Advocates: North Carolina must upgrade grid technology

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Southeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

GRID

• Clean energy advocates lobby North Carolina lawmakers to back legislation encouraging Duke Energy to upgrade the grid with new technology that’s better able to withstand extreme weather and accommodate new sources of power. (Canary Media)

• A South Korean transformer manufacturer announces it will invest $51 million to expand its headquarters and factory in Memphis, Tennessee. (Tennessee Lookout)

• Advocates say Texas’ standalone grid will easily meet soaring power demand during unseasonably high temperatures this week because of the rapid growth of renewables, which state lawmakers are trying to hobble through numerous bills. (Houston Chronicle)

• Atlanta residents push back on Georgia Power’s plans to build new transmission lines through their neighborhood for a data center. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Northern Virginia residents speak against Dominion Energy’s plan to build a large 36-mile transmission line to help power regional data centers. (WTTG)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Republicans in Congress consider slashing Biden-era tax credits that have helped fuel the $32 billion in private clean energy investment announced in Georgia between 2020 and 2023. (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Congressional Republicans advance a measure to allow oil and gas companies to pay a $10 million fee to fast-track federal permitting reviews and bypass years of environmental reviews and litigation. (Houston Chronicle)

• Clean Refineries Inc. announces plans to invest $1 billion to redevelop a petroleum terminal in Louisiana into a net-zero emissions refinery to make marine-grade bunker fuel, asphalt, and diesel. (KADN)

SOLAR

• A Virginia county board approves a 5 MW solar farm with buffers, wildlife corridors, and setbacks, while a second project by the same developer is delayed as it reworks its plan to address concerns. (Farmville Herald)

• A South Carolina county board denies a proposed 170 MW solar farm after more than 100 residents turn out to oppose it. (WIS)

EFFICIENCY

• The Tennessee Valley Authority announces $2.3 million for energy efficiency improvements to reduce costs and emissions in 98 schools. (Itawamba County Times)

UTILITIES

• The Tennessee Valley Authority announces a new executive team tasked with cutting nearly $1 billion in operational costs. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

FEDERAL WORKERS

• The​National Weather Service scrambles to fill 155 vacancies by late May including a number of key positions in storm-prone Louisiana and Texas, where the agency is trying to attract more employees before hurricane season begins in a few weeks. (Washington Post)

• Trump’s cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service threaten Virginia’s ability to fill gaps and maintain cleanup goals for the Chesapeake Bay. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE

• A LendingTree analysis finds Virginia sees coastal flooding onto normally dry land because of high tides and storm surge an average of 159 times per year, and climate change is intensifying the problem. (WHRO)