Texas solar breaks record for power produced for grid

SOLAR: Texas breaks its record for the amount of grid power coming from solar, with more than 15 GW of solar providing 36% of power on the grid on Sunday. (KUT)

ALSO:

• A Florida energy company secures tax equity funding for a project to develop 550 MW of solar and 600 MW of battery storage in Mississippi, the largest such facility in the state. (South Florida Business Journal)
• Louisiana regulators approve Entergy’s plans to build a 49 MW solar farm. (KTVE/KARD)
• Residents of a Kentucky community complain about the potential effects of a planned 150 MW solar farm. (WKDZ)

EFFICIENCY: Louisiana regulators narrowly vote to approve new energy efficiency rules during a raucous meeting in which protestors chanted, ​“Vote! Vote! Vote!” over a commissioner’s speech. (Louisiana Illuminator)

OIL & GAS:

• The Biden administration’s pause on approvals for new liquified natural gas export terminals could disrupt expansion of an existing facility in Georgia. (GPB)
• Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s transition council recommends lowering the state’s 12.5% oil production severance tax to incentivize more drilling. (The Advocate)

PIPELINES:

• Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline argue its reworked plans to build a spur into North Carolina are different enough that federal regulators should strike a project extension and start from scratch. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• The direct-action campaign against the Mountain Valley Pipeline continues as a protestor chains herself to equipment and delays crews’ efforts to bore beneath the Appalachian Trail, while others call for Wells Fargo bank to withdraw funding for the project. (Roanoke Times, WDBJ)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Duke Energy launches a program in North Carolina to allow customers to lease electric vehicle chargers. (WCNC)
• Daimler Truck, Volkswagen and Volvo Trucks, which makes trucks in Virginia, form an association to push for the buildout of charging infrastructure for electric heavy-duty trucks. (New York Times)

UTILITIES: The Southern Group’s Florida lobbying firm staffs up. (Florida Politics)

COMMENTARY:

• The dispute between Virginia lawmakers and county governments in the state’s new ​“brightfields” of solar development is creating new friction between the state’s rural and urban regions, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)
• The Biden administration’s pause on approving new liquified natural gas export facilities on the Gulf Coast won’t do much to affect the climate but will rattle European allies, writes an editorial board. (Washington Post)
• A Virginia college city participates in the campaign against the Mountain Valley Pipeline through music that embraces the traditions of the Appalachian communities where it’s being built, writes a student columnist. (Cavalier Daily)