After setback, North Carolina efficiency advocates look for opportunities

EFFICIENCY: After Republican state lawmakers blocked any changes to the state building code until 2031, North Carolina clean energy advocates look for incentives and other ways to build energy efficiency into new housing stock. (Energy News Network)

SOLAR:

• Environmental and clean energy groups appeal to North Carolina courts to overturn state regulators’ decision that let Duke Energy reduce what it pays rooftop solar owners for excess energy and add a monthly $10 fee. (WFAE)
• Local governments across Virginia’s sun-rich Southside region are increasingly looking to slow solar development by capping how much land can be used for such projects. (Cardinal News)
• Nearly 100 Oklahomans pack a county board meeting to oppose a proposed 250 MW solar farm that’s part of a sprawling NextEra project that also includes a wind farm and battery storage. (Enid News & Eagle)
• A Virginia county planning commission considers a 5 MW solar project. (South Boston News & Record)

OIL & GAS:

• Environmentalists gear up for a fight with the Biden administration over the massive expansion of U.S. natural gas exports, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Washington Post)
• The CEO of a Texas port poised to become the top oil-exporting port in the U.S. credits surging production in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale. (KIII)

EMISSIONS: West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joins Indiana and Ohio to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block the Biden administration’s ​“Good Neighbor Plan” to prevent emissions within states’ borders from significantly affecting other states’ air quality. (Bluefield Daily-Telegraph)

CLIMATE:

• With record-high summer temperatures, a metro Florida county spends $2.3 million to purchase and install 1,700 air conditioners in nearly 10,000 public housing units. (Miami Herald)
• A new report finds the rising cost of flood insurance is a recovery obstacle for eastern Kentucky residents displaced by 2022 floods. (Kentucky Lantern)
• A New Orleans-based foundation distributes $1.2 million to Louisiana climate resiliency projects with the goal of helping nonprofits and local government agencies unlock more state and federal funding. (NOLA.com)

HYDROGEN: Oklahoma officials remain optimistic about the state’s ability to become a hydrogen industry leader even after the Biden administration rejects its bid to become a federally funded hydrogen hub. (Oklahoma Voice)

CRYPTOCURRENCY: With cryptocurrency prices falling, a developer moves to replace the planned second phase of a Texas crypto mine with a battery storage facility. (Energy Storage News)

PIPELINES: Three more protesters are arrested in Virginia after locking themselves to Mountain Valley Pipeline construction equipment. (WDBJ)

GRID: The Tennessee Valley Authority says it spent $8 million over the summer winterizing its coal, gas and hydro fleets. (WTVC)

UTILITIES: Duke Energy asks Florida regulators to pass along $91.9 million in storm-related costs from Hurricane Idalia to its customers. (News Service of Florida)

COMMENTARY:

• West Virginia officials are wasting residents’ money in a quixotic effort to preserve coal, including paying consultants for reports that argue coal-fired power plants should be running at higher capacity, writes an editorial board. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A Virginia county board’s claim that solar farms are using up too much farmland is easily debunked by examining how much agricultural land has been devoted to subdivisions anchored by 5-acre homes, writes a county resident. (Winchester Star)