SOLAR: A solar panel manufacturer announces it will invest $33 million to build its first U.S. factory in South Carolina. (The State)
ALSO:
• A Virginia town sets a third public hearing for a proposed 5 MW solar farm after its planning commission recommends against rezoning. (News & Record)
• A Virginia county considers amending its solar ordinance to place an acreage cap on solar development and increase the buffer distance between solar farms from 1 mile to 5 miles. (WDBJ)
• A Texas company upgrades a nine-year-old 4.4 MW Texas solar farm with a new tracking system because the previous version suffered from mechanical failures. (PV Magazine)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Volkswagen dashes Oklahoma’s hopes when it chooses to instead build an electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario, Canada. (Oklahoman)
• Electric vehicle maker Rivian negotiates with Amazon to end their exclusive delivery van deal after Amazon’s 2023 order comes in at the low end of their agreed-upon range. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Wall Street Journal, subscription)
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves considers signing legislation to require electric vehicle companies sell cars through dealerships rather than directly to consumers. (WLBT)
WIND: Shell announces it will invest $10 million into an accelerator program to develop wind turbine rotors to operate in challenging wind conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. (Biz New Orleans)
OIL & GAS: Congressional Republicans introduce sweeping energy legislation to jump start fossil fuel production in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, including a provision to increase royalties for states that could translate to billions more for Louisiana coastal restoration. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, NOLA.com)
GEOTHERMAL: An energy company plans to build a geothermal energy plant near Houston, Texas, in a town where a coal plant is set to close in 2027. (Victoria Advocate)
COAL:
• Duke Energy’s staggered schedule to retire its coal-fired power plants leave it unclear exactly how they’ll be affected by the EPA’s newly proposed discharge rules. (NC Policy Watch)
• West Virginia lawmakers fail to pass a bill to create a public corporation to encourage energy development in the state’s coalfields. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, subscription)
• West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin cites grid reliability concerns as he requests the U.S. EPA delay its proposed “Good Neighbor Rule” to require a reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and other facilities. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
NUCLEAR: The looming completion of Georgia Power’s expansion of nuclear Plant Vogtle renews the long-running debate over how fission should play into America’s energy future. (HuffPost)
GRID:
• Residents of a Mississippi city complain they continue to regularly lose power weeks after an ice storm, spurring a state senator to file a bill allowing residents outside the city limits to leave the local utility. (WHBQ)
• Texas lawmakers introduce bills to dramatically reduce wind and solar generation while using taxpayer money to incentivize construction of natural gas power plants. (KUT)
• Appalachian Power sets two open houses to provide information and receive input on its plan to rebuild about 11 miles of electric transmission line in Virginia. (Bristol Herald Courier)
HYDROELECTRIC: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians presses to remove an aging hydroelectric dam to reconnect river habitats. (WFAE)
TRANSPORTATION: Dallas Fort Worth International Airport receives $35 million in federal funding to revamp its utilities plant to run on renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2030. (Dallas Innovates)
COMMENTARY: An energy columnist notes crowds for hydrogen, geothermal and other emerging, clean energy-related panels at a Texas energy conference, while attendance lags for oil and gas. (Houston Chronicle)
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