Another delay for the increasingly expensive Mountain Valley Pipeline

SOLAR:

• North Carolina solar advocates argue in court that state regulators violated the law by not conducting an independent study before approving Duke Energy’s plan to impose new monthly fees and lower what solar customers get paid for excess power sent to the grid. (WFAE)
• Virginia solar installers argue with Dominion Energy over who should pay for grid upgrades to accommodate small solar projects, which for now fall to installers after state legislation failed to shift or split the costs. (Virginia Mercury)
• A federal agricultural census shows a declining number of Arkansas farms, but higher production and an increase in the use of renewable energy among those who remain. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, subscription)

OIL & GAS:

• A company will become the leading gas utility in Louisiana and Mississippi after it pays $1.2 billion to buy CenterPoint Energy’s natural gas distribution operations and $484 million for Entergy’s natural gas distribution business. (NOLA.com, Reuters)
• Federal regulators approve a cross-border pipeline proposed to carry Permian Basin natural gas to an export terminal on Mexico’s west coast. (E&E News)
• Liquified natural gas producers expect a continued surge in demand that likely won’t be affected much by the Biden administration’s pause in permitting export terminals along the Gulf Coast. (S&P Global)
• An energy company announces it’s purchased more than 470 oil and gas wells and roughly 140,000 net acres in the Western Anadarko and Cherokee basins in Oklahoma and Texas. (Offshore Technology)

UTILITIES:

• South Carolina regulators approve state-owned utility Santee Cooper’s long-term plan, including replacing a shuttered coal plant with a new natural gas plant that’s provoked opposition from climate activists. (Post and Courier, subscription)
• Two former executives of Jacksonville, Florida’s municipal utility head to trial on conspiracy and fraud charges that prosecutors say would have taken millions from city taxpayers. (Florida Times-Union)

COMMENTARY:

• Connecting Texas’ standalone electric grid to the rest of the U.S. would draw needed energy away from the state and further strain lagging transmission lines, writes an editorial board. (My RGV)
• The president of a conservative clean energy group endorses a Republican Congress member from Georgia for his ​“all of the above” energy policies that includes the expansion of nuclear plants. (Savannah Morning News)