Investigation: Oil companies emit toxic gas as Texas stands by

Southeast Energy News will not publish tomorrow for the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back Thursday.

EMISSIONS: An investigation finds Texas oil companies are emitting high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas into nearby communities while regulators have largely ignored hundreds of violations of state air pollution rules. (Houston Chronicle)

SOLAR:

• A Mississippi county board votes 3-2 to approve a permit for a 396 MW solar farm that would be the state’s largest solar facility. (Clarion Ledger)
• Texas solar installers worry a federal investigation of Asian solar panel manufacturers for selling below cost in the U.S. market could be ​“disruptive” for their business. (Houston Chronicle, PV Magazine)

OIL & GAS:

• A large Texas power generation company says it won’t build natural gas-fired power plants it’s been planning for five years unless it receives $925 million in low-interest loans from a state fund. (Houston Chronicle)
• A Texas judge dismisses Exxon Mobil’s lawsuit against an activist investment group that had pushed a shareholder proposal to drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions, because the group withdrew the proposal and pledged not to file others. (New York Times)
• Virginia residents call for a public hearing on Dominion Energy’s plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant at a former coal plant. (WRIC)
• Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi sue the federal government to block a proposed rule to require the oil and gas industry to post up nearly $7 billion to cover the anticipated costs of decommissioning old offshore infrastructure. (Reuters)
• An oil well begins leaking black water in the same area of West Texas where other well leaks have been observed, raising new questions about water pressure in the aging oil fields. (Houston Chronicle)

HYDROGEN: Environmentalists and city officials protest a company’s $2.5 billion plan to draw millions of gallons of water from the Nueces River to make zero-carbon hydrogen for ammonia, demonstrating how local opposition could derail the emerging hydrogen industry. (E&E News)

PIPELINES:

• The oil and gas industry lobbies for stiffer penalties against pipeline protesters as it simultaneously pushes for looser regulation of carbon capture and storage infrastructure construction projects. (The Lever)
• Some of the owners of the Colonial Pipeline consider selling their stakes, potentially testing the pipeline’s value three years after it dealt with a highly publicized cyberattack. (Reuters)

COAL: A federal rule takes effect requiring stricter limits for silica dust that’s contributed to a spike in black lung disease. (WLKY)

GRID:

• North Carolina utilities and power crews prepare for a heat wave that could test the regional power grid. (WRAL)
• Florida Power & Light plans 71 projects to move power lines underground as part of its grid hardening in a Florida county. (Pensacola News Journal)

COMMENTARY: Dallas, Texas, should smooth the way for the planned installation of millions of kilowatts of rooftop solar capacity by streamlining its cumbersome permitting process, writes the director of the Texas Solar Energy Society. (Dallas Morning News)