Duke’s North Carolina gas, solar plan wins over some critics

EMISSIONS: North Carolina’s ratepayer advocate, Walmart, and other critics of Duke Energy’s initial decarbonization plan relent and endorse a settlement that includes construction of 9 GW of new natural gas plants and more solar. (Energy News Network)

SOLAR:

• A Louisiana legislative hearing on solar energy is rife with misinformation and inaccurate statements voiced by officials and lawmakers with deep ties to the state’s powerful oil and gas industry. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• A Virginia county board asks its attorney to comb through its solar ordinance and propose adjustments based on the solar farms it’s approved over the last seven years. (Gazette-Virginian)
• A Virginia county board approves a permit for a 5 MW solar farm to be built across from a golf club. (Amherst New Era-Progress)
• A Texas county expects to receive $7 million from a total of $250 awarded to the state to build solar projects for low-income and disadvantaged communities, but since its board initially voted against the project, it’s unclear what the final dollar amount will be. (Fort Worth Report)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Kentucky has attracted more than $11.5 billion in electric vehicle-related investments since 2020, but lagging vehicle sales and a partisan split over the industry create uncertainty about its future. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
• An Arkansas transit agency receives $14.9 million in federal funding to build electric vehicle charging stations at up to 17 sites. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

OVERSIGHT: A federal court blocks the U.S. EPA and Justice Department from using portions of the Civil Rights Act to control whether Louisiana regulators consider the disparate and cumulative impacts of polluting facilities on Black and Brown communities. (Floodlight)

COAL:

• The son of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice no-shows a federal court hearing in a lawsuit over pollution from an Alabama coking plant, prompting the judge to file an order finding him and the coal company in civil contempt. (Inside Climate News)
• Federal regulators say they’re taking a more active approach in working with coal operators after the industry saw 40 mining deaths in 2023 and 15 so far this year. (WEKU)

OIL & GAS: A court rejects a federal agency’s 2020 environmental assessment that glossed over the potential harm to endangered and threatened marine species from oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. (Inside Climate News)

GRID: A heat dome settles over Texas, pushing demand on the state power grid to an unofficial all-time high. (Associated Press)

• FINANCE: A Virginia-based finance company leverages half a billion dollars in U.S. EPA funding to launch a ​“Green Bank” to fund clean energy projects in Appalachia and other rural areas. (WSLS, Blue Ridge Public Radio/​Grist)

STORAGE: Texas accounts for nearly a quarter of the 4.2 GW of battery storage installed in the U.S. in the first half of 2024. (PV Magazine)

HYDROGEN: West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio officials gather to celebrate the first $30 million round of funding for a regional hydrogen hub that’s been criticized for a lack of transparency. (Inter-Mountain, WESA)

HYDROPOWER: Appalachian Power warns boaters and other recreational users to beware of water levels on the New and Roanoke rivers as it considers increasing generation from its hydroelectric facilities to meet power demand. (Chatham Star-Tribune)