TVA activates natural gas power to replace coal in Kentucky

OIL & GAS: The Tennessee Valley Authority activates three new natural gas-fired units totaling 750 MW on the Kentucky site of a coal-fired power plant that was shut down three years ago. (WBIR)

ALSO:

• The companies behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline announce a new plan to shorten a proposed spur into North Carolina in hopes of avoiding building a new compressor station that’s been blocked by Virginia regulators. (NC Newsline, Virginia Mercury)
• Earthquakes in west Texas declined by 10% last year after regulators cracked down on the practice of injecting fracking wastewater into the ground. (Bloomberg, subscription)
• Texas residents worry about their well water after a local oil spill. (KPRC)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A Georgia judge dismisses legal challenges to the zoning of a planned, $5 billion Rivian factory in the state. (WAGA)
• Dozens of small companies have emerged in Georgia to disrupt the battery industry and smooth the way for the electric vehicle transition. (WABE)
• Working-class, largely Black communities around Ford’s massive ​“Blue Oval City” automotive manufacturing complex in Tennessee are using an organizing tool intended for sports stadiums to bargain for labor standards and affordable housing. (Grist)
• Kentucky implements a new $120 annual fee on electric vehicles and $60 for hybrids and electric motorcycles. (WDKY)

SOLAR:

• Houston residents try to secure a community agreement to make sure locals benefit from construction and operation of a 52 MW solar farm on the site of a former landfill. (Houston Landing)
• Residents of a Virginia county fret about a 5 MW solar farm that received county approval last month. (WDBJ)

CLIMATE: Gulf Coast communities in Louisiana and Texas provide data for two new studies showing how hurricanes destabilize rental housing. (Hakai Magazine)

COAL: As coal-fired power declines nationally, West Virginia regulators consider rate hikes for multiple utilities to continue to operate coal plants. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

BIOFUELS: A metro Florida county considers turning seaweed into ​“green” fuel, among an array of ideas for how to deal with a seaweed surge scientists say will be made worse by climate change. (Miami Herald)

UTILITIES: A South Carolina municipal utility enters into a 15-year agreement to buy power from Duke Energy after its contract with Dominion Energy ended last month. (Times and Democrat)

FINANCE: Virginia universities increasingly shift their endowments into climate-friendly investments. (WHRO)

GRID: Community and climate activists are still upset that a cryptocurrency company made $32 million through its willingness to reduce power usage last summer while residents were ordered to conserve energy and still faced skyrocketing power bills. (Texas Tribune)

COMMENTARY:

• Duke Energy should establish more demand response resources to avoid blackouts like those that occurred during the 2023 Christmas winter storm, writes a clean energy activist. (Energy News Network)
• Virginia localities are erecting barriers against solar power due in part to misinformation about the use of thin-film cadmium telluride in solar panels, writes a professor. (Cardinal News)
• A Virginia city’s moves to establish an e-bike rebate program could herald a new wave of e-bike incentives in the state, especially if lawmakers approve legislation to establish a statewide program, writes a transportation analyst. (Virginia Mercury)