D.C.-area governments set ambitious solar goal

SOLAR: A Washington, D.C.-based government coalition sets a goal to install solar on 250,000 rooftops by 2030, which would require northern Virginia to install solar on roughly 9,900 rooftops per year. (Virginia Mercury)

ALSO:

• Virginia solar advocates call for a full state hearing on Dominion Energy’s interconnection rules for solar projects between 250 kW and 1 MW, which they say are blocking small and medium-sized projects. (Virginia Mercury)
• Eastern Kentucky counties team up with Louisville to pursue federal grants to boost solar access for low-income households. (Kentucky Lantern)
• Louisiana State University researchers receive a $94,000 grant to study how Louisiana could expand solar power production without upsetting nearby communities. (The Advocate)
• A solar company proposes a 12 MW facility in southern Virginia. (Martinsville Bulletin)

TRANSITION: Renewable energy advocates in Louisiana, Virginia and elsewhere increasingly eye former coal mines and coal-fired power plants for renewable energy development that’s unlikely to attract community opposition. (States Newsroom)

EFFICIENCY: Activists canvas in Atlanta, Georgia, to tout a local energy efficiency program for low-income homeowners. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

GRID:

• Texas’ grid operator projects that increased use of renewables, growing population and the likelihood of El Niño could elevate the risk of power outages during a winter storm. (Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle)
• A report ranks Tennessee as one of the most vulnerable states for power outages if extreme cold hits the South this winter. (WKRN)
• Texas’ power grid operator drops its plans to add 3 GW of capacity to ensure winter reliability after receiving demand response offers for just 11 MW. (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS:

• An oil spill believed to be caused by a pipeline rupture off Louisiana appears to rank among the 10 largest to affect American waters in 40 years of tracking. (Houston Chronicle)
• A 550-acre, $10 billion liquid natural gas terminal under construction on the Louisiana coast becomes the latest flashpoint in the massive buildout of LNG terminals along the Gulf Coast. (Sierra)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: After winning its strike against the ​“Big Three” automakers, the United Auto Workers looks hard at Texas-based electric vehicle maker Tesla and Ford’s joint-venture EV battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR:

• Arkansas joins Mississippi in settling with Entergy over its alleged mismanagement of a nuclear plant, but Louisiana officials appear to be intensifying their efforts to claw back hundreds of millions of dollars from the utility. (NOLA.com)
• Experts say the cancellation of the first small modular nuclear reactor power plant project in the U.S. won’t have any effect on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plan to deploy a similar reactor on former coal mine land. (Cardinal News)

CRYPTOCURRENCY: Texas emerges as the bitcoin mining capital of the U.S., largely because of open land, state support and cheap energy through deals the crypto-mining industry has cut with the state grid operator. (Dallas Morning News)

POLITICS: Coal miner advocates bemoan West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s impending departure from Congress. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

MANUFACTURING: Experts say manufacturing and other parts of the tech sector in Austin, Texas, which expanded during the pandemic, should continue to grow despite the industry’s wave of layoffs and cost-cutting. (Austin American-Statesman)

COMMENTARY: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s focus on the solar and wind industries could divert labor from other industries and slow the state’s economy, writes the CEO of a conservative think tank. (Charlotte Observer)