Discover the Latest News and Initiatives for a Sustainable Future

CLIMATE: An advocacy group’s legal analysis finds Arizona could reasonably bring homicide charges against the fossil fuel industry for hundreds of deaths caused by a climate change-exacerbated 2023 heat wave. (Guardian)

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OIL & GAS:

• A study finds more than half of the 47,000 oil and gas wells in Colorado don’t generate enough money to pay for their end-of-life plugging and remediation, potentially saddling taxpayers with the tab. (Colorado Sun)
• A California oil and gas industry group withdraws a ballot initiative challenging a 2022 law prohibiting drilling near homes and schools, and says it plans to sue over the ban instead. (Politico, subscription)
• California lawmakers advance legislation that would fine oil companies $10,000 daily for operating low-producing wells near homes and schools. (E&E News, subscription)
• The Biden administration awards Alaska and Arizona nearly $30 million to plug and reclaim abandoned oil and gas wells. (news release)

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ELECTRIFICATION: Santa Cruz, California’s city council votes to ban the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers. (East Bay Times)

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SOLAR: Records show an Arizona solar manufacturing company benefited from the Inflation Reduction Act after lobbying Congress and donating to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. (Associated Press)

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WIND: A developer proposes an offshore wind power facility off Hawaii’s coast. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

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HYDROPOWER: Records show federal government officials in the 1940s and 1950s welcomed Northwest hydropower dams’ destruction of salmon fisheries and the tribal nations reliant upon them. (ProPublica)

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TRANSPORTATION: Washington state considers implementing a fee on e-commerce doorstep deliveries to help replace dwindling gasoline-tax revenues. (E&E News)

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POLITICS: Conservative Climate Caucus founder Rep. John Curtis wins the Utah Republican primary for Mitt Romney’s Senate seat. (Heatmap)

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STORAGE:

• A report finds California has led the nation’s battery energy storage system buildup by adding 8,600 MW of capacity since 2019. (Reuters)
• An Arizona utility seeks proposals to develop up to 50 MW of demonstration non-lithium-ion long-duration energy storage projects. (news release)

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MINING: The Havasupai Tribe continues to push back against a uranium mine reopening near the Grand Canyon, saying it could contaminate their drinking water source. (KJZZ)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• California regulators order Tesla to fix air quality problems at its Bay Area manufacturing facility after it racks up more than 100 toxic emissions-related violations. (Associated Press)
• California agencies unveil plans to develop living-wage and skills-based electric vehicle industry careers for disadvantaged communities. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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COMMENTARY:

• California’s increasingly clean energy mix proves the rest of the country can be powered with 100% clean energy sources, a climate advocate argues. (New Yorker)
• A journalist worries the rapid buildup of electricity-intensive data centers in Western states to power AI and cryptocurrency mining imperils the energy transition. (High Country News)

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COURTS: The U.S. Supreme Court pauses enforcement of the EPA’s “good neighbor” rule, which sought to hold states responsible for air pollution from power plants and industry that ends up in other states, as legal challenges against it continue. (Associated Press)

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ALSO: Another Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission could make it harder for federal energy regulators to enforce their rules and collect fines. (E&E News)

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POLITICS:

• Climate change only got a few minutes of discussion during last night’s presidential debate, with President Biden highlighting his clean energy action and former President Trump giving an “incoherent nonanswer.” (Grist)
• In a speech to staff, U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan recalls the Trump administration’s silencing of federal scientists and praises the Biden administration’s rebuilding of the agency. (Washington Post)

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RENEWABLES: Americans’ support for renewable energy and electric vehicles is declining, with older Republicans driving the drop in support since 2020, according to a new Pew survey. (New York Times)

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OIL & GAS:

• Federal regulators approve a $10 billion liquified natural gas export terminal in Louisiana despite the Biden administration’s pause on permitting such projects. (Floodlight)
• The Biden administration finalizes plans to ban oil and gas drilling, mining and other development on 28 million acres of federal land in Alaska. (Washington Post)
• A California law banning new oil and gas wells near homes and schools takes effect after an industry group withdrew its ballot referendum seeking to overturn it. (Associated Press)
• Maryland’s public advocate says the utilities in the state are spending, on average, over $700 million a year on gas infrastructure, a practice that is making it harder for the state to hit its climate goals and reduce costs for low-income households. (Inside Climate News)

