EPA’s power plant rule creates uncertainty around gas buildout

OIL & GAS: Texas’ natural gas industry faces uncertainty after the U.S. EPA passes a new rule to limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired and new gas plants, forcing them to rely on largely untested carbon capture technology or shut down. (Houston Chronicle, States Newsroom)

ALSO:

• The Tennessee Valley Authority and Duke Energy consider whether the EPA’s new power plant rules will force them to alter plans to build more natural gas-fired power plants, or to implement more carbon capture. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, WSOC)
• Virginia residents voice opposition to Dominion Energy’s new planned 1,000 MW natural gas plant at a meeting of a county board. (WWBT)

COAL ASH: Advocates cheer and call for hearty enforcement of a new U.S. EPA rule they hope will force cleanup of hundreds of ponds, landfills, and impoundments that hold toxic coal ash. (Energy News Network)

GRID: Texas’ grid operator warns of the possibility of ​“immediate catastrophic grid failure” over a growing dispute with clean energy developers that rely on an inverter to convert power, but which can be tripped and push power sources offline if there’s a disturbance. (Houston Chronicle)

SOLAR:

• Dominion Energy brings five small community solar farms totaling 27.4 MW online, with plans for two more totaling 10.7 MW next month as Virginia’s newly expanded ​“shared solar” programs take off. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Nine colleges and universities in North Carolina and Pennsylvania partner with a large solar farm in Kentucky to offset their power production. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Tesla uses a new Texas law to ​“deannex” a factory campus from the city of Austin, allowing it to dodge the city’s air quality and water use policies. (Austin American-Statesman)
• The United Auto Workers victory in organizing workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant gives it new momentum in its push to unionize nearly 150,000 workers across the South as they shift to making electric vehicles. (Associated Press)

WIND:

• Federal officials expand the scope of a planned offshore wind lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico to include the potential for hydrogen production and other energy products using wind turbines. (S&P Global)
• Oklahoma ranks second nationally in wind energy generation, which along with its oil and gas industry has led to a stable power grid that’s attracting a growing number of data centers and factories. (S&P Global)

PIPELINES:

• A Florida energy company receives $10 million in federal funds to replace 15 miles of outdated pipeline. (WEAR)
• As the Mountain Valley Pipeline nears completion, company officials say nearly 200 of the pipeline’s 303 total miles have been restored with dirt and grass, although workers are still actively laying pipe in some areas. (WDBJ)

EMISSIONS: West Virginia University scientists research carbon capture technology. (WTRF)

CLIMATE: Experts say climate change is intensifying the pollen season in Florida and beyond, exacerbating allergies and respiratory problems among residents. (Tampa Bay Times)

COMMENTARY:

• Texas should better shield patents in the oil and gas industry against tech companies’ efforts to weaken the system, writes a founding partner of an oil company. (Dallas Morning News)
• An editorial board decries Florida lawmakers’ passage of a bill to block localities from passing ordinances to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat that’s being worsened by climate change. (Orlando Sentinel)