More electric vehicle jobs headed to Southeast

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster says he’ll ask state lawmakers to approve $1.3 billion in incentives to attract a Volkswagen-backed electric vehicle factory. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, Reuters)

ALSO:
• A South Korean company that makes automotive door components announces it will open a factory in Georgia to be near Hyundai’s $5.5 billion electric vehicle plant. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Entergy will present a $255,000 grant to a Texas university to build a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station on campus. (KAGS)

SOLAR:
• A bipartisan group of Georgia state senators introduces a bill over the objections of Georgia Power to expand the number of households allowed to use net metering. (Macon Telegraph)
• Entergy asks Louisiana regulators to approve its plan to add 224 MW of solar power, including construction of a 49 MW plant and purchase power agreement for another 175 MW. (Greater Baton Rouge Business Report)
• A company makes solar-powered mobile nanogrids that were deployed to communities in Florida and Louisiana after hurricanes to provide emergency services. (CleanTechnica)
• The Nature Conservancy develops a solar siting tool to accelerate large-scale solar development in parts of Georgia with lower environmental sensitivity. (news release)

NUCLEAR:
• Georgia Power begins splitting atoms in one of the two new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle, a key step toward completion of the nation’s first new reactors built in more than three decades. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Virginia lawmakers passed bills taking steps to create a legal framework and set up workforce development programs to support the planned construction of a small modular nuclear reactor within the next decade. (Cardinal News)

COAL: West Virginia regulators push American Electric Power to run coal-fired power plants at higher capacities despite the utility’s worry that doing so would raise customers’ bills. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS:
• Environmental groups sue the federal government to stop plans to open up more than 73 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to oil drilling. (WUSF)
• Oklahoma lawmakers consider exempting natural gas from price stabilization legislation, opening the door for companies to charge extra during emergency declarations. (KFOR)
• Texas lawmakers prepare legislation to penalize insurers with environmental, social and corporate governance policies that disadvantage the oil and gas industry. (Dallas Morning News)

EFFICIENCY: South Florida municipalities replace street lamps with LED lights that are more energy efficient but also significantly brighter, resulting in concerns about light pollution. (WLRN)

CLIMATE: A study finds the loss of Louisiana wetlands south of New Orleans has been driven largely by oil and gas activity and construction of levees along the Mississippi River. (NOLA.com)

POLITICS: Analysts expect Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will deliver a speech tonight that’s devoted less to storm response and rising seas than to cultural wedge issues as he considers a possible 2024 presidential campaign. (WTVJ)