Solar finds mixed reception in Virginia

SOLAR: The impending construction of a solar panel factory shows how the industry is bringing jobs and investment to Virginia, even as nearly a third of all counties in the state have passed regulations restricting solar project development. (WVTF)

ALSO:

• Solar industry officials pitch a panel of Georgia lawmakers on the benefits of establishing a community solar program to allow Georgia Power’s customers to purchase clean energy from third-party developers. (Jackson Progress-Argus)
• A Kentucky county board debates whether to revise its solar decommissioning rules ahead of considering a proposed 150 MW solar farm. (Owensboro Times)

WIND:

• Dominion Energy picks up a third offshore wind lease in the Mid-Atlantic, just east of the area near Virginia where it’s building a 2,600 MW, 176-turbine wind farm. (Virginia Mercury)
• A Virginia funeral home will lose part of its property through eminent domain for construction of transmission lines from Dominion Energy’s offshore wind farm. (WAVY)

OIL & GAS:

• Donald Trump vows to increase domestic oil and gas production, but Texas is already producing record amounts of fossil fuels — including so much natural gas that producers are losing money. (Texas Tribune)
• A federal court’s decision to rescind regulatory approval of two liquefied natural gas export terminals and related pipelines won’t stop construction of one of the projects for at least several more weeks unless regulators intervene, says a lawyer. (My RGV)
• An eight-mile stretch of Louisiana bayou reopens to boat traffic as cleanup of a 34,000-gallon oil spill continues. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• West Virginia is eligible to apply for more than $43 million in federal funding to clean up oil and gas wells in the third phase of a grant program. (WV News)

CARBON CAPTURE:

• Records show how the oil and gas industry courted a professor at the University of Louisiana Lafayette to support its push for a regulatory change to speed up approval of carbon capture projects. (The Lens)
• The U.S. EPA signs off on Louisiana’s plan to remove owner liability for carbon capture and storage wells, saying the wells still have to meet federal requirements over a 50-year monitoring period before the liability transfer occurs. (Bloomberg, subscription)

COAL: The son of a late coal baron has acquired an Alabama coal mine that nearby residents say caused a fatal home explosion earlier this year. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES: CenterPoint Energy, now under fire for its response to widespread outages in Houston after Hurricane Beryl, has courted dozens of current and former state lawmakers at its private conference center. (Houston Chronicle)

POLITICS:

• A new report indicates 85% of the investment and 68% of the jobs incentivized by federal climate legislation have gone to congressional districts represented by Republicans who voted against it, including some who continue to argue climate change is a hoax. (Floodlight)
• The Inflation Reduction Act has led to nearly $35 billion in investments in clean energy in the Carolinas in the two years since it was passed. (WSOC)
• Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred works to court the state’s oil and gas industry by criticizing the Biden administration’s pause of permitting for liquified natural gas export terminals, questioning the reliability of electric bus fleets, and vowing to protect industry jobs. (Houston Chronicle)