Virginia solar advocates want more consumer protections

SOLAR: Virginia solar advocates call for guidelines to protect consumers against an influx of predatory installers seeking to take advantage of loosened residential solar laws passed in 2020. (Virginia Mercury)

ALSO:
• North Carolina solar installers negotiate with Duke Energy to delay a new time-of-use rate until at least 2026 as the utility looks to replace net-metering with a solar incentives package. (Utility Dive)
• The municipal utility in San Antonio, Texas, agrees to buy power from a 300 MW solar farm. (San Antonio Express-News)
• Electric vehicle maker Tesla presses Texas to change its rules to allow residents with solar panels or battery storage to sell excess power back to the grid. (Protocol)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Georgia’s landing of a planned Hyundai factory marks the state’s second big electric vehicle manufacturing deal after years of fruitlessly chasing car manufacturers. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

OIL & GAS:
• A subsidiary of a company that operates a Louisiana liquified natural gas terminal partners with investors to develop a carbon sequestration project there. (The Advocate)
• A Gulf Coast offshore oil producer looks to grow by purchasing oil and gas assets from companies selling them to decarbonize, and by developing carbon capture and sequestration facilities. (Reuters)

CLIMATE:
• A Louisiana nonprofit outfits a church and nine other locations with solar panels in a plan to develop dozens of ​“resilience hubs” where residents can cool off and charge up after a hurricane. (NOLA.com)
• Analysts predict the Gulf Coast’s coming hurricane season will dampen demand for power and natural gas. (S&P Global)
• A severe drought now affects 90% of Texas, triggering water use restrictions and hundreds of wildfires. (Texas Tribune)

EMISSIONS:
• The Port of Virginia reports it’s ahead of its goal to become carbon neutral by 2040, and will source all its operational electricity from renewable sources by 2024. (WAVY)
• A Marine Corps base in Georgia becomes the first American defense base to reach net-zero carbon emissions and produce all of the energy it uses. (WALB)

COAL:
• Coal miners press U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin to shore up a federal trust fund that was established to cover black-lung disability benefits. (Bloomberg)
• A federal regulator finds a West Virginia mine where a miner recently died did not follow proper safety procedures. (WYMT)
• Memphis, Tennessee’s city council urges the Tennessee Valley Authority to study potential impacts of transporting coal ash and storing it in south Memphis communities. (Tennessee Lookout)

POLITICS:
• The incumbent on a Texas board that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, who has been critical of renewables, defeats a challenger in a GOP runoff election. (Texas Tribune, Bloomberg)
• In races for two seats on a Georgia utility oversight board, a veteran of Atlanta government and politics wins a Democratic primary and will challenge a Republican incumbent, and another GOP incumbent cruises to re-nomination. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Savannah Morning News)