Siemens cancels plans for Virginia wind turbine blade factory

WIND: An energy company cancels plans to build a $200 million wind turbine blade factory in Virginia after failing to meet ​“development milestones” amid turbulence in the East Coast’s nascent offshore wind industry. (Associated Press)

STORAGE:

• An electric vehicle battery company announces it will furlough workers at its Georgia plant as EV demand wanes. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription)
• ExxonMobil is expected to announce plans to begin production of lithium for electric vehicle batteries in Arkansas by 2026. (Reuters, Magnolia Reporter)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Toyota’s plans to build a nearly $14 billion EV and battery plant in North Carolina, by far the biggest single capital investment in the state’s history, could test the region’s workforce. (Greensboro News & Record)
• A Florida economic development agency discloses that its plans to attract an electric vehicle battery manufacturing company fell through earlier this year. (Panama City News Herald)

OIL & GAS:

• A Texas city in the Permian Basin challenges an oil and gas company’s applications to inject wastewater near a property where it gets about 30% of its drinking water. (Inside Climate News)
• A third co-defendant pleaded guilty in a federal case alleging a conspiracy to uncover trade secrets during the bidding process for a natural gas ​“peaker” plant commissioned by Dominion Energy in Virginia. (WRIC)

SOLAR: A Virginia city council reverses a decision by the planning commission and will allow a homeowner’s solar energy system to remain in place despite its location within a historic preservation district. (Danville Register & Bee)

GRID: The CEO of Texas’ grid operator says weatherization improvements and additional capacity should keep the power grid reliable through the winter. (E&E News, subscription)

EMISSIONS:

• Florida residents complain about a growing incinerator complex in the Tampa area, which they say is creating health problems for neighbors as it burns trash. (NBC News)
• The head of Louisiana’s Climate Initiatives Task Force discusses the program’s successes in reducing emissions and its longer-term prospects now that Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is set to leave office. (NOLA.com)

UTILITIES:

• Kentucky regulators approve Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities’ plan to build and buy 1,000 MW of solar and battery storage, along with 640 MW of new natural gas power. (Louisville Public Media)
• Georgia Power updates its long-range plans to produce more power to reflect expectations of more economic growth, but environmentalists question the plans’ reliance on fossil fuels. (Augusta Chronicle)
• Florida regulators approve a plan to reduce the amount of storm costs that Florida Power & Light can charge its customers after learning the price of restoring electricity after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole was lower than expected. (News Service of Florida)

POLITICS:

• As U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin prepares to step down and perhaps explore a run for president, environmentalists ding his legacy as one of the last West Virginia Democrats to unabashedly promote coal. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, Associated Press)
• Some of U.S. Senate candidate and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s most publicly scrutinized debts do not appear on his financial disclosure forms, raising questions about transparency and his financial solvency. (WV Metro News)