$500M West Virginia renewables deal bypasses state regulators

RENEWABLES: West Virginia lawmakers’ approval of Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s planned $500 million solar and industrial plant required bypassing state regulators who have frequently hampered renewable energy projects — effectively leaving Berkshire Hathaway to operate without rate regulation. (Mountain State Spotlight)

SOLAR:
• A Korean solar manufacturer streamlines its operations in that country to focus on production at its U.S. factory in Georgia, where it will benefit from federal tax incentives. (Korea JoongAng Daily)
• South Carolina solar has exploded from fewer than 3,000 installations in 2016 to more than 30,000 today, with more than 4,000 in the metro county around Charleston. (Post and Courier)
• A North Carolina county board unanimously rejects a proposed 200 MW solar farm because of its size, its location in an agricultural area, and potential effects on flooding and water supply. (Port City Daily)
• A solar company announces a 200 MW power purchase agreement with Procter and Gamble at a Texas solar farm. (news release)

WIND: Entergy announces it will explore offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Mexico to meet Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ call to develop 5 GW of wind power by 2035. (NOLA.com)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: U.S. EPA administrator Michael Regan visits the North Carolina community whose fight against a landfill is acknowledged as the start of the environmental justice movement to announce a federal environmental justice office. (North Carolina Health News, Associated Press)

CARBON CAPTURE: Exxon’s planned $100 billion carbon-capture mega-project in Houston is already fueling federal support for the technology and could unlock hundreds of billions of dollars more if it proves successful. (Inside Climate News)

OVERSIGHT: Arkansas’ top utility regulator ends eight years in the job and will likely become a consultant, though his solar power advocacy could eventually land him a federal job. (Arkansas Business)

GRID:
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declares a state of emergency and warns residents to prepare for Hurricane Ian to make landfall. (Tampa Bay Times, CNN)
• Power has been restored to about half of the 3.1 million people in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona knocked out power to the entire island a week ago. (Bloomberg)

TRANSITION: A company prepares to open West Virginia’s first coal-to-carbon processing plant in what advocates say will explode into a $100-billion-a-year industry over the next several years. (Bluefield Daily-Telegraph)

UTILITIES: A coalition of Texas unions rallies outside Austin’s municipal utility headquarters to call for stronger safety protections for construction workers on renewable energy projects amid unpopular rate increases. (KXAN)

EMISSIONS: Virginia Tech will receive $80 million for a pilot program to pay farmers to implement crop and livestock practices to curb greenhouse emissions. (Virginia Business)

CLIMATE: The Southeast leads the U.S. in total power outages since 2000, caused largely by hurricanes and other extreme weather. (WSFA)

COMMENTARY: A gas company executive calls for completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, but an editorial board questions the wisdom of overruling a federal appeals court just to get the project done. (Roanoke Times)