Duke solar + battery rebates in N.C. could counter net-metering cuts

SOLAR: Duke Energy prepares to offer new rebates in North Carolina for rooftop solar arrays paired with batteries, which along with federal incentives could create a new wave of business for solar installers even after Duke reduced net-metering credits. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: An Arkansas city board agrees to move forward with development of a 4.9 MW solar farm that officials hope will provide 70% of the power for city operations. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A North Carolina lithium company lays off more than a quarter of its workforce as part of a $10 million cost-cutting plan as lithium prices plummet. (Charlotte Observer)
• Toyota more than doubles its investment in a Kentucky factory to $1.3 billion as it shifts to making more electric vehicles. (Kentucky Lantern)
• The installation of electric vehicle chargers at a Tennessee Waffle House breaks with the national trend of placing chargers at convenience stores or gas stations. (Green Car Reports)

POLITICS:

• Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to ban utilities from donating to political campaigns after Dominion Energy donated more than $10 million to candidates during last year’s state legislative elections. (WTKR)
• Virginia lawmakers approve a bill to create a new shared solar program for Appalachian Power and expand Dominion Energy’s existing program. (Cardinal News)
• West Virginia lawmakers advance a bill backed by manufacturing industries to block state agencies from using data collected by community air monitoring programs for regulation or enforcement. (Mountain State Spotlight)
• Virginia lawmakers delay for a year their consideration of a bill to allow state regulators to approve large renewable energy projects over the objections of localities, leading to a kerfuffle when a Sierra Club lobbyist says the action will appear on its legislative scorecard. (Cardinal News, Virginia Mercury)

CARBON CAPTURE: Southeastern Louisiana University deploys four buoys to monitor the ecosystem of a lake where a company wants to inject carbon dioxide captured from a blue hydrogen facility. (The Advocate)

OIL & GAS:

• The 5.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Oklahoma last week could cause the state to take action against oil and gas drillers after an increase in quakes more than a decade ago led the state to impose similar drilling restrictions. (Associated Press)
• The U.S. saw record-breaking natural gas consumption in January, but federal officials lower production estimates for the first quarter due in part to a partial outage at a facility in Texas. (S&P Global)

COAL: Private club property owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice will be auctioned off to satisfy more than $300 million in unpaid loans issued by a Virginia bank for the Justice family’s coal, agricultural and hospitality businesses. (Cardinal News)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Community advocates rally to support a historically Black community in Alabama that’s seen repeated flooding problems since the state expanded a nearby highway. (Inside Climate News)

FINANCE: A multi-month pause in operations by a state-approved clean energy home improvement lender in Florida last year has caused problems for a couple who installed an air conditioning unit but haven’t been able to pay the contractor. (WKMG)

NUCLEAR: A truck carrying low-level nuclear waste catches fire on Interstate 40 near Nashville, leading to the revelation that up to 75% of low-level radioactive waste in the U.S. goes to Tennessee for processing. (WKRN)