Mountain Valley Pipeline gets more time to build North Carolina spur

PIPELINES: Federal regulators grant the Mountain Valley Pipeline approvals to charge higher rates for natural gas and for a three-year extension to build a spur into North Carolina. (Roanoke Times, Raleigh News & Observer)

ALSO: Residents of a small Texas town worry about a large proposed pipeline to move natural gas from the Permian Basin to the U.S.-Mexico border. (Texas Tribune/​Inside Climate News)

COAL:

• Questions arise about a potential conflict of interest after details emerge about West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s efforts to push a tax break for a troubled coal plant then owned by FirstEnergy, which subsequently settled a suit against one of Justice’s coal companies for a fraction of what it had sought. (E&E News)
• A new report suggests Virginia create financial incentives for coal mines to capture and use methane to reduce emissions, but environmentalists say the state shouldn’t prop up the coal industry amid the move to renewables. (Virginia Mercury)

NUCLEAR: Georgia regulators vote to allow Georgia Power to charge its customers $7.56 billion of the $10.2 billion cost of expanding its nuclear Plant Vogtle, with the company and its shareholders absorbing the remaining $2.63 billion. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

CLIMATE: Experts say the site of a planned Virginia stadium complex for the Washington Wizards and Capitals is surrounded by low-lying transportation arteries and buildings at a growing risk of flooding driven by climate change. (Axios)

GRID: Texas’ grid operator touts new reliability measures even while warning of the increased possibility of blackouts during ​“volatile” winter weather. (KVUE)

OIL & GAS:

• Oil and gas production in the Permian Basin leads the U.S. to produce a projected global record of 13.3 million barrels per day during the fourth quarter of 2023, analysts say. (CNN)
• Oklahoma’s attorney general announces a tip line for people who have inside knowledge about how natural gas marketers handled 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, which drove natural gas prices to 400 times their normal rate. (Public Radio Tulsa)
• A large, Texas-based oil and gas producer buys out another company to further expand its presence in the Permian Basin. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A Texas company builds a fleet of autonomous electric vehicles to deliver packages in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. (KXAS)
• A West Virginia electric bus manufacturer enters a property tax agreement with a county government. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ACTIVISM:

• Florida climate activists gear up to protest the state’s refusal to accept $320 million in federal funding to combat climate change and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. (Miami New Times)
• The Sierra Club appoints a new Florida director. (Florida Politics)

LITHIUM: Companies continue to eye lithium production projects in Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, South Carolina and other states despite pricing and demand challenges that have frustrated the industry this year. (S&P Global)

COMMENTARY:

• Environmentally friendly technologies already in use in Europe can be adopted in North Carolina, beginning with a larger number of electric vehicle chargers, writes an environmentalist. (Carolina Public Press)
• While accepting fossil fuels’ role in contributing to climate change, a West Virginia talk show host argues the closure of coal-fired power plants endangers the power grid’s reliability. (WV Metro News)