Volkswagen kicks off EV production at Tennessee plant

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Volkswagen begins production of its first U.S.-made electric vehicles at its Tennessee plant. (Associated Press)

ALSO: A Korean company announces it will invest $95 million to build a Tennessee factory to make electrolytes for the electric vehicle battery industry. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

POLITICS:
• U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia finally reaches agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on a spending package with $369 billion for climate change and clean energy, including billions in home energy rebates and tax credits for electric vehicles. (Washington Post, Politico)
• Hundreds of pages of internal documents show how a political consulting firm secretly worked to help Florida Power & Light and other power companies protect their profits and fight the clean energy transition. (Floodlight/​Orlando Sentinel)

SOLAR: A Virginia city delays signing off on a revised power purchase agreement with higher costs from a solar project on a former golf course. (Martinsville Bulletin)

OVERSIGHT:
• President Biden nominates an Alabama lawyer and former chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority board to serve as TVA director once again. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper appoints a lawyer and longtime clean energy advocate to oversee the state’s emissions reduction and environmental justice efforts. (WFAE)

EMISSIONS:
• Hundreds of methane ​“super emitters” in the Permian Basin continue to spew unregulated greenhouse gas emissions a year after they were detected by an aerial survey. (Associated Press)
• Louisiana State University researchers receive a grant to study ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced when using natural gas in energy and chemical production. (Greater Baton Rouge Business Report)

TRANSITION: Texas regulators consider an energy company’s $70 million plan to convert a coal-fired power plant to natural gas. (KFDA)

GRID: Residents and city leaders in a North Carolina city criticize a Duke Energy proposal to rebuild a power substation over concerns about the loss of trees and the neighborhood’s character. (Asheville Citizen-Times)

UTILITIES:
• Louisiana regulators question representatives from Entergy and other power companies about reducing power bills and investing in more renewables. (KTBS)
• AARP’s Oklahoma chapter asks state regulators to enact a moratorium on utility rate increases. (Journal Record)
• A Florida utility temporarily suspends electric and water disconnections for customers with balances of less than $500. (WCJB)

OIL & GAS: A Texas gas company builds a 24-mile pipeline to extend natural gas service to more residential and business customers. (DailyTrib.com)

COAL ASH: A federal appeals court dismisses a longstanding challenge to the U.S. EPA’s approval of Oklahoma’s coal ash disposal program, saying the advocacy groups bringing the suit lack standing. (Bloomberg Law, subscription; news release)

STORAGE:
• A Tennessee solar installer pivots to energy storage and microgrid installation after realizing state solar incentives were set to expire. (Solar Power World)
• Appalachian Power issues a request for proposals for 7.5 MW in battery storage on a rural Virginia circuit. (Cardinal News)

COMMENTARY:
• A Texas editorial board endorses federal legislation to assist fossil fuel-dependent communities in Appalachia and the Texas oilfields in the transition to cleaner energy. (Houston Chronicle)
• A community organizer calls for Florida to make the shift from diesel to electric school buses. (Orlando Sentinel)