Kentucky deaths climb to 28 as Appalachia reels from extreme flooding

CLIMATE: At least 28 people have died in flooding in eastern Kentucky and more rain is expected as communities and an Appalachian cultural center reel from the damage. (Lexington Herald-Leader, NPR, Associated Press)

ALSO:
• The National Hurricane Center models how 2017’s Hurricane Irma would affect Miami given current sea levels and finds flooding would top 9 feet farther inland, especially threatening a low-lying area of fast-growing suburbs. (NPR)
• Climate change exacerbates subsidence and sea level rise along Louisiana’s coast, threatening brown pelican nesting sites. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Hyundai plans to produce eight more electric vehicle models by 2030, many of which will be built at its recently announced Georgia factory. (Savannah Morning News)
• A reporter tours a company’s Vietnamese facilities as it prepares to build a $4 billion electric vehicle plant in North Carolina. (Chatham News + Record)

SOLAR: Arkansas regulators investigate accusations that the state’s 17 electric co-ops are slow-walking and delaying solar interconnections. (Arkansas Business)

GRID: Entergy advises a Louisiana city council its customers can expect to be without power for about a week if a Category 1 hurricane hits, and about 21 days for a Category 4 storm. (The Advocate)

OIL & GAS:
• ExxonMobil and Chevron each saw production growth in the Permian Basin for the second quarter of 2022 and project double-digit growth for the year. (S&P Global)
• Twenty-seven Virginia lawmakers and thousands of respondents ask federal regulators not to grant the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request for more time. (Augusta Free Press)

UTILITIES: Southern Co. approaches a clean energy transition in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi by embracing nuclear and natural gas as well as wind, solar and battery storage. (Power)

STORAGE:
• Dominion Energy begins operation at a 12 MW battery facility next to a solar farm in Virginia. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A renewables company announces it’s acquired a 150 MW battery energy storage project in Texas from Con Edison. (news release)

HEAT:
• Farm laborers, roofers, construction workers and other outdoor workers in Georgia — many of whom are immigrants, racial minorities and low-income residents — are more at risk from heat-related illness or death with few federal or state protections. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Austin, Texas, just experienced its hottest July on record, and it’s not even close. (KXAN)
• A Florida heat officer works to prepare the Miami area for extreme heat that’s been made worse by climate change. (NPR)

POLITICS: A West Virginia Congress member calls out U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s support for a climate spending package, saying it would harm the state’s coal industry. (Inter-Mountain)

COMMENTARY:
• Virginia regulators’ approval of Appalachian Power’s long-term clean energy plans marks an important step in the utility’s slow march to renewables, writes an editorial board. (Roanoke Times)
• Since 2017, Chattanooga, Tennessee, has seen manufacturers announce they’ll invest nearly $12 billion in electric vehicles in the region, illustrating the importance of its workforce development, writes the director of an innovation and technology institute. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)