Dominion shows off Virginia offshore wind farm construction

WIND: Dominion Energy showcases its use of environmentally friendly bubble curtains and vibrations to set monopiles as it moves forward with construction of a $9.8 billion offshore wind farm near Virginia. (Virginia Mercury)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• An organization representing gas station chains calls on Florida officials to begin taking applications for funding to build electric vehicle charging stations. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Houston has installed 30% more electric vehicle stations since last April, data shows. (KTRK)

SOLAR:

• A Louisiana parish council rejects a proposed 360 MW solar farm over concerns from local residents and worries about the 2,200-acre project’s implications for agriculture, even though Entergy and its industrial customers had pushed for approval. (The Advocate)
• As a Virginia county board considers approving a solar farm, its members visit a solar facility in a nearby county whose operator reportedly pays fines rather than comply with environmental protections. (Bristol Herald-Courier)
• A petrochemical company partners with NextEra on a 310 MW solar farm in Texas that will match the power used at all 14 of its U.S. facilities. (Renewables Now)
• NextEra enters an agreement with Entergy to build up to 4.5 GW of new solar and storage projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (South Florida Business Journal, subscription)
• A Virginia planning commission recommends a county board reject a proposed 80 MW solar farm. (MadRapp Recorder)

UTILITIES: Clean energy advocates tell North Carolina regulators they should push Duke Energy to build more renewables and dial back its plans for new gas plants to meet an anticipated spike in power demand. (WFAE)

OIL & GAS:

• Federal regulators consider approving a large liquified natural gas export terminal in Louisiana. (E&E News, subscription)
• The U.S. EPA launches an investigation of how Texas regulates the injection of wastewater, gas and chemicals into the ground, rattling state officials who want the state to oversee carbon capture and sequestration. (E&E News, subscription)

PIPELINES:

• North Carolina pipeline opponents gear up to oppose the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s proposed extension into the state now that federal regulators have cleared the long-delayed project to enter service. (Winston-Salem Journal)
• Oil and gas industry officials in Appalachia cheer the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, saying it’s just one of the many pipelines and export terminals still needed to move gas into Southeast markets. (WV Metro News)

GRID:

• Researchers say connecting Texas’ standalone power grid to the rest of the country would have prevented up to 80% of the power outages during the 2021 winter storm that rattled the state. (WFAA)
• Dominion Energy moves forward with a grid hardening project that’s buried roughly 2,000 miles of power lines in Virginia over the past decade. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Dominion Energy revs up its surveillance of the power grid in coastal Virginia amid a sweltering heat wave. (WVEC)

COMMENTARY:

• Federal regulators are endangering residents along the Mountain Valley Pipeline by allowing it to enter service despite the lack of transparency about a pipeline rupture during testing, writes a climate activist. (West Virginia Watch)
• Entergy aims to build 1,600 MW of new capacity in Texas by 2028 by proposing two natural gas-fired power plants, two solar farms, and transmission upgrades, writes its president and CEO. (Beaumont Enterprise)