Money arguments could delay Puerto Rico grid fix

GRID: Arguments over who can access solar incentives and whether officials are focusing too much on fossil fuels may potentially hold up $14 billion in federal funding to repair Puerto Rico’s troubled energy grid. (Politico)

ALSO:
• Texas lawmakers advance a bill to offer energy companies low-interest loans to upgrade or build natural gas-fueled power plants, while delaying another bill to pay gas-fired electricity generators in exchange for promises to produce power when demand is high. (Texas Tribune)
• A consultant commissioned by South Carolina lawmakers reports the state could save up to $362 million if it joins the PJM Interconnection, and $187 million if it participates in a new Southeast transmission organization. (Utility Dive)
• A Texas city prepares for months of delay as federal regulators withhold final approval for its plan to deregulate its energy market by switching to the state power grid. (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

COAL ASH: The U.S. EPA moves to include previously exempted disposal sites in an expanded coal ash rule that was prompted by a 2008 coal ash spill at a Tennessee power plant — but loopholes still remain. (Energy News Network, Knoxville News Sentinel)

SOLAR:
• A Florida city planning board approves a nonprofit’s plan to install solar panels at a residential community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and possibly sell power back to the municipal utility. (Ledger)
• A Georgia city begins installation of what will be the state’s largest municipal rooftop solar energy system. (WGAU)
• A solar developer, utility and Tennessee officials break ground on a pair of solar farms totaling 6.75 MW. (Clarksville Now)
• A solar developer and contractor will appeal a federal jury decision to have them pay $135.5 million for erosion problems to landowners adjacent to a 100 MW Georgia solar farm. (Engineering News-Record)

COAL: Federal lawyers say West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies ran up more than $409,000 in past-due mine safety fine debt payments since February, even after officials reminded them 10 times over that period. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

WIND: As developers move through the process of building 25 GW of offshore wind along the East Coast, federal officials prepare for a lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico this year. (S&P Global)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Nissan celebrates the 40th anniversary of a Tennessee manufacturing plant it’s revamping and expanding to produce electric vehicles. (Autoevolution)

EMISSIONS: Virginia’s natural gas industry argues against state regulation of methane emissions, saying pending federal rules are enough. (Virginia Mercury)

ELECTRIFICATION: North Carolina municipalities consider the idea of prohibiting gas-powered leaf blowers, but so far none have enacted a specific ban. (Wilmington StarNews)

COMMENTARY:
• An environmental advocacy group supports the U.S. EPA’s recently proposed carbon rules for power plants as ​“a turning point in addressing the climate crisis” for communities in the South. (Southern Environmental Law Center)
• ​“Wicked smaht” — an editorial board endorses the concept of floating solar for Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• A West Virginia talk radio host hails the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of a permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline as a significant step toward completion of the long-delayed, over-budget project. (WV Metro News)