Florida fossil fuel law squashes Tampa’s clean energy bid

OIL & GAS: A Florida law to prohibit localities from restricting fossil fuels smothers Tampa’s efforts to transition to clean energy through a ban on new natural gas infrastructure. (Grist)

ALSO:
• A new study shows Louisiana’s reliance on oil and tourism hampered its economic recovery from the pandemic compared to states with more diverse markets. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• An oil company will buy half a billion dollars of oil and gas wells in west Texas’ prolific Delaware Basin. (Houston Chronicle)

COAL:
• About 1,100 striking Alabama miners are joined by union advocates from across the country in a rally against Warrior Met Coal outside BlackRock’s headquarters in New York City. (Guardian, Bloomberg)
• U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia received nearly $500,000 — more than twice his salary as a senator — from shares in a coal company that acts as a contractor for one of the state’s dirtiest coal plants, according to financial disclosures. (Vice)

INFRASTRUCTURE:
• West Virginia electric vehicle and clean energy advocates press the state’s influential U.S. senators to include climate-friendly projects in a federal infrastructure package. (WBOY, Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• An eastern Texas electric cooperative partners with a county government to expand broadband internet. (KLTV)

UTILITIES: A western North Carolina utility gives members $6 million in bill credits from Duke Energy’s final coal ash settlement. (Avery Journal)

EMISSIONS:
• A professor identifies and maps the 20 Louisiana industrial plants most responsible for carbon dioxide emissions. (NOLA.com)
• A central Arkansas water utility pledges to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through upgrades to its plants and vehicle fleet. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

SOLAR:
• A split Virginia city council approves a 4 MW solar farm, with opponents expressing concern about agricultural land. (Suffolk News-Herald)
• An Arkansas family’s use of solar power in its poultry operation attracts attention and leads to its being named the county farm family of the year. (Cleveland County Herald)

ELECTRIC CARS: A South Korean battery maker that supplies Tesla and General Motors sees quarterly profits surge after settling a trade dispute with a rival company. (Reuters)

GRID:
• A clean electricity company moving from California opts to build its new headquarters in North Carolina over Texas, in part because of its grid interconnectivity. (KVUE)
• A more active hurricane season tests utilities’ power grids along the Gulf Coast and pushes some residents to buy household generators. (WBHM/​WWNO/​Mississippi Public Broadcasting/​NPR)
• A summer heat wave drives up energy demand and strains grids across the Southeast this week, including in Tennessee and Texas. (WBIR, Reuters)
• Officials in north Texas say electric outages this week stemmed from equipment failure at a substation and not summer heat or grid issues. (Times Record News)
• Dominion Energy is conducting a program to identify frequently damaged power lines and move them underground to reduce outages. (Vienna Connection)