What’s behind recent solar bankruptcies?

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SOLAR

• An expert says Houston-based solar provider Sunnova and California-based solar lender Solar Mosaic both had financial problems that predated the Trump administration, but their issues were exacerbated by market conditions making it more difficult for every solar company. (Canary Media)

• Experts say cuts in Trump’s ​“big beautiful bill” now before Congress would lead to an immediate drop in rooftop solar installations, with one firm estimating installations would drop by half next year and another projecting an 85% decrease through 2030. (New York Times)

• Virginia Tech researchers find solar farm development has a relatively minor impact on most residential property values, though its effect depends largely on local attitudes toward solar. (news release)

• Origis Energy closes financing for a 200 MW solar farm and 50 MW battery facility in Mississippi that will supply the Tennessee Valley Authority. (Power Technology)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A study finds developers have proposed more than 100 gas-fired power plants totaling 58 GW in Texas, which have the potential to emit an estimated 115 million metric tons of greenhouse gases every year. (Inside Climate News)

• An industry group reports Texas gas production hit a record high between January and May, accounting for 42.2% of total U.S. crude oil production and 29.2% of U.S.-marketed natural gas production. (Dallas Morning News)

• Coal miners’ efforts to push back against Trump’s cuts to federal agencies that monitor mines for safety conditions and screen miners for black lung disease have been successful, at least in part. (Grist)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Three workers have died and another 15 have been seriously injured during construction of Hyundai’s 3,000-acre electric vehicle and battery factory in Georgia, raising concerns about safety oversight and the pace of construction. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

GRID

• Cleveland-Cliffs officially declines a forgivable $50 million loan from West Virginia after abandoning its plans to build a transformer factory in the state. (WV Metro News)

POLITICS

• A judge disqualifies a candidate in the Democratic primary for the Georgia Public Service Commission after finding he won’t have lived in the district for the required year before the general election. (Associated Press)

• A Democratic Congress member and 11 Virginia lawmakers call on a candidate in the Democratic primary for attorney general to recuse herself from cases involving Dominion Energy after her campaign received roughly $650,000 from the utility. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger announces an energy platform that calls for expanding generation, more protections for ratepayers, and an emphasis on ensuring data centers don’t lead to higher energy prices. (E&E News)

• Both candidates in a Republican primary election for a Virginia state house seat name rising power bills as the biggest issue facing voters in the district. (Cardinal News)

EMISSIONS

• Environmental groups press the U.S. EPA to formally recognize that the Memphis metro area has ozone emissions levels that fail to meet national health standards, thereby triggering stricter requirements for air permits. (Tennessee Lookout)

CLIMATE

• A study finds certain neighborhoods across Virginia with low tree cover and expansive concrete spaces — often those that had been historically underinvested because of higher populations of people of color — can be more than 15 degrees hotter than other places. (Virginia Mercury)

• As many as 44% of National Weather Service positions in Houston are vacant amid Trump’s cuts as the agency wrestles with staff shortages during what’s forecast to be an above-normal activity hurricane season. (Texas Tribune)

• Virginia gears up for a climate-exacerbated hurricane season as the Trump administration calls for states to shoulder more of the burden of response and recovery. (Inside Climate News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Southern California regulators reject rules that would’ve encouraged adoption of electric heat pumps and water heaters, and which would’ve helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the smog-plagued area, Alison F. Takemura reports.

• A new survey finds support for renewable energy has fallen among both Republicans and Democrats over the last five years, while backing for expanding fossil fuels and nuclear production has grown, Pam Radtke reports.