Duke explores whether clean energy can help get data centers online

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DATA CENTERS

• Duke Energy agrees to consider a ​“clean transition tariff” in North Carolina that would allow data centers and other large-load customers to connect to the grid while still developing enough clean energy to meet their own demand. (Canary Media)

• North Carolina regulators hold their final public hearing on Duke Energy’s plans to develop new fossil fuel-fired plants to meet growing energy demand from data centers and population growth. (WFAE)

• North Carolina residents press a county government to adopt a data center moratorium as a developer considers a site and whether to use fracking to power it. (WFAE)

SOLAR

• Lego announces it will install a 26 MW solar array on its planned factory in Virginia. (WRIC, Electrek)

OVERSIGHT

• Appalachian Power names Republican West Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Justice’s chief of staff as its new president and CEO. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, WV Metro News)

GRID

• NextEra Energy asks Virginia regulators to let it build a new 107.5-mile, 500 kV transmission line that extends through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. (Winchester Star)

• Grid operator PJM Interconnection approves plans for Dominion Energy, Transource, and FirstEnergy to build a 115-mile, 765 kV power line across central Virginia. (Virginia Mercury)

• Companies and advocates push for North Carolina to do more to encourage virtual power plant programs linking solar panels, home batteries, electric vehicles, and smart thermostats to improve efficiency and reduce grid strain during peak demand. (WRAL)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Democratic U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island announces an investigation into the discrepancy between reported and observed methane emissions from oil and gas facilities in the Permian Basin after satellite data revealed actual emissions were four times higher than U.S. EPA estimates. (Inside Climate News)

• The city of Fort Worth, Texas, prepares a lawsuit after it spent about $4.8 million in emergency city funds to clean up its wastewater system after more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil leaked from a transmission line owned and operated by oil and gas company Energy Transfer. (Fort Worth Report)

• As Evergy moves to close an Arkansas coal-fired power plant by 2030 to comply with a settlement with environmental groups, its future owner considers what to do with the property. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

WIND

• A Kentucky county board moves to implement a moratorium on wind energy to research how to regulate wind and other renewable energy projects. (WEHT)

BIOMASS

• Louisiana lawmakers consider legislation to promote the expansion of the wood-pellet manufacturing industry despite criticism about its reliance on carbon capture and sequestration. (Louisiana Illuminator)

MANUFACTURING

• Texas regulators approve an investigation report about Tesla’s battery-grade lithium compounds factory discharging wastewater into a nearby ditch. (Inside Climate News)

• Canadian company Aclara Resources shows off its​pilot manufacturing facility at Virginia Tech, which it intends as a precursor to a full-sized Louisiana plant that company officials say could provide 75% of the U.S.’s rare earth minerals for EVs and other applications. (Cardinal News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Next-gen nuclear has a chicken-and-egg problem — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Where in the world is clean energy technology made? — Dan McCarthy

• Balcony solar bill gains momentum in Illinois — Kari Lydersen