Efficiency fixes can slash N.C. emissions, climate plan says

EMISSIONS: North Carolina’s new climate plan says that increasing support for low-income housing weatherization, upgrading energy efficiency in government buildings, and other measures to trim energy usage could get the state 60% of the way to its 2030 emissions reduction target. (Energy News Network)

OVERSIGHT: A South Carolina energy regulator resigns in protest of legislation to facilitate a natural gas-fired power plant that critics warn limits public engagement and offers a blank check to the power industry. (The State, Post and Courier)

BIOMASS: Wood pellet producer Enviva files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to restructure after reaching agreements with creditors to significantly reduce its debt. (Wilmington StarNews, Associated Press)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• A new report ranks North Carolina just behind Michigan, Georgia, Texas, California and South Carolina as one of the top six states for clean energy investment since the 2022 passage of a federal climate package. (WRAL, Climate Power)
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joins Kentucky’s governor and other state leaders to cut the ribbon on a new factory that makes carbon batteries and other products for electric vehicles. (Louisville Public Media)

SOLAR: Rural health centers in Tennessee consider applying for a federal grant to install solar microgrids to maintain critical services during power outages. (WPLN)

OIL & GAS:

• Texas lawmakers call for more state investment into oil and gas infrastructure in the Permian Basin to continue to break production records there. (Odessa American)
• Mild weather and rising inventories along the Gulf Coast lead natural gas prices at the benchmark Henry Hub to fall to their lowest since the early 1990s. (S&P Global)
• Nine Virginia lawmakers come out against Dominion Energy’s plans to build a natural gas-fired plant near the state capital. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Entergy asks Louisiana regulators to approve its plan to build a 112 MW natural gas-fired power plant on a floating barge to support several nearby communities. (E&E News, subscription)

GRID: An Arkansas electric cooperative receives nearly $50 million in federal funding to install hundreds of miles of power lines and fiber-optic lines. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Georgia residents who sit near the site of electric vehicle maker Rivian’s planned factory say silt from the construction site has seeped into groundwater and contaminated their wells. (WSB)
• A private water company wants Georgia lawmakers to allow it to bypass local governments to provide water service to new homes near Hyundai’s planned electric vehicle and battery factory. (WAGA)
• Electric vehicle charger manufacturer Blink relocates its headquarters from Florida to Maryland. (South Florida Business Journal, subscription; Daily Record)

CLIMATE: A lawyer representing one of the landowners suing a Texas utility over a downed power line says damages from the enormous wildfires that resulted could exceed $1 billion. (KXAN)