EPA to review emission rules in Louisiana’s ​“Cancer Alley”

EMISSIONS: The EPA reaches a tentative deal with environmental groups to review its hazardous air pollutant standards for manufacturing plants in Louisiana’s ​“Cancer Alley” corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The number of electric vehicles registered in Arkansas jumped 43% in the first five months of 2022 compared to that time last year. (KUAR)
• A group opposed to electric vehicle maker Rivian’s plans to build a Georgia factory sue over a county board’s approval of incentives because public comment was not allowed during the meeting. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
• Georgia motorists say escalating gasoline prices may push them to consider buying electric vehicles. (WALB)
• A nonprofit clean energy group uses research, advocacy, and outreach to promote renewable energy and electric vehicles across the Southeast. (CleanTechnica)
• A dealership in Fort Worth, Texas, becomes the first to be certified to sell Mack Trucks’ first fully electric garbage truck. (Transport Topics)

SOLAR:
• A public official approves the construction and operation of a 150 MW solar farm in Mississippi. (WCBI)
• An Arkansas water authority begins operation of a 1.1 MW solar array to offset its power usage. (Arkansas Business)

UTILITIES:
• An energy expert explains that electricity rates in Texas are especially volatile because the state has nothing to incentivize electricity generators to produce extra supply when there is extra demand. (WFAA)
• Entergy warns its Louisiana customers the rising price of natural gas could combine with the cost of storm repairs to increase power rates by an average of $25 per household per month. (The Advocate)

OIL & GAS: Natural gas prices continue to rise on expected summer demand, a drop in wind energy output in Texas, and work on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline that will slow flows to the Northeast. (Natural Gas Intelligence)

GRID: High June temperatures are expected to fuel energy demand and test the Texas grid’s resilience. (KUT)

OVERSIGHT:
• President Joe Biden nominates a Kentucky county judge executive and a former mayor from Mississippi to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board, while still awaiting Senate confirmation for three other nominees. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• A new inspector general for the Tennessee Valley Authority returns from retirement after previously working 31 years in the office. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

COMMENTARY:
• Texas needs to get a better handle on natural gas leaks in low-income and minority neighborhoods, writes the head of a Dallas-area neighborhood advocacy group. (Dallas Morning News)
• An editorial board calls for continued development of Louisiana’s liquified natural gas facilities and domestic oil and gas production to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine. (The Advocate)
• A years-long debate over a proposed onshore wind farm in western Virginia pits environmentalists who want to preserve nature and sustainability advocates who want to save the planet, writes a retired policy analyst. (Roanoke Times)