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HYDROGEN: A Texas plant illustrates how water can be turned into hydrogen-based fuel, but the power-intensive process relies on massive numbers of wind and solar plants. (Washington Post)

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CLIMATE: At least five other states look to replicate an Alabama grant program that helps homeowners strengthen roofs to lower insurance premiums and stave off a climate-related withdrawal by insurance companies. (Stateline)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An analysis finds Nevada’s electric vehicle and battery industries have created more than 12,000 jobs and brought in $15 billion of private investment to the state. (Nevada Current)

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FOSSIL FUELS: Fracking work in the Pittsburgh area is turning local residents’ water from drinkable to nonpotable and laden with chemicals, but a nearby driller is offering to provide water in exchange for signing an agreement with non-disclosure terms. (Public Source)

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ALSO: Federal energy regulators authorize operations on the Mountain Valley pipeline, which will carry gas from fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio to points in the mid-Atlantic and further south. (Associated Press)

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WIND:

• The developer of a 30-turbine wind project in northern Maine says it will begin shipping large components soon, trucking them from the Mack Point cargo terminal in Searsport to Washington County. (Bangor Daily News)
• Delaware lawmakers advance a bill that will set a process in place for the state to procure offshore wind. (Bay to Bay)

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SOLAR:

• A developer works to secure permits for a 9.35 MW solar project with battery storage on a mostly forested plot in Amherst, Massachusetts. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
• Residents say a 125 MW proposed solar project in western New York should be developed on a former coal plant, not on what they say is prime farmland. (Lockport Union-Sun & Journal)

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AFFORDABILITY:

• Maine’s public advocate secures a settlement with Central Maine Power to reduce “excessive” 2022 cost recovery by $850,000, but acknowledges it’s a fraction of the $20 million they sought. (WMTW)
• Maine utility regulators approve a rate increase for Central Maine Power customers that will result in at least $10 extra per bill starting in July to cover cost recovery of the utility’s storm restoration work in late 2022 and 2023. (Portland Press Herald)

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POLICY: Maine environmental officials say the state is already 91% of the way to achieving its carbon neutrality by 2045 goal by slashing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon sequestration, but many buildings still rely on petroleum. (Portland Press Herald)

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NUCLEAR:

• Two top Massachusetts legislators say they’re working to have nuclear power defined as a clean electricity source in the state, which would help pave the way for nuclear plants to be eligible for clean energy bidding. (Boston Globe)
• Federal disaster officials hold a radiological emergency preparedness test for Pennsylvania’s Beaver Valley Power Station to evaluate that state and nearby West Virginia’s ability to respond to catastrophe. (The Times)

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TRANSIT:

• Delaying the Manhattan traffic congestion tolling plan could jeopardize long-sought-after projects to increase accessibility at New York City transit stations. (The City)
• Boston’s transit agency begins road work needed to extend bus lanes in nearby Revere to make service faster and more efficient. (WCVB)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Five Rhode Island school districts will split $12.4 million in federal funds to purchase a combined 45 electric school buses. (news release)
• A Connecticut town planning commission approves a site plan for an undeveloped lot that would include 38 electric vehicle charging stations. (New Haven Register)

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OIL & GAS: A consumer advocacy group files a lawsuit claiming GE failed to warn consumers about the dangers of its gas stoves, hoping Washington, D.C.’s consumer protection law could make all gas stove manufacturers disclose their products’ indoor air pollution risks. (E&E News)

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ALSO:

• A new study finds people of color are underrepresented in the fossil fuel and chemical manufacturing industries, even as petrochemical plant emissions disproportionately affect their communities. (Floodlight)
• A New Mexico court rejects an industry request to toss out an environmentalists’ lawsuit accusing the state of failing to meet its constitutional obligation to protect citizens from oil and gas pollution. (Associated Press)

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CLIMATE:

• The U.S. Supreme Court asks the Biden administration to weigh in on whether states’ and cities’ climate change lawsuits against fossil fuel companies should be allowed to proceed. (The Guardian)
• Researchers find atmospheric levels of planet-warming hydrochlorofluorocarbons have dipped for the first time since nations agreed 30 years ago to phase out their use in air conditioning and refrigeration. (Washington Post)
• The U.S. has already faced 11 extreme weather disasters this year with damages totaling more than $1 billion each, putting FEMA at risk of running out of funding before summer’s end. (CNN)

