After unionizing Georgia school bus factory, workers see progress

MANUFACTURING: Workers at a Georgia electric school bus factory that unionized last year secure a new contract that boosts pay and benefits, indicating how the labor movement could benefit from the green manufacturing boom. (Grist)

ALSO:

• As power demand surges, a Korean solar panel factory in Georgia stands to receive up to $900 million in tax benefits annually, which officials hope will help improve on a projected $28.6 million operating loss this year. (Korea Herald)
• Historically coal-reliant West Virginia sees a wave of green energy manufacturing development with electric vehicle, titanium and battery factories. (WV News)

GRID: Texas’ grid manager releases a report identifying a 16% chance of emergency grid conditions after sundown this summer, when solar generation falls off and power gets bottlenecked in transmission lines. (Houston Chronicle)

CLEAN ENERGY: Entergy and NextEra announce a five-year agreement to develop 4.5GW of solar and battery storage projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (Reuters)

PIPELINES:

• A group of legal activists put the Mountain Valley Pipeline ​“on trial” before a panel of five Indigenous judges during a demonstration in North Carolina. (Blue Ridge Public Radio)
• Pipeline opponents complain about a lack of urgency and transparency in paperwork documenting the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s rupture during pressure testing last month. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• The president of a western Virginia gas company says the Mountain Valley Pipeline will boost the region’s ability to attract a large industrial employer. (Roanoke Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Georgia river conservation group announces its intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over water permits awarded to Hyundai’s 2,541-acre electric vehicle factory. (Georgia Current)

OIL & GAS:

• Entergy proposes building 754 MW and 453 MW gas-fired plants in Texas, both with ​“hydrogen-capable” turbines. (news release)
• A Virginia gas company announces it will invest $620,000 in workforce development. (WAVY)

COAL: Arkansas receives $1.7 million to clean up abandoned coal mines. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

TRANSITION: A southwestern Virginia county board considers whether to approve construction of a large-scale landfill on the site of a former coal prep plant. (WVTF)

EMISSIONS:

• A new judge takes over a legal challenge to Virginia’s withdrawal from a regional carbon market. (Roanoke Times)
• A Virginia county works with researchers from George Mason University to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become carbon-neutral by 2050. (Cardinal News)

UTILITIES: Lawyers for Florida Power & Light customers appeal a case in which judges upheld state regulators’ authority to determine the utility met its obligations to prevent power outages during Hurricane Irma. (WUSF)

CLIMATE:

• A Georgia researcher warns of the effects of record-breaking heat on children. (Inside Climate News)
• State and federal agencies that estimate between 36 and 45 people died during Kentucky’s 2022 flooding illustrate the difficulties in accurately counting the number of people who die from extreme weather in the U.S. (NPR)

COMMENTARY: Texas conservatives should embrace efforts to strengthen the power grid, reduce carbon emissions and invest in renewables and carbon capture for the good of the country and because of their values, writes a minister. (Austin American-Statesman)