How Georgia’s GOP governor threads the needle on green economy

POLITICS: Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp publicly shrugs off climate change but has also aggressively — and successfully — pursued economic opportunities related to clean energy. (Politico)

ALSO:
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin halted the state’s efforts to win a Ford electric vehicle battery plant last year because of his concerns about the involvement of a Chinese company. (Virginia Mercury)
• Virginia lawmakers advance a bill to exempt large electricity users from costs associated with utilities’ state-mandated obligation to cut carbon emissions. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

GRID:
• PJM grid officials blame natural gas and coal plant failures for power shortages in its 13-state territory during last month’s winter storm. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority and Nashville’s municipal utility blame last month’s rolling blackouts on frozen sensors at a coal plant and a substation catching fire. (WTVF)
• A municipal Alabama utility official tells a city council it implemented rolling blackouts last month at the behest of the Tennessee Valley Authority, relieving grid overload and avoiding a ​“worst-case scenario.” (AL.com)
• Texas officials say they’re pleased the grid made it through last month’s cold snap without the need for blackouts or emergency operations. (KVUE)
• Texas regulators delay a vote on a proposed redesign of the state electricity market to give state lawmakers more time to decide whether to pursue alternatives. (Austin American-Statesman)

SOLAR:
• A Virginia planning commission votes for the third time in three years to recommend denial of a 149 MW solar farm despite numerous concessions to reduce its size and mitigate construction impacts. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)
• A Texas municipal utility files plans to build a 10 MW solar facility. (KTSM)
• A 16-year-old successfully writes a proposal to locate solar umbrellas to charge laptops and devices at a North Carolina college. (WFMY)
• A Georgia woman says she was misled by a solar company who told her the government would cover installation costs but didn’t make her aware she’d still have to pay for solar panels. (WTOC)

STORAGE: Documents reveal Georgia offered $358 million in incentives to attract a $2.57 billion battery factory. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

UTILITIES: Dominion Energy signs an agreement to buy energy from a South Carolina solar plus storage project. (Charleston Post and Courier)

COAL:
• Tennessee officials request public feedback on whether to grant a pollution permit to release water from a Tennessee Valley Authority coal plant. (WBIR)
• A Florida utility and a demolition company raise money for injured veterans by requesting donations for a link to watch a livestream of a coal plant’s demolition. (Patch)

OIL & GAS:
• Federal officials backpedal on a plan to designate the Permian Basin in violation of ozone standards, which would have required significant reforms in the oil and gas industry. (Inside Climate News)
• A Texas family complains that a neighboring injection well overflows and spills oil onto their property, threatening their garden, animals and children. (KETK)

PIPELINES: Louisville, Kentucky’s energy utility sues a nonprofit to break its conservation easement and place a 12-mile natural gas pipeline through a storied arboretum and research forest. (Courier Journal)

TRANSITION: A new report declares North Carolina is at the ​“forefront” of the clean energy transition with workforce development and its engagement with the electric vehicle supply chain. (WRAL)

COMMENTARY: Last month’s attack on electrical substations in North Carolina should be taken as a warning against politically motivated fringe groups who want to trigger societal collapse by targeting the grid, writes an author and creator of ​“How Stuff Works.” (WRAL)