N.C. lawmakers open door for pipeline spur, new nuclear

POLITICS: North Carolina lawmakers override five of Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes, passing bills to loosen requirements for a proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline spur into the state and define nuclear power as ​“clean energy” to help meet the state’s emissions-reduction goals. (Raleigh News & Observer, Winston-Salem Journal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Striking United Auto Workers target Ford and its partnership with South Korean battery companies in the Southeast as negotiations continue. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:

• The U.S. Energy Department finalizes a $3 billion loan guarantee to a solar company with a requirement that at least 10% be issued in Puerto Rico, which has struggled with an unreliable grid, high energy prices, and destructive storms. (Grist)
• BP Oil partners with a global solar company on a 187 MW Texas solar farm that’s expected to lead to more solar projects in the future. (KIII)

STORAGE: A battery maker announces it will invest $3 billion into a Michigan plant that will supply batteries for electric vehicles built at a Toyota factory in Kentucky. (Utility Dive)

TRANSITION:

• Kentucky regulators consider utilities’ proposal to shutter four coal-fired electric generating units and three natural gas-fired units by 2027 and replace them with two new gas units, two solar farms, a battery storage facility and solar power purchase agreements. (Appalachian News-Express)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority invites public comment on its plan to build a 100 MW solar farm on a coal ash storage site at a Kentucky coal-fired power plant. (Paducah Sun)

COAL:

• Southwestern Virginia scientists document a surprising amount of biodiversity at reclaimed coal mines and urge policymakers not to treat them as empty land. (Grist)
• The U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up a defamation case brought by former West Virginia coal baron Don Blankenship, who sued several major news corporations for labeling him a convicted felon when he was only convicted of a misdemeanor related to a 2010 mining disaster. (NBC News)

PIPELINES:

• Activists and residents along the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s route through Virginia and West Virginia continue to oppose the long-delayed project as it finally begins to near completion. (Bloomberg)
• Florida’s NextEra Energy buys a stake in a natural gas pipeline, just months after it pledged to sell all its pipeline-related assets. (South Florida Business Journal, subscription)

GRID:

• Experts say the Southeast’s shift to renewable energy hinges on the buildout of more transmission lines, which has been off to a slow start and is causing a seven-year backlog of renewable projects to connect to the grid. (Chesapeake Bay Journal)
• Four Virginia state lawmakers are among those calling on federal regulators to set a new, stronger regional transmission rule to allow the expansion of renewable energy. (States Newsroom)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The U.S. EPA opens an investigation after local advocates complain Alabama has hindered rural Black residents from obtaining federal funds to upgrade their wastewater systems. (Grist)

EMISSIONS: A new report suggests Austin, Texas, could reach its net-zero carbon emission goals by increasing housing density and relying more on mass transit. (Austin Monitor)