WV’s workforce struggles to keep pace with clean energy projects

WORKFORCE: Renewable energy is boosting West Virginia with a series of new factories and projects, but the state is hampered by a low labor force participation rate and lack of policies supporting smaller community-scale projects. (Mountain State Spotlight)

GRID:

• Texas’ electric grid holds firm despite frigid temperatures and new winter peak demand records in three of the last four days, but experts say energy efficiency improvements would boost its performance and help residents suffering from the cold. (Utility Dive, KTRK)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority sees a new winter peak demand record but manages it without blackouts, which it credits to conservation efforts. (WRCB, WJHL)
• Thousands of North Carolina residents still don’t have power after an outage due to cold weather and an equipment failure at a substation. (WRAL)

STORAGE: A Louisiana parish board votes to approve tax incentives for a chemical company to build a $491 million factory to make materials for electric vehicle batteries. (NOLA.com)

EFFICIENCY: Duke Energy introduces a North Carolina program to incentivize homeowners with high energy usage to add energy-efficient HVAC systems, insulation and other measures. (Raleigh News & Observer)

SOLAR:

• A construction company that built solar farms in Alabama, Idaho and Illinois agrees to pay $2.3 million to settle claims it violated clean water rules beginning in 2016. (Associated Press)
• A Virginia school district announces it will install 3,667 solar panels at six schools and an administrative building, while a neighboring school board considers a power purchase agreement for solar at a high school. (Roanoke Rambler)

CLIMATE:

• Tennessee officials say 14 people have died from extreme cold in the state. (WSMV)
• A Virginia nonprofit agrees to tear down its brand new $9 million headquarters when rising tides reach a certain level, likely decades from now. (Virginia Mercury)
• Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green — Kentucky’s three biggest cities — ask for public feedback as they develop climate plans in an attempt to secure federal funding for reducing emissions. (Kentucky Lantern)

PIPELINES: A North Carolina county board delays approval of a permit for Dominion Energy to use a property as an operational base to build a pipeline after residents raise concerns about safety and pollution. (Salisbury Post)

COAL: A federal judge orders a helicopter owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies to be prepared for sale to satisfy a debt to a company for royalty payments for mined coal. (WV Metro News)

OIL & GAS: Wind carries a natural gas odor from an oil field into Austin, Texas, fueling concerns from residents. (KVUE)

UTILITIES:

• Virginia electric cooperatives complain about state legislation that would mandate them to deploy broadband on utility poles before pandemic funding expires. (Cardinal News)
• A Virginia lawmaker introduces legislation to block Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power from billing customers for their political activities. (Energy and Policy Institute)
• West Virginia regulators approve a special contract for Appalachian Power to provide reduced rates, electric power and transmission lines for a steel company. (WVVA)

COMMENTARY:

• A clean energy organizer in Texas discusses efforts to assist families in dealing with a public utility that billed customers for a power plant that was never built. (Sierra)
• Democratic and Republican Virginia lawmakers explain their bipartisan legislation to ensure the state is taking full advantage of federal funding for clean energy infrastructure. (Cardinal News)