Texas pipeline explosion leads to evacuation, fire

PIPELINES: A Texas pipeline owned by Energy Transfer explodes into flames after an SUV strikes a valve, prompting evacuation from homes within a half mile radius amid expectations the blaze will take more time to burn out. (Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman)

ALSO:

• Residents who live near the pipeline that exploded worry about toxic emissions and particulate matter from the fire. (Houston Chronicle)
• Federal regulators accept public comment on the proposed DeLa Express pipeline from the Permian Basin to a Louisiana terminal, which includes 750 miles of pipeline and six compressor stations and likely will require eminent domain to obtain land. (KXXV, KCEN)

SOLAR: A new Arkansas law to reduce net metering credits paid to solar energy producers is already dissuading school districts from installing solar facilities larger than 5 MW. (Arkansas Times)

EMISSIONS: A judge hears arguments in a conservation group’s lawsuit to block Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin from withdrawing the state from a regional carbon market. (WVTF)

OIL & GAS:

• Oil and gas companies prepare for a possible shutdown of new drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico after federal officials were ordered to rewrite an opinion on protecting endangered species. (Houston Chronicle)
• A Virginia company announces it’s reached a deal to ship liquified natural gas from Louisiana to European markets through an import terminal in Greece. (E&E News, subscription)
• Virginia’s largest natural gas producer expands its regional headquarters. (Virginia Mercury)
• Oil producers in the Permian Basin search for ways to reduce and recycle fracking wastewater. (Houston Chronicle)

COAL ASH: A North Carolina day care center plans ​“a complete playground renovation” after toxic elements from coal ash were found nearby. (WCNC)

CLEAN ENERGY: A study finds Kentucky’s 6.5% annual increase in clean energy jobs ties it with Texas for second in the nation, although it trails most of its neighbors in terms of total clean energy jobs. (Kentucky Lantern)

BIOGAS:

• An Arkansas trucking company will participate in a program to test trucks that run on renewable natural gas. (Talk Business & Politics)
• Florida residents and environmental groups protest a Florida county board’s vote to approve a new waste-to-energy incinerator in the Miami area. (WTVJ)

GRID:

• Large additions of solar, battery and wind power have boosted the Texas power grid to accommodate soaring demand and avoid rolling blackouts last seen in 2021. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
• Texas grid officials accelerate their timeline to implement an initiative to streamline energy procurement and dispatch. (Utility Dive)

UTILITIES: Clean energy groups urge federal regulators to reverse their approval of a real-time market consisting of Southeast utilities whose administrative expenses outweighed reported benefits. (Utility Dive)

COMMENTARY: Solar development and Virginia’s oversight of stormwater drainage have evolved to reduce sediment and pollution runoff into the Chesapeake Bay watershed, writes a rural clean energy advocate. (Cardinal News)