West Virginia’s coal magnate governor flips U.S. Senate seat for GOP

ELECTIONS: West Virginia governor and coal magnate Jim Justice wins election to the U.S. Senate, flipping a longtime Democratic seat currently held by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin. (New York Times)

ALSO:

• Democrats win election to governor and attorney general in North Carolina, likely preserving the state’s commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and moving toward renewables. (NC Newsline)
• Louisiana voters overwhelmingly approve a ballot measure to set aside revenue from offshore wind development for coastal projects such as barrier island restoration and wetlands rebuilding. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• A Republican state senator who campaigned on ​“affordable and reliable energy” wins election to a swing seat on Louisiana’s utility regulatory board, joining two Democrats and two Republicans. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• A Republican incumbent wins re-election over three challengers to the Texas board that oversees the oil and gas industry. (Texas Tribune)
• A Republican candidate who’s worked in Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry wins election to the state’s utility regulatory commission. (Oklahoma Voice)
• West Virginia’s Republican attorney general, who won a 2022 Supreme Court decision striking down the U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, wins election as governor, while another Republican is elected to attorney general in West Virginia. (WV Metro News)

TRANSITION: Solar panel manufacturer Qcells gains a foothold with its Georgia factory, leveraging higher wages and an air-conditioned workplace to attract employees as federally incentivized clean energy manufacturing projects take root around the country. (Canary Media)

WIND:

• Dominion Energy reports workers have installed 78 turbine foundations of a planned 176 total at its offshore wind farm near Virginia. (Virginian-Pilot)
• A Virginia-based law firm is named to work with 11 East Coast states on a program to mitigate the effects of offshore wind farms on the fishing industry. (Richmond Inno)
• A Spanish company announces it has purchased two Texas wind farms totaling 300 MW. (Renewables Now)

TRANSMISSION: Lobbyists for Duke Energy and Southern Company have raised concerns about bipartisan energy permitting legislation they say could erode their control over transmission planning. (E&E News, subscription)

GRID: Residents of Memphis, Tennessee, worry about the energy needs of Elon Musk’s planned supercomputer in a part of the city already contending with an oil refinery, a steel mill, and chemical plants. (CleanTechnica)

CLIMATE: North Carolina and Florida officials scrambled to ensure residents could vote amid lingering destruction from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which could forecast election struggles and solutions as climate change exacerbates storms. (Inside Climate News)