Texas wind farm removed from grid to power crypto miner

WIND: A crypto mining company purchases a 114 MW wind farm in Texas and will remove it from a regional grid to power its operations. (Houston Chronicle)

ALSO: A company secures financing for a 189 MW onshore wind farm in North Carolina, the first wind project approved by the state since state lawmakers passed siting legislation in 2013. (news release)

OIL & GAS:

• A new investigation reveals how ExxonMobil and a coalition of free-market think tanks worked closely to obfuscate the effects of climate change and support fossil fuel-friendly policies. (DeSmog)
• A class-action lawsuit initiated by West Virginia landowners leads to a $6.5 million settlement in which an energy company will clean up 2,600 unplugged or abandoned gas wells in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee. (Mountain State Spotlight)

EFFICIENCY: Some school districts in Houston, Texas, have installed energy efficiency measures in recent years, but many others saw soaring electricity bills from computers and air-conditioning against late summer heat. (Houston Chronicle)

STORAGE:

• A study finds the addition of 5 GW of battery storage saved Texans an estimated $750 million by powering the grid through record demand and extreme weather without widespread outages or more conservation alerts. (news release)
• San Antonio, Texas’ municipal utility partners with an energy company on a 120 MW battery storage system. (Renewables Now)

GRID:

• The rapidly growing data center sector in Georgia, Texas and Virginia has driven the country’s five-year load-growth forecast to increase almost fivefold in the past two years. (Canary Media)
• Georgia Power predicts energy demand could triple by the mid-2030s, driven largely by the planned construction of at least 20 data centers. (WSB)
• Clean energy companies across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic respond to PJM’s proposal to prioritize nuclear and gas-fired projects over renewables. (Inside Climate News)

EMISSIONS: West Virginia presses a federal court to rule against the U.S. EPA’s proposed power plant emission rules, which target coal-fired and new gas-fired emissions. (WV News)

CLIMATE:

• A blue Florida county develops a climate action plan, flying in the face of the state government’s move to strike ​“climate change” from code and override local rules. (Grist)
• A new study finds climate change is affecting Tampa, Florida, more than any other U.S. metro, pushing it to the most record highs of any city. (WFTS)
• Texas insurance rates skyrocket and some carriers withdraw altogether as climate change wreaks havoc in coastal areas. (Houston Chronicle)

COMMENTARY:

• Florida Power & Light’s solar farms weathered hurricanes Helene and Milton with relatively little damage, indicating their durability in a region increasingly wracked by climate change, writes a local business leader. (Orlando Sentinel, subscription)
• The proposed Appalachian hydrogen hub should be canceled because it relies too much on fossil fuels, is too expensive and has been obscured by a lack of public engagement, writes a retired research chemist. (Plain Dealer)
• Donald Trump’s election and choice of a new EPA director may loosen regulations holding back federal investment in carbon capture projects, writes the state director of Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation. (Utility Dive)