N.C. solar installers want to delay reduced net-metering rates

SOLAR: North Carolina solar installers ask state regulators to delay the onset of reduced payments to non-residential customers such as businesses and schools, arguing Duke Energy hasn’t provided adequate notice of the new rates. (WFAE)

STORAGE:

• Entergy’s 100 MW solar and battery storage facility in Arkansas stands as an example of how battery storage can deliver benefits for the power grid. (States Newsroom)
• A U.S. battery recycling firm partners with Korean and Singaporean companies to build a battery recycling pre-treatment facility in Kentucky. (Korea Economic Daily)
• Dominion Energy asks Virginia regulators for approval of two pilot battery projects to discharge stored power over longer periods of time than its current technology allows. (Virginia Mercury)

WIND: Federal regulators complete their environmental analysis of Dominion Energy’s Virginia offshore wind farm, marking a major milestone for the project set to begin construction next year. (WVEC, Virginia Business)

OIL & GAS:

• A federal judge orders the Biden administration to expand the sale of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases, rejecting a previous version that was scaled back to protect an endangered whale species. (Associated Press)
• West Virginia regulators penalize an industrial gas manufacturing facility for discharging pollution that violated its water permit. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

PIPELINES: Oklahoma homeowners worry about a pipeline that was breached during construction work and leaked oil for four hours. (KOCO)

CARBON CAPTURE:

• Critics worry about the implications of storing carbon underground in places like Louisiana, which already has more than two dozen underground storage sites. (Floodlight/​Louisiana Illuminator)
• Louisiana and Texas residents fret over the lack of public outreach around two carbon capture projects selected by federal officials for a $3.5 billion direct air capture program. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• An all-electric vehicle dealership opens in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Charlotte Observer)
• A Kentucky airport board debates whether to install electric vehicle charging stations. (WPSD)

GRID:

• Federal officials determine last year’s Winter Storm Elliott resulted in an​unprecedented 90,500 MW of power outages across the East Coast, significantly more than the 2021 winter storm that nearly took down Texas’ grid. (Power Engineering)
• Dominion Energy progresses toward its goal of burying 4,000 miles of power lines in Virginia and North Carolina. (Axios)

COAL:

• Michael Bloomberg announces he’ll invest $500 million into his Beyond Carbon project to close ​“every last” coal plant in the U.S. by 2030. (Reuters)
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice releases a much-anticipated financial disclosure report as part of his U.S. Senate campaign that reveals some of the workings of his family’s troubled coal companies. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

HYDROGEN:

• West Virginia vies for federal funding to develop a hydrogen hub. (Mountain State Spotlight)
• Critics question whether an Appalachian hydrogen hub would actually create jobs or reduce carbon emissions. (Inside Climate News)

ACTIVISM:

• A 22-year-old Tennessee resident has attracted more than 800,000 followers to an Instagram account she founded to cover climate news. (WPLN)
• Experts warn about ​“fake experts” who spread climate misinformation that’s elevated because of their accomplishments in non-climate-related fields. (WFAE)

COMMENTARY: A self-proclaimed ​“Georgia capitalist” and owner of a wire company embraces the clean energy transition and its many economic benefits. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Editor’s note: Yesterday’s digest included an item about the Air Force’s first electric aircraft charging station, which was built at a base in Florida, Ohio — not the state of Florida.