875 MW Texas solar farm begins sending power to Google

SOLAR: A developer begins operation of three side-by-side Texas solar farms totaling 875 MW, sending power to Google in what the company says is the largest solar power purchase it has ever made. (Houston Chronicle, Associated Press)

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ALSO:

• Mon Power and Potomac Edison begin operating a West Virginia solar farm built atop an ash disposal site at a former coal-fired power plant. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• The federal government issues more than $2.5 million in grants to develop 13 Arkansas solar farms. (KARK)
• Dominion Energy works with beekeepers as part of its push to incorporate agrivoltaics around its solar farms. (Virginia Mercury)
• Florida Power & Light purchases nearly 350 acres in Miami-Dade County, fueling speculation it may build another solar facility. (The Real Deal)

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PIPELINES: West Virginia residents in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline feel betrayed by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s insistence on forcing completion of the troubled project in exchange for his vote last year on a major climate bill. (Mountain State Spotlight)

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OIL & GAS:

• Occidental Petroleum invests about $1 billion into a direct air capture plant now under construction in Texas. (Midland Reporter-Telegram)
• A gas company asks West Virginia regulators to approve the conversion of more than 600 farm-tap customers to propane. (WV News)

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COAL:

• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s companies owe more than $2 million in delinquent federal mine safety fines, out of a total $17.3 million in fines owed by coal operators across the U.S. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A West Virginia state lawmaker and mine union official discusses how employment in the coal industry has fallen to just 13,000 jobs in the state, due mostly to mechanization and shorter job stints. (WV News)

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GRID: Duke Energy turns to helicopters to deliver power poles and other infrastructure to rebuild the power grid in isolated areas after Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina. (WLOS)

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CLIMATE:

• Increasingly extreme heat in deep south Texas is killing elderly residents, putting a spotlight on the outsized role isolation plays in heat-related deaths. (Inside Climate News/San Antonio Express-News)
• North Carolina officials say Hurricane Helene killed at least 95 people as they near a final death toll that indicates one county had likely overcounted. (Carolina Public Press)

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TRANSITION:

• The Appalachian Regional Commission awards nearly $1.9 million to help develop the recreation economies of previously coal-reliant communities near the Monongahela National Forest. (WV Metro News)
• Puerto Rico residents worry about the shifting face of energy after a hurricane wrecked the island’s grid, both in the form of a liquified natural gas terminal that arrived last year and growing fields of solar panels that have redirected the flow of water around agricultural operations. (HuffPost)

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POLITICS: Three challengers to an incumbent on Texas’ oil and gas regulatory board call for more transparency and better rule enforcement. (Texas Tribune)

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COMMENTARY: Rapid growth of data sectors, Virginia’s commitment to clean energy and the growing pushback against solar farms in rural counties point to a coming showdown in the state legislature, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)

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