Mississippi regulators scrutinize troubled municipal utility

UTILITIES: ​“It’s a real twisted animal down here”: Mississippi regulators consider what to do with a troubled municipal utility that’s struggled with frequent ​“sunny day” outages and billing issues. (Mississippi Today)

ALSO:

• A federal judge reduces the sentence for a former South Carolina utility executive convicted for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for lying to state regulators about a failed nuclear power plant, allowing him to serve his 15-month sentence in home detention instead of prison. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)
• Georgia customers crash a community action group’s utility bill assistance program within the first 10 minutes of enrollment after a Georgia Power rate hike took effect with the new year. (WANF)
• Tampa Electric and Duke Energy file requests with Florida regulators seeking $464 million and $1.1 billion, respectively, to cover the costs of the 2024 hurricane season. (Tampa Bay Times)

SOLAR:

• Solar manufacturer Qcells closes on a $1.45 billion federal loan guarantee to support its Georgia factory, which has already launched production and will begin full-scale operations next year. (Utility Dive)
• A North Carolina county seeks bids for the construction of a 25 kW solar array atop its wastewater treatment plant after running into complications with a larger plan to build an up-to-2 MW solar project on a landfill used for asbestos waste. (Port City Daily)
• Virginia residents complain about a high-pitched noise coming from a two-year-old solar farm built on a former cattle farm. (WTKR)
• A renewables company announces completion of a 67 MW solar farm in Texas. (Solar Builder)

TRANSITION: A Tennessee county and city will receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in ​“tax impact payments” from the Tennessee Valley Authority related to the impending closure of a coal-fired power plant the utility plans to replace with a natural gas facility. (Paris Post-Intelligencer)

COAL: Federal regulators warn they may take over enforcement of a West Virginia coal mine owned by Gov. Jim Justice’s family because the state has yet to take action after a series of environmental violations. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Texas-based electric vehicle company Tesla sees its first year-over-year sales drop since 2011, although sales rose 2.3% in the final quarter. (Associated Press)

STORAGE: A solar company announces it’s secured contracts to supply 315 MWh to two battery storage projects in Texas. (PV Magazine)

CARBON CAPTURE: Louisiana officials and residents consider the prospects for building carbon capture facilities in the state, which has ​“primacy” over the U.S. EPA to regulate such projects. (KALB)

NUCLEAR: South Carolina’s three major utilities consider building modified nuclear reactors in the state, though none have filed concrete plans yet. (Greenville Business Magazine)

POLITICS:

• A newly elected Florida lawmaker who previously struck a deal to secure Florida Power & Light the largest rate increase in state history is named to a joint legislative committee with power over a consumer advocate that’s intended to serve as a check against utilities. (Tallahassee Democrat)
• Candidates for special elections in three Virginia legislative districts discuss whether the state or localities should have control over developing solar energy projects. (Cardinal News)
• West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin winds down his term after using his centrist positions and status as a swing vote to heavily influence climate legislation the last few years. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

COMMENTARY: The executive director of the Sierra Club warns of the health dangers to Gulf Coast residents who live on the so-called ​“sacrifice coast” where numerous liquified natural gas export terminals are planned. (Sierra)