Parts of Carolinas grid will need complete rebuild, Duke says

HELENE: Hurricane Helene’s death toll rises to at least 133, but President Biden says more than 600 people are still unaccounted for due to damaged roads and cellular outages. (Associated Press, New York Times, States Newsroom)

ALSO:

• Duke Energy officials say they’ll need to entirely rebuild some grid infrastructure instead of just repairing it after intense storm damage in North Carolina and South Carolina. (Utility Dive)
• Hurricane Helene causes destruction in a small North Carolina town that’s known as America’s sole source of high-quality quartz for semiconductors and solar panels, potentially disrupting the supply chain for both. (NPR)

• Experts say Hurricane Helene dumped more than 40 trillion gallons of rain on the Southeast, leaving nearly 2 million customers without power in the region. (Associated Press, S&P Global)
• A disaster modeler projects Helene will cause $25 billion to $30 billion in damages in areas where homes and other buildings largely aren’t covered by flood insurance. (Insurance Journal)

UTILITIES:

• A former Florida lawmaker is convicted for paying $44,000 to a ​“ghost” candidate to siphon votes from a Democrat, while a federal judge dismisses a class-action lawsuit against Florida Power & Light and its parent company for their involvement in the scheme. (Orlando Sentinel)
• Clean energy advocates criticize the Tennessee Valley Authority’s long-term resource plan, saying it relies too much on new natural gas plants over solar and wind generation. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, subscription)
• Dominion Energy announces the sale of a North Carolina-based gas utility to Enbridge. (news release)

OIL & GAS:

• A subsidiary of Siemens Energy agrees to pay $140 million to settle a criminal investigation after federal investigators accuse it of ​“illicitly obtaining” information from competitors to win a Dominion Energy bid involving a gas plant in Virginia. (Bloomberg)
• Texas officials approve a state-backed loan for the 500 MW expansion of a gas-fired power plant owned by an electric cooperative. (KXII)
• Texas regulators extend the public comment period for proposed changes to modernize oil and gas waste disposal rules. (Houston Chronicle)

EFFICIENCY: West Virginia officials outline a plan to offer rebates for energy efficiency improvements using $88.2 million in federal backing to reduce energy costs in a state that’s seen the average power bill rise 90% between 2005 and 2020. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

NUCLEAR: Duke Energy informs Florida officials that Hurricane Helene swamped a retired nuclear plant, but says all radioactive material there is safely secured. (Bloomberg)

COAL: Kentucky’s attorney general takes issue with the Biden administration’s push to restore a federal complaint system that lets residents report suspected dangers and hazards from coal surface mines. (Kentucky Lantern)

CLIMATE: Hurricane Helene’s swath of damage from the Gulf Coast into Appalachia — which has become a destination for some people seeking a climate refuge — suggests that no U.S. region is immune to climate change and related disasters. (E&E News, subscription)