N.C. governor vetoes bill to give Duke a pass on emissions reduction goal

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POLITICS

• North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein vetoes Republican-sponsored legislation to repeal a requirement that Duke Energy slash carbon emissions 70% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, while leaving a 2050 carbon-neutrality deadline intact. (Canary Media)

• Early voting begins in the Democratic primary runoff for Georgia Public Service Commission, but turnout is expected to be so low that 77 of the state’s of 159 counties are planning to open just one voting location on election day. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Tennessee’s U.S. senators push for rapid confirmation of President Trump’s nominees to the Tennessee Valley Authority board, which looks like it will consist entirely of white men despite the federal utility’s mandate to ​“reflect the diversity” of its seven-state region. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

FEDERAL BUDGET BILL

• Texas energy experts say the phaseout of clean energy tax breaks in Trump’s ​“One Big Beautiful bill” will raise household energy costs and hamper grid reliability by undercutting renewables like solar, which makes up nearly 20% of the state grid’s capacity. (Inside Climate News)

• Florida advocates worry clean energy rollbacks in the bill could threaten nine clean-energy factories and more than 10,000 jobs in Florida. (WUSF)

• Large oil companies with liquified natural gas terminals and other petrochemical and carbon storage projects under development are likely to benefit from provisions in the federal budget bill, as well as unincorporated ​“pass-through” companies. (Houston Chronicle)

• Two Republican senators and a report from the Congressional Budget Office helped soften cuts to hydrogen tax credits in the bill. (E&E News)

NUCLEAR

• Texas leads the way in the race to build an advanced small modular nuclear reactor, which could be complete by next year as half of the states in the U.S. take steps to accelerate such projects. (Stateline)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas survey shows oil and gas production declined in the second quarter amid global unrest and Trump administration trade policies, and operators say they now plan to drill fewer wells than they predicted this year. (Axios)

• Experts say the challenge of plugging orphan oil and gas wells is complicated by the problem of finding them. (NPR)

• A Texas community organizes against plans by Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara and Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge to build a gas-fueled ​“low-carbon” ammonia plant. (Texas Tribune/​DeSmog)

• North Carolina officials end the public comment on the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s water permit application to build its Southgate spur from Virginia. (WUNC)

HEAVY INDUSTRY

• Terra CO2 raises $124 million to help build a facility near Dallas that will produce its low-carbon cement product. (TechCrunch)

STORAGE

• A Texas electric cooperative partners with distributed energy developer Base Power to develop a 2 MW virtual power plant that allows the use of home batteries for price arbitrage and transmission cost management. (Utility Dive)

BUILDINGS

• Tennessee researchers develop artificial intelligence software to determine a building’s energy use intensity in real time. (Oak Ridger)

• Atlanta approves a requirement that new roofs be more reflective to reduce urban heat. (Grist)

UTILITIES

• A Kentucky municipal utility moves to update its power system by joining the Midcontinent Independent System Operator regional grid and partnering with NextEra Energy to develop more resources. (Spectrum News)

• Duke Energy asks South Carolina regulators to raise its rates to cover construction of 600 miles of new power lines and 6,800 transformers, storm recovery from Hurricane Helene, and maintenance of its nuclear, gas, hydropower, and solar facilities. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)