Who should guide Virginia’s electric vehicle expansion?

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: As electric vehicle use grows in Virginia, state regulators face questions about the role of utilities and how well the market can guide expansion of charging station infrastructure. (Virginia Mercury)

ALSO:
• County commissioners in Austin, Texas, approve tax breaks worth at least $14 million over 10 years if Tesla decides to build a $1.1 billion electric vehicle factory there. (Austin American-Statesman)
• Oklahoma is seeking applications from communities that want funding to install electric vehicle charging stations. (Oklahoman)

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UTILITIES: Clean energy advocates are challenging incumbents in two Virginia utility co-op board elections this summer. (Energy News Network)

SOLAR:
• An environmental law firm objects to a proposal by Duke Energy Florida in which customers could voluntarily pay more to help finance 10 solar projects. (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
• Solar installations are springing up across the Atlanta metro area, driven by high electricity prices and falling solar costs. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• County officials interrogate a solar developer about its plans and the potential impact of a 100 megawatt project in northern Virginia. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)
• Tulane University researchers are part of a team that’s developed a hybrid solar energy converter that efficiently generates electricity and steam. (Science Daily)

REGULATION:
• President Trump finalizes a major overhaul of a landmark environmental law, which activists say will sideline communities of color whose neighborhoods are in the path of pipelines and other projects. (Texas Tribune)
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves taps a third-term Republican state senator to be the new director of the state’s Public Utilities Staff. (Associated Press)

COAL:
• Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer, the nation’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas, will see one of its four coal-fired units close by Jan. 1, 2022. (Saporta Report)
• Joe Biden’s $2 trillion clean energy plan, which commits to helping coal communities transition their economies, draws mixed reactions from industry groups and union officials in the Ohio Valley. (Ohio Valley Resource)

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OIL & GAS: Federal energy regulators give Delfin LNG a second one-year extension to complete a proposed floating liquified natural gas export facility off the coast of Louisiana. (Reuters)

COMMENTARY:
• A decade after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill was finally contained, Florida’s coastal bird habitat still faces threats from offshore drilling. (Audubon)
• An editorial board says it believes Tesla can thrive in Texas, and that a Tesla factory in Austin would be good for Texas workers. (Dallas Morning News)