Fossil fuel fingerprints all over Texas’ new business courts

OVERSIGHT: Texas prepares to launch a new set of business courts overseen by a panel of judges who have previously represented oil and gas companies, raising questions about whether the new courts lean too far toward fossil fuel favoritism. (The Lever)

ALSO: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear appoints eight members to a new energy planning commission ostensibly intended to slow the retirement of fossil fuel-fired power plants, including officials from two utilities that opposed the new board’s creation. (Kentucky Lantern)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Electric vehicle maker Canoo announces it will move its headquarters to Texas as part of a larger move to relocate away from California to Texas and Oklahoma. (WFAA)
• Houston receives $15 million and Georgia receives $26.8 million in federal funding to add electric vehicle chargers. (Houston Chronicle, WSB)

CLEAN ENERGY: Along with the addition of 15 GW of solar, battery and wind over the last year, Texas added 6.6% more clean energy jobs to rank second in the U.S. after Idaho. (Houston Chronicle)

SOLAR:

• A company announces plans to build a $6 million factory in Louisiana to make solar panel components to supply Ohio-based company First Solar. (Acadiana Advocate)
• A Virginia county board approves a conditional use permit and siting agreement for a 125 MW solar farm that’s been stalled in development since 2019. (Charlotte Gazette)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority issues a request for proposals for a 200 MW solar farm in Alabama. (Moulton Advertiser)

COAL: Alabama residents voice their concerns about a coal mine’s operations in the first public meeting since a fatal explosion that a federal lawsuit blames on a methane leak. (Inside Climate News)

BIOMASS: Georgia Power asks Georgia regulators to approve its plan to add three biomass-burning plants totaling 80 MW to its existing 350 MW fleet of plants. (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)

OIL & GAS: 

• Austin, Texas, residents push the municipal utility to drop its plans to build a new hydrogen-capable natural gas-fired power plant. (Austin Monitor)
• A coalition of 23 state attorneys general petitions the Supreme Court to block EPA rules requiring oil and gas wells to control leaks of methane, a significant contributor to global warming. (The Hill)
• A pipeline company buys another company in the Permian Basin and its equity interests in a pair of deals collectively valued at nearly $6 billion. (Bloomberg, subscription)

STORAGE:

• An energy company announces plans to build two battery energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 350 MW for San Antonio, Texas’ municipal utility. (Renewables Now)
• A Mississippi county discusses improvements to an industrial park where an electric truck battery plant is being built, as well as a likely Tennessee Valley Authority substation. (South Reporter)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators approve 20-year extensions for two reactors at a Dominion Energy nuclear power plant in Virginia that were originally licensed in the late ​‘70s. (Virginia Business)

UTILITIES:

• CenterPoint Energy attempts to placate Texas officials angry over its response to Hurricane Beryl by offering to forego $110 million in anticipated profits from generators it purchased but didn’t use. (Houston Chronicle)
• West Virginia regulators field a growing number of angry comments about Appalachian Power’s proposed rate hike even after delaying formal consideration until next spring. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

COMMENTARY: Jacksonville and other Florida cities should lead the way in incentivizing community microgrids and rooftop solar installation to address climate change and accelerate the clean energy transition, writes a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral. (Invading Sea/​Florida Times-Union)