Mississippi project showed hydrogen’s shortcomings — even before cuts

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HYDROGEN

• The cancellation of a company’s plan to build a hydrogen production facility in Mississippi illustrates the emerging industry’s failure to get off the ground — even before Congressional Republicans moved to cut clean energy incentives that will further deter such projects. (Canary Media)

EMISSIONS

• The NAACP and Southern Environmental Law Center announce they’ll sue Elon Musk’s xAI company for using 35 gas-fired turbines to power its supercomputer without a permit, generating air pollution that affects predominantly Black communities nearby. (Associated Press, Commercial Appeal)

POLITICS

• Georgia Republicans appear to have re-nominated an incumbent to the Georgia Public Service Commission, while the Democratic race for another seat on the commission will go to a runoff after the top vote-getter fails to secure 50% of the vote. (Georgia Recorder, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• A former state delegate backed by Clean Virginia defeats a commonwealth’s attorney backed by Dominion Energy to secure the Democratic nomination for Virginia attorney general. (Virginia Mercury, Washington Post)

TRANSITION

• A southwestern Virginia town of 830 people has become a model for transitioning from reliance on the coal industry by developing a tourism economy based around outdoor recreation. (Virginia Center for Investigative Reporting)

SOLAR

• A Virginia landowner who wants a solar project to be built on her property has been mired in a zoning dispute for two years after the county planning commission tabled the proposal in 2023 over concerns about the loss of agricultural land. (Virginia Mercury)

• A Virginia county board schedules a public hearing to consider awarding a permit for a 5 MW solar farm. (WDBJ)

• Airbus Helicopters breaks ground on a 2 MW solar farm in Mississippi that will provide about 72% of the power for its factory. (Daily Journal)

PIPELINES

• A Mountain Valley Pipeline official defends the 303-mile project against safety concerns after a welding inspector alleged he was fired after reporting corrosion on three separate sections of pipeline joints. (E&E News)

GRID

• A Virginia city council unanimously votes to reject a 350,000-square-foot data center after residents spoke about their concerns about its potential noise and environmental impacts. (WHRO)

• The Southern Company agrees to use a Switzerland-based company’s drones to monitor its power lines and natural gas infrastructure. (news release)

UTILITIES

• West Virginia regulators begin hearings on Appalachian Power’s request for a $250.5 million base rate increase, which a group of large industrial customers opposes. (West Virginia Watch, WV Metro News)

MINING

• A company’s plans to build a titanium dioxide mine near the federally protected Okefenokee Swamp has stalled before a decision by Georgia regulators over its failure so far to set aside $2 million for site restoration. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

CLIMATE

• Fewer than 1% of western North Carolina residents affected by Tropical Storm Helene last year had flood insurance, causing uncertainty about recovery and complicating larger questions about the future of flood insurance in the U.S. (Carolina Public Press)

COMMENTARY

• The federal government should continue to invest in offshore wind and other clean energy projects to boost the economy and strengthen national security, write the state director of Conservatives for Clean Energy Virginia and policy director at the American Conservation Coalition. (Virginian-Pilot)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Cleveland-Cliffs’ plan to replace its coal-blast furnaces with an ironmaking facility that uses hydrogen and electric furnaces appears dead as the company looks to align with the Trump administration’s pro-fossil fuel goals, Alexander C. Kaufman reports.