N.C. nonprofit aims to maximize rural solar benefits

SOLAR: A North Carolina nonprofit educates schoolchildren and collaborates with community colleges to train a solar workforce as it aims to maximize the benefits of large solar farms in rural America. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

• A Kentucky agricultural extension office installs a solar array with a backup battery that will cut the center’s power bills by as much as $10,000 a year. (WUKY)
• A developer announces the start of operations at a 100 MW solar farm in Arkansas. (Renewables Now)

WIND: Officials at a long-delayed onshore wind farm in Virginia announce Google will purchase all of the 79.3 MW facility’s power, ending the company’s long search to find a buyer for its electricity. (Roanoke Times)

OIL & GAS:

• A conservation group sues the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board, claiming state regulators failed to follow the law by awarding the Tennessee Valley Authority permits to build a gas-fired plant at an aging coal plant. (Tennessee Lookout)
• Even though it’s not on the agenda, three speakers use a Virginia county board’s public comment period to argue against a company’s scaled-down proposal to power a dozen data centers with a gas-fired power source. (Danville Register & Bee)
• A U.S. Energy Department study finds a planned liquefied natural gas buildout on the Gulf Coast would increase emissions and energy costs, but it doesn’t call for a hard limit on new projects and leaves the door open for Trump administration approvals. (The Guardian, E&E News)

CARBON CAPTURE: Crowds again pack a public hearing to oppose a company’s plans to build a $4.5 billion ammonia plant with carbon capture capability, after a previous meeting ended early because of overcrowding. (NOLA.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tennessee receives $5.5 million and Kentucky $6 million in federal funding to upgrade small- and medium-sized automotive facilities to better serve the growing electric vehicle market. (Tennessee Lookout)

NUCLEAR: Arkansas officials say they have no plans to allow a nuclear waste disposal site after a previous community meeting revealed a city is under consideration for an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

GRID: The Tennessee Valley Authority begins surveys to build a new transmission line in Alabama. (Redstone Rocket)

COAL:

• Federal regulators finalize a new rule to require self-insured coal operators to post adequate security bonds that cover all of their black lung benefit liabilities. (West Virginia Watch)
• Federal investigators release a report finding safety failures at an Arch Resources-owned coal mine led to the August death of a miner. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

POLITICS: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper prepares to leave office after two terms that saw the state attract numerous clean energy-related factories, particularly in the electric vehicle and battery industries. (Wilmington StarNews)

COMMENTARY: Florida officials and power companies should better leverage data to understand how to make the power grid more resilient against climate change and to accelerate recovery efforts, writes an executive at the Electric Power Research Institute. (Miami Herald)