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EQUITY: A study shows electricity shutoffs disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic families in Minnesota, but advocates lack data to make a similar case nationwide. (Grist)

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PIPELINES: A Mountain Valley Pipeline official tells federal regulators that, after six years of delays and cost overruns, the project finally is “mechanically complete” and requests authorization to begin transporting natural gas this week. (Roanoke Times)

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GRID: A federal energy regulator says new transmission regulations are modeled off long-term modeling underway by regional grid operator MISO. (Star Tribune)

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WIND: New York officials break ground on an $861 million facility on Brooklyn’s waterfront to support construction of the Empire Wind project. (Spectrum News)

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SOLAR:

• In Massachusetts, energy developers work with sheep farmers to provide free grazing land in exchange for maintaining the grass around solar arrays. (Boston Globe)
• A growing number of states are requiring smart inverters for new solar and storage installations, which can allow for more solar on distribution systems. (PV Magazine)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Landowners and advocates say Illinois’ new restrictions on carbon capture and storage don’t go far enough and should end the use of eminent domain for pipelines and give more protection to landowners. (Energy News Network)

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NUCLEAR:

• Cost uncertainty, long pre-construction timelines, and other factors are stalling the rollout of advanced nuclear projects, an industry group says. (Utility Dive)
• Bill Gates attends his company’s liquid sodium testing facility groundbreaking ceremony at the site of an advanced nuclear reactor planned for a Wyoming coal community. (WyoFile)
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says restarting a shuttered nuclear plant along Lake Michigan is necessary to meeting the state’s 100% carbon-free power target by 2040. (Michigan Public)

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HYDROGEN: An Oregon startup says it has successfully produced green hydrogen using power from a wind turbine mounted on a ship. (Power)

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COAL: A proposed contract extension could lock three Chicago suburbs and 29 downstate municipalities into relying on a major coal plant for decades to come. (Chicago Tribune)

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ALSO: A Minnesota administrative law judge finds that Xcel Energy’s negligence contributed to a catastrophic coal plant equipment failure in 2011, and that customers should be compensated up to $34 million. (Star Tribune)

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UTILITIES: Michigan regulators fine Consumers Energy $1 million after investigating complaints of malfunctioning smart meters and violating state rules on estimated billing practices. (Michigan Advance)

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CLEAN ENERGY:

• Illinois lawmakers pass a bill that would enable local governments to apply for loans through the state’s climate bank to build clean energy infrastructure. (WREX)
• South Dakota residents grow frustrated by the state’s hesitation to apply for nearly $69 million in federal funding for an energy efficiency rebate program. (South Dakota Searchlight)

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SOLAR: A solar project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula shows how community solar can be deployed to help make electricity costs more affordable for low-income residents. (Inside Climate News)

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EMISSIONS: Missouri’s attorney general sues five states, including Minnesota, over claims that their climate policies create emissions mandates for other states. (FOX 2)

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RENEWABLES: Environmental groups accuse MidAmerican Energy of misleading customers by saying it supplied 100% renewable energy to customers while operating six coal plants. (E&E News, subscription)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Experts say the absence of a price on carbon makes it difficult to quantify the economic benefits of carbon capture and storage for corn growers. (North Dakota Monitor)

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GRID: City, state and federal officials celebrate the opening of a microgrid in a southside Chicago neighborhood that could be replicated elsewhere in the state. (Sun-Times)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Students at a Minnesota school district press administrators to buy an electric bus. (Star Tribune)

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OIL & GAS:

• An Illinois energy company claims Enbridge conspired with ExxonMobil to form a joint venture and block rivals from moving crude oil from Canada and North Dakota to refineries in the Midwest and Gulf Coast. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• More than 5,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in Kansas continue to pose safety challenges for landowners. (KCTV)

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NUCLEAR: Figuring out how to build cheaper nuclear plants will be key for the U.S. to take advantage of the technology and transition from fossil fuels, experts say. (The Atlantic)

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CLIMATE: School districts across the northern U.S. that lack air conditioning confront the academic and health risks associated with rising temperatures. (Washington Post, subscription)

