Why Texas surpassed California as the nation’s solar leader

SOLAR: Texas surpassed California as the nation’s leader in solar installations last year, but a professor explains that has less to do with the state’s commitment to fighting climate change and is more about making infrastructure projects easy to permit and build. (The Atlantic)

ALSO:

• More than 1,300 people have enrolled in a Duke Energy program that offers up to $9,000 upfront to customers who install residential solar and battery systems, drawing praise from clean energy advocates but also criticism about the program’s pre-determined cap. (WFAE)
• An Oklahoma county board tables floodplain permits for a proposed NextEra solar farm after receiving erroneous maps that indicated the company would install transmission on property it had not leased. (Enid News & Eagle)

OIL & GAS:

• A publicly owned oil company’s $26 billion purchase of another energy firm would create the largest pure-play in the Permian Basin, trailing only Exxon and Chevron in terms of total oil production there. (Houston Chronicle)
• Environmental groups appeal federal regulators’ approval of the Calcasieu Pass 2 liquified natural gas export terminal in Louisiana, which could be headed to court. (E&E News, subscription)
• Louisiana officials continue cleanup of a weekend oil spill of 34,000 gallons into a nearby bayou. (WVUE)
• Officials with a Houston liquified natural gas company says their decision to be acquired by an Australian oil company will enable completion of its struggling gas liquefaction plant in Louisiana. (Houston Chronicle)

GRID:

• Texas regulators receive 72 applications for low-interest loans from a fund created to spur construction of more gas-fired power plants to shore up the state grid. (KAMR/KCIT)
• A Texas lawmaker says he’s considering legislation to ​“claw back” some of the $800 million CenterPoint Energy spent on massive generators that sat idle during widespread outages after Hurricane Beryl. (Houston Chronicle)
• Texas officials reject changes to a state grid program to increase or decrease the supply of electricity as demand rises and falls, saying they unnecessarily cost the state billions of dollars. (Houston Chronicle)
• Hurricane Beryl results in a petroleum leak from a long-idled offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. (KPRC)

UTILITIES:

• A Florida city considers hiring a consultant to study whether to drop Duke Energy and create a new municipal utility when its 30-year agreement with the utility expires next year. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Officials in a Texas township are pushing for Entergy to take over from CenterPoint Energy after years of complaints about outages and poor communication, and now Hurricane Beryl. (Houston Chronicle)

SUSTAINABILITY: Texas A&M University faculty and students work with teachers from Texas’ Coastal Bend to research and develop lesson plans around renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. (Corpus Christi Caller-Times)

COMMENTARY:

• Duke Energy should come together with North Carolina officials to upgrade the power grid with an eye toward boosting reliable and affordable sources of clean power, writes a Sierra Club official. (NC Newsline)
• Texas Democrats and Republicans find bipartisan consensus in criticizing CenterPoint Energy for its response to Hurricane Beryl, but the failures also exposed state leaders for poor oversight of the electric business, writes an energy columnist. (Houston Chronicle)