TVA threatens to delay coal plant closure over pipeline holdup

TRANSITION: The Tennessee Valley Authority threatens to delay closing a 2,470 MW coal-fired power plant in Tennessee if federal regulators don’t promptly approve a 32-mile pipeline to a planned natural gas plant. (Utility Dive)

WIND:

• A federal judge orders the removal of an 84-turbine wind farm in Oklahoma because its developers have refused to obtain leases for disturbing the mineral rights held in trust for the Osage Nation. (E&E News, subscription)
• A data center operator obtains a 100 MW power purchase agreement from a Texas wind farm operator. (ReNews)

UTILITIES: A West Virginia auditor finds evidence FirstEnergy subsidiaries in the state adjusted their budgets for costs related to an Ohio bribery scandal, but has not been able to get a full picture of how they’re all connected. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

SOLAR:

• A FirstEnergy subsidiary activates a 19 MW solar facility at the site of a West Virginia coal plant. (Times West Virginian)
• Duke Energy tests the potential for floating solar arrays at a retention pond in Florida. (The Gabber)
• A Virginia school board considers a solar pilot project at a high school. (WDBJ)
• A Tennessee county moves to draft an ordinance establishing siting guidelines for solar farms. (Greeneville Sun)

CLEAN ENERGY: The Port of Virginia becomes the East Coast’s first seaport to run entirely on clean energy due to its investments in electrification and power purchase agreement with Dominion Energy. (Maritime Executive)

COAL ASH: A federal judge dismisses a conservation group’s lawsuit challenging Alabama Power’s plan to store more than 21 million tons of coal ash in an unlined pond near the Mobile River. (Bloomberg, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tennessee imposes new registration fees on electric and hybrid vehicles, with further increases set for 2027. (Chattanoogan)

GRID:

• A transmission company receives approval to connect Texas’ independent power grid to the Southeast grid. (KVUE)
• Residents of a Charlotte, North Carolina, neighborhood worry a proposed substation could negatively affect their property values, safety and health. (Charlotte Observer)
• Duke Energy calls for North Carolina customers to conserve energy amid low temperatures. (WNCN)

BIOMASS: Mississippi State University receives a $610,000 grant to study how to convert leftover biomass from agricultural production into fuel and chemicals to replace fossil fuels. (news release)

OIL & GAS:

• Gas companies argue in court filings that Energy Transfer’s efforts to block a planned pipeline from crossing its own Louisiana pipeline could hamper their plans, as well as an anticipated surge of liquified natural gas. (KTBS)
• A gas leak leads to evacuations in a North Carolina city. (WTVD)

POLITICS: Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis applauded the federal government’s help after 2022’s Hurricane Ian, but refused to meet with President Biden after 2023’s Hurricane Idalia and disagreed with the assertion that climate change contributed to the storm. (Florida Politics)

COMMENTARY:

• North Carolina regulators’ approval of Duke Energy’s reduced net-metering rates could eviscerate incentives for homeowners to invest in rooftop solar, writes an opinion editor. (Charlotte Observer)
• The head of a fiscally conservative nonprofit hails a Utah U.S. senator’s letter questioning whether the Tennessee Valley Authority is limiting broadband internet buildout through its ownership of power poles. (Tennessean)