there. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• A federal study suggests Puerto Rico install solar panels at airports, brownfields and industrial areas to shore up its grid and transition to clean energy. (Associated Press)
• A $2.3 million federal grant will fund a solar “testbed” in West Virginia that will be used to study solar battery storage, grid integration and cybersecurity. (WBOY)
• A 140 MW solar farm begins operations in Texas. (Solar Power World)
• An Arkansas school district commissions a 512 kW solar array. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• A Virginia county board invites public input on its consideration of a new ordinance to regulate utility-scale solar development. (news release)
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GRID:
• Texas regulators’ approval of a plan to pay for extra power capacity and incentivize construction of more natural gas plants clouds the future of renewables, and critics say customers will bear the cost. (E&E News, Spectrum News)
• Amazon announces it will spend $35 billion over 20 years to build more data centers in Virginia, boosting jobs and residents’ concerns over construction of new transmission lines needed to power them. (Washington Post)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle maker Rivian places a solar-powered EV charger in Tennessee. (Electrek)
COAL:
• San Antonio, Texas’, municipal utility board votes to transition from coal-fired power, with plans to convert one unit of a coal plant to natural gas by 2027 and close the other in 2028. (San Antonio Report)
• A coal mining company and one of its employees reverse course and signal they plan to plead guilty to a scheme to falsify coal dust data in Kentucky. (Mountain Top Media)
OIL & GAS: A new report by Texas’ oil and gas association shows the industry paid $24.7 billion in taxes and royalties in fiscal ‘22, the highest total in its history. (KVUE)
CLIMATE: A Texas city council considers whether to break a proposed city charter to promote solar power and other climate-friendly policies into multiple ballot measures, which advocates say will only confuse voters. (El Paso Times)
BIOMASS: A wood pellet manufacturer announces a $50 million expansion at its Alabama plant. (Biomass Magazine)
POLITICS:
• Texas and 23 other Republican led states coordinate with conservative think tanks and fossil fuel groups to pressure investment firms to abandon social and climate-friendly goals. (S&P Global)
• A study finds fossil fuel companies are spending money on social media and targeted media operations to promote climate denialism and hide their operations’ environmental harms. (Bloomberg)
COMMENTARY:
• Kentucky’s push against investment firms with climate goals runs counter to its embrace of a large steel factory that aims to supply the domestic offshore wind industry, writes a columnist. (CleanTechnica)
• Virginia should resist Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push to remove the state from a regional carbon market because it has significantly boosted flood reduction efforts, writes an environmental advocate. (Virginian-Pilot)
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