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COMMENTARY: Wisconsin should celebrate, and accelerate, the state’s progress on retiring the last of its coal plants, an editorial board writes. (Wisconsin State Journal)

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OIL & GAS: People who live near the Tennessee Valley Authority’s eight planned natural gas-fired power plants will likely face higher cancer rates and other health impacts from the facilities, experts say. (WPLN)

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ALSO:

• Environmental groups press the Biden administration to stop development of deepwater oil export facilities, similar to its pause on permitting liquified natural gas export terminals. (Guardian)
• A Louisiana think tank last week sued the Department of Energy over a pause in liquified natural gas export approvals, arguing the move is unconstitutional. (E&E News, subscription)

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PIPELINES:

• The U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up six Virginia families’ challenge of the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s use of eminent domain to forcefully acquire easements through their land. (Roanoke Times)
• Officials at a Kentucky arboretum and nature preserve call on the state supreme court to reverse a ruling allowing utilities to use eminent domain for pipeline construction through a state-funded wildlife corridor. (Kentucky Lantern)

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SOLAR:

• The Biden administration’s new tariffs on Chinese solar panels and electric vehicle components could boost economic activity in North Carolina’s emerging clean energy sector, an expert says. (WFAE)
• A consultant says Texas’ record-breaking solar generation over the winter came about less from development of new capacity than from a spike in load growth that slowed curtailment of solar facilities. (Utility Dive)
• A Virginia county planning commission considers two 4.99 MW solar farms that had applied for permits before the county imposed a moratorium on solar development. (Gazette-Virginian)
• An Arkansas nonprofit partners with a regional organization to award nearly $94 million in federal money to help low-income families acquire solar power. (Arkansas Advocate)

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WIND: Dominion Energy begins a new phase of construction at a Virginia facility where it will bring power onshore from its planned offshore wind farm. (WTKR)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signs a bill to delay an electric vehicle charging sales tax to give state officials more time to figure out how to measure and assess the tax. (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)
• Toyota considers investing $531.7 million in a new building at a Texas plant that makes pickups and a hybrid SUV, but details of the expansion are still unclear. (Houston Chronicle)

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GRID: A Kentucky bill to add new hurdles for utilities to retire fossil fuel-fired power plants leads to a new high for lobbying costs as utilities and electric cooperatives spend big. (Kentucky Lantern)

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RENEWABLE GAS: A North Carolina county signs a contract with a company to build a facility to produce renewable natural gas at a waste storage site. (Biomass Magazine)

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NUCLEAR: A Tennessee university and community college use state grants to add programs to train workers for the nuclear power industry. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

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COMMENTARY:

• Louisiana must remove potential obstacles to keep pace with neighbors Texas and Mississippi in developing carbon capture technology to ensure it doesn’t lose out on investments, writes the president of a chamber of commerce. (Town Talk)
• Oklahoma should launch a program for wind, solar and oil and gas developers to pair energy projects with payments to protect wildlife habitat, writes a real estate developer and conservationist. (Oklahoman)

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COAL: Residents in northwestern Indiana were potentially exposed to cancer-causing chemicals from coal ash, despite being told otherwise, for nearly a decade after a utility consultant included misleading soil samples that should have been dismissed from studies. (Indianapolis Star)

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GRID:

• Facing wildfire-related lawsuits in Texas and Colorado, Xcel Energy is among the U.S. utilities grappling with how to reinforce grid infrastructure to prevent disasters. (Star Tribune)
• States will be left to decide which companies build and profit from a potentially massive transmission build out after federal regulators declined to adopt right-of-first-refusal requirements. (E&E News)

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NUCLEAR: Nuclear energy has made inroads with centrist Michigan Democrats for its potential economic and climate benefits, though some environmental groups say public funding would be better spent on other clean energy options. (MLive)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Auto industry analysts warn that a U.S. retrenchment on electric vehicles, including if a Republican takes the White House in November, would give up significant market share to China. (CQ Roll Call)

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SOLAR:

