Virginia cable decision could block offshore wind farm

WIND: The Kitty Hawk offshore wind project could be jeopardized after Virginia Beach leaders tell the developer that city residents oppose plans to bring power transmission cables ashore due to concerns about property values and tourism. (WAVY, Virginian-Pilot)

SOLAR:

• New 250 MW and 206 MW solar farms in Texas push new solar generation to outpace all other forms of energy in new U.S. generating capacity added during the first three quarters of 2023. (Renewables Now)
• A Georgia-based paperboard producer agrees to purchase 282 MW of power from Texas solar farms. (Recycling Today)
• A Georgia solar installer discusses launching a company as an electrician instead of from a business or investing background. (Solar Power World)
• Kentucky regulators’ decision to allow utilities to retire coal units and build three new natural gas plants also included the approval of 877 MW of solar power. (Solar Builder)

STORAGE: The U.S. Energy Department announces a company will build a $100 million-plus lithium-ion battery project in Virginia, although a U.S. senator says the project might go to North Carolina instead. (Virginia Business)

COAL:

• A new study indicates pollution from U.S. coal-fired power plants contributed to 460,000 premature deaths over the last two decades, including at least 560 deaths attributed to one Texas power plant. (KVUE)
• A surety bond provider pursues an $8.1 million claim against West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and four of his coal companies, alleging they violated an indemnity agreement. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Coal companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family agree to pay nearly $189,600 in unpaid fees to clean up old abandoned mines. (Bloomberg, subscription)
• An Alabama city council approves a plan to let the state begin mass grading of former coal mines located within a city athletic complex and adjoining property. (Vestavia Voice)

GRID:

• Some experts say Texas’ efforts to boost its electrical grid after 2021’s winter blackouts may have inflated energy prices without any improvement in reliability. (NPR/​Planet Money)
• No arrests have been made nearly one year after the shooting of two electrical substations in North Carolina that resulted in 45,000 people losing power. (WRAL)
• Florida residents organize against Duke Energy’s plan to build a transmission line through a greenway and state park. (WFTV)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The school district in an unincorporated Texas community becomes the first in the state to have an all-electric school bus fleet. (Houston Chronicle)

PIPELINES: Federal regulators grant Mountain Valley Pipeline construction crews approval to drill around the clock to bore beneath an interstate in Virginia. (Roanoke Times)

BIOFUELS: Nearly 40 Texas cities participate in an effort to collect holiday grease and turn it into​biodiesel. (KERA)

UTILITIES: Florida regulators appear likely to approve Duke Energy’s plan to collect $166.1 million from customers to pay for damages from Hurricane Idalia and a series of earlier storms. (News Service of Florida)

COMMENTARY: South Carolina should use federal climate and infrastructure funding to invest in clean energy development in a largely Black, low-income community that’s historically been exposed to pollution and environmental hazards, writes a columnist. (Louisiana Weekly)