Biden announces $612 million for post-hurricane grid projects

GRID: President Biden announces $612 million for six projects to improve electric grid resilience in hurricane-affected communities. (NPR)

ALSO: More than 550 incarcerated men suffered in North Carolina prison cells without lights or running water for five days after Helene, until they finally were transferred to different facilities. (Intercept)

SOLAR: A nonprofit and a solar company partner to deliver 33 solar-plus-battery microgrids and dozens more portable batteries to western North Carolina communities that still lack power from Hurricane Helene’s damage. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR:

• Georgia Power’s expansion of a nuclear plant cost more than twice its original budget, took 15 years to build and contributed to its original contractors going bankrupt, suggesting a widespread expansion of nuclear power will be costly and take quite a while. (Floodlight)
• West Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to partner with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take over regulation of certain radioactive materials. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

HYDROELECTRIC: A Virginia town council budgets $272,500 for a feasibility study of using a pair of small-flow turbines to run its hydroelectric plant when the James River is low. (Lynchburg News & Advance)

OIL & GAS: Tennessee farmers protest the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to build a gas-fired power plant. (WZTV)

COAL:

• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has relied on a string of unrelated third parties to prop his coal companies up, which has amplified his debt problems while withholding tax revenue from local governments. (Jacobin)
• A federal judge finds merit in retired coal miners’ case against CONSOL Energy for allegedly defrauding them of lifetime health benefits they’d been promised in return for not joining a union. (West Virginia Watch)

CLIMATE:

• Scientists warn that global warming plus reductions of sulfate aerosol pollution will continue to make hurricanes like those that struck the Southeast in recent weeks even larger and more frequent. (Inside Climate News)
• A federal analysis shows that every dollar spent on flood-protection projects such as levees, dams and pump stations saves taxpayers between $2 to $6, depending on the project, in disaster recovery money. (NOLA.com)
• Analysis of federal data finds just 2% of properties in western North Carolina were flagged as a ​“Special Flood Hazard Area,” meaning FEMA vastly underestimated the flood risk in areas that were slammed by Hurricane Helene. (Washington Post)

COAL ASH: Tennessee officials learn about the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to spend $1 billion into improving how it stores coal ash byproducts. (Gallatin News)

EFFICIENCY: An Alabama electric cooperative offers energy efficiency rebates through a Tennessee Valley Authority program. (Cullman Tribune)

POLITICS:

• The double-shot of Hurricanes Helene and Milton fails to move congressional Republicans to address climate change and its contributions to worsening storms. (E&E News)
• Texas voters consider candidates for a statewide seat on a three-person regulatory board that oversees the oil and gas industry. (Houston Chronicle)
• Donald Trump criticizes the White House for its response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, trying to incite anger in the 2024 presidential campaign’s homestretch. (E&E News, Associated Press)

COMMENTARY: An editor considers the complicated question of whether climate change is leading more people to move to mountainous Appalachia. (Cardinal News)