• The value of home solar installations is poised to increase over the coming decades as a growing need to cool buildings will increase power demand, a University of Michigan study finds. (Michigan Daily)
• Funding recipients from the federal Solar for All program will soon confront construction industry labor shortages as they look to install projects. (Bloomberg Law)
• DTE Energy breaks ground on a 132 MW solar project in central Michigan. (WOOD-TV8)
• Amazon enters into a power purchase agreement to offtake all of the power from a new 150 MW Ohio solar project that was co-developed by Enbridge. (Renewables Now)
• Electric vehicle startup Rivian will buy renewable energy credits and subscribe to a 10 MW community solar project to offset power demand at the company’s Illinois manufacturing plant. (PV Magazine)
• Solar-powered streetlights are among environmental projects that Detroit residents are requesting to help local officials land federal grant funding. (Planet Detroit)

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CLIMATE: GOP attorneys general from 19 states argue that more than two dozen climate liability lawsuits nationwide that seek to hold fossil fuel companies accountable “threaten our way of life.” (E&E News, subscription)

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NATURAL GAS: A new study finds using a gas stove on average accounts for 75% of people’s exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant also found in car exhaust and other sources, which can trigger asthma attacks. (Guardian)

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ALSO: Efforts by Republicans and a building industry group to launch ballot initiatives aimed at blocking the state’s transition away from natural gas are facing multiple legal hurdles. (Washington State Standard)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• While global demand for gasoline is still growing, analysts expect the rate of growth to slow by more than half this year as electric vehicle sales surge in the U.S., Europe and China. (Reuters, Canary Media)
• An analysis finds political polarization over electric cars escalated amid media reactions to California’s 2022 rule to phase out gasoline vehicles. (Washington Post)
• Experts say Tesla’s pullback from installing charging stations isn’t likely to cause a major disruption, as technology is becoming more standardized and more companies have entered the market. (New York Times)

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TRANSPORTATION:

• Congressional Democrats are set to introduce a 10-year, $500 billion spending package to improve transportation infrastructure and help reduce emissions. (Inside Climate News)
• As the Biden administration seeks to incentivize ethanol-based aviation fuel, some analysts are skeptical it will help with reducing emissions. (Canary Media)

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CLEAN ENERGY:

• Microsoft last week announced a plan to spend more than $10 billion on renewable energy to power its data centers, amid concerns AI demand could drive a surge in emissions. (CNBC)
• A series of charts from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory illustrate the grid bottlenecks holding back deployment of new solar and storage. (Canary Media)

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SOLAR: A new Virginia law will expand community solar into the state’s western coal country, and create an opportunity for regulators to revisit how utilities charge customers for it. (Energy News Network)

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PIPELINES: A section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia ruptures during hydrostatic testing with water, damaging a section of pipe and leaking into a nearby stream just weeks before its in-service date. (Roanoke Times)

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OIL & GAS: Injection wells owned by an Ohio state senator leaked fracking waste deep underground before releasing at the surface, prompting a $1.3 million cleanup paid for by the state in 2021. (Cleveland.com)

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COAL: A deal with grid operator PJM to keep two Maryland coal plants open past 2025, when they’re slated to be replaced with natural gas or oil, could cost ratepayers an extra $5 a month. (Baltimore Banner)

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CLIMATE: Vermont’s House sends a bill to the governor that would aim to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate disasters in the state, like last year’s extreme flooding. (NBC5)

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AIR POLLUTION: Several Missouri counties receive poor or failing grades in a new air pollution scorecard that tracks ozone and particulate pollution, including from burning fossil fuels. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

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ALSO:

• More broadly, the air pollution scorecard shows improvement in parts of the Upper Midwest where coal plants are closing, vehicles are more fuel-efficient and industry is cleaning up operations. (CNN)
• Minnesota clean air advocates say that despite slight improvements in air quality in the Twin Cities region, climate change is making air pollution more common and harder to clean up. (MPR News)

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SOLAR:

• A large Michigan auto supplier will install onsite solar and offset the rest of its power needs through utility contracts to meet a 100% renewable energy goal. (Jackson TV)
• Tribal and rural areas in the Dakotas will benefit from roughly $260 million in federal funding to support low-income solar projects. (North Dakota Monitor)
• Seven leading U.S. solar manufacturers ask the Biden administration to expand tariffs on Southeast Asia solar imports to protect domestic manufacturing. (E&E News, subscription)

