Virginia approves wave of new solar for Dominion Energy

SOLAR: Virginia regulators approve a total of 764 MW in new solar power for Dominion Power, including four new solar farms totaling 329 MW plus 13 power purchase agreements with independent projects. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Power Engineering)

ALSO:

• A company builds a 180 MW solar farm in Texas that’s expected to begin operating by 2025. (KTRE)
• A Virginia energy program launches a ​“Solarize Virginia” campaign to connect homeowners with installers. (WVIR)

OVERSIGHT:

• Georgia regulators prepare to hear Georgia Power make its case for using more fossil fuels to meet escalating power demand over the objections of critics who say a proposed settlement didn’t incorporate public feedback and will result in higher bills. (Georgia Recorder)
• Georgia’s five-person regulatory board wields enormous influence over Georgia Power’s plans and energy bills, but remains relatively unknown by the public. (WABE/​Grist)

CARBON CAPTURE:

• Plans to build enormous carbon capture facilities in Texas and beyond are attracting criticism for their potential to scramble weather patterns and because they’re often used to justify the continued extraction of fossil fuels. (New York Times)
• A Tennessee startup opens a first-of-its-kind facility in Arkansas to turn waste from wood and rice operations into bricks to be buried to curtail carbon emissions. (Canary Media)

COAL:

• West Virginia residents complain their well water continues to be contaminated despite an ongoing lawsuit and court orders for coal companies to fix their flooding problems. (Mountain State Spotlight)
• The U.S. EPA agrees to set pollution limits for 11 West Virginia rivers that likely will result in new restrictions for area coal companies. (E&E News, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Hyundai officials hedge on whether the company’s enormous ​“metaplant” under construction in Georgia will produce purely electric vehicles or hybrids as well. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Oklahoma awards $8.7 million in bids to three companies to build 13 electric vehicle charging stations along three interstates. (Oklahoma Voice)
• North Carolina works to keep up with electric vehicle charging demand as the state sees more than 85,000 EV registrations, exceeding its 2025 goal. (WTKR)
• Virginia announces $11 million in federal funding will pay for 18 new electric vehicle charging sites. (Virginia Mercury)

WIND: Dominion Energy agrees to pay $290,000 to a Virginia city and $650,000 to a historic lighthouse to compensate for the visual impacts of its planned offshore wind farm. (WTKR)

OIL & GAS:

• Natural gas prices in Texas have dropped so far they’ve gone negative, to the point where producers have to pay pipeline operators to take fuel away. (Barron’s, subscription)
• Refined fuels drift back down to normal prices in Florida after spiking late last year because of higher demand and fewer ships able to deliver the products. (S&P Global)

GRID:

• A Virginia county asks state regulators to determine whether Dominion Energy’s proposed interconnection rules create new hurdles for small renewable energy projects to join the grid and threaten its emissions reduction targets. (Reston Now)
• FirstEnergy’s West Virginia subsidiaries announce plans to invest $84.7 million in power grid improvements. (State Journal)
• Rapid data center development in Virginia has sparked a backlash from opponents who complain the sector is changing the area’s character and straining the electric grid. (Virginia Business)