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PIPELINES: Michigan environmental activists say building a tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac poses serious risks during construction while the tunnel’s ongoing operation violates tribal treaty rights. (9&10 News)

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BIOFUELS: As commodity prices decline and operating costs rise, Ohio farmers hope new markets for ethanol will provide financial stability. (Columbus Dispatch)

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WIND:

• A proposed northwestern Iowa wind project has been scaled back in one county where local officials prepare to adopt zoning restrictions on wind development. (Radio Iowa)
• A developer secures $437 million in financing for two wind repowering projects in Iowa and equipment replacement in Minnesota that were made possible through the federal Inflation Reduction Act. (North American Windpower)

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NUCLEAR: A retired physicist tells a northern Minnesota climate advocacy group that nuclear power will play a key role in the state’s energy future that includes a carbon-free power mandate by 2040. (The Timberjay)

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CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Department of Labor releases an interactive map showing tens of thousands of jobs created by clean energy projects across the country. (Daily Reporter)

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COMMENTARY:

• The U.S. Supreme Court’s “disastrous” Citizens United ruling paved the way for Ohio’s largest corruption scandal in state history as dark-money groups shielded FirstEnergy campaign contributions to lawmakers. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• The head of a coal-backed trade group says Indiana is retiring coal plants prematurely as the state seeks to attract energy-intensive industries like data centers. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

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OIL & GAS: A $67 million medical claims settlement for cleanup workers in BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has fallen far short of expectations, leaving the vast majority of workers with no more than $1,300 each for complicated, lasting health conditions. (Associated Press)

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ALSO: Congressional Republicans grill a Biden administration official over how the pause on permitting new liquified natural gas export terminals is affecting U.S. allies in Asia and Europe. (Houston Chronicle)

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TRANSITION: Health care emerges to account for more than 20% of all jobs in eastern Kentucky counties where coal mining jobs have declined 70% over the last generation, with jobs in educational services, remote work and tourism also growing. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

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GRID:

• Texas’ grid operator adjusts its power demand projections upward as data centers built to support artificial intelligence platforms strain grid capacity. (Houston Chronicle)
• A report finds Southern Co. and Entergy are among the utilities particularly well positioned to financially benefit from building out generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure as data centers drive up power demand. (S&P Global)
• A Georgia university institute receives a $10 million federal grant to partner with a Tennessee lab on a regional cybersecurity research and operations center to protect the grid. (news release)

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SOLAR: A Georgia-based company strikes a deal to incorporate its monocrystalline silicon solar cells into solar panels made by a Minnesota company, ensuring a source of entirely domestically made solar panels. (Electrek, The Cool Down)

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STORAGE: A Virginia commission approves incentives for a California company backed by a $100 million federal grant that’s considering building a lithium-ion battery factory. (Cardinal News)

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WIND: “I hate wind”: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reportedly rants about the wind industry during a Florida fundraising meal with oil and gas executives. (Washington Post)

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GEOTHERMAL: A Texas business park built on a former military airfield unveils a geothermal HVAC system. (KXAN)

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CARBON CAPTURE:

• A Florida county board approves a carbon capture pilot project at its waste-to-energy plant over the objections of environmental groups. (Tampa Bay Times)
• An Arkansas pipe manufacturer sues a company that wants to build a carbon capture network in Iowa over delays. (Arkansas Advocate)

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UTILITIES:

• Officials in San Antonio, Texas, debate whether windfall profits by the city’s municipal utility the last two years should be used to lower electric rates or for other purposes. (San Antonio Report)
• The new interim director of Jacksonville, Florida’s municipal utility has returned from retirement to resume working for it twice in the past eight years. (Florida Times-Union)

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COMMENTARY:

• A South Carolina bill to fast-track construction of a natural gas-fired power plant will benefit utilities but not state residents or ratepayers, who will be stuck with a less-than-reliable power source and potentially higher bills, writes a state regulator who resigned last month. (Post and Courier)
• An Appalachian advocacy group calls on Virginia lawmakers to engage with coalfield communities to ensure they have a voice in the transition from fossil fuels. (Cardinal News)
• Policymakers should listen to Gulf Coast communities that live in the shadow of liquified natural gas export facilities over the claims of oil executives, writes a community activist. (Common Dreams)

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