Appalachian Power wants to pay Virginians less for rooftop solar

SOLAR: Virginia solar advocates rail at Appalachian Power’s proposal to reduce net metering credits by more than 70%, arguing that doing so would hamper adoption of rooftop solar systems. (Cardinal News)

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OIL & GAS:

• Virginia regulators await more data from Dominion Energy before processing its permit request to build a gas-fired power plant at the site of a former coal plant. (Virginia Mercury)
• Oil company executives who backed Trump’s campaign say they do not actually want to “drill, baby, drill,” but to pursue policies to speed up pipelines and export projects to create more global demand for their products. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
• An anticipated Department of Energy analysis will likely show that increasing liquified natural gas exports will drive up U.S. prices and have a worse climate impact than coal, according to people close to the process. (E&E News, subscription)

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CARBON CAPTURE:

• The U.S. Energy Department awards $26 million to a offshore carbon capture and storage facility near Louisiana that will process emissions from a nearby liquified natural gas export facility. (NOLA.com)
• West Virginia’s U.S. senators tout the potential for the U.S. EPA to grant state officials the authority to permit and regulate carbon capture wells. (WV News)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Duke Energy partners with an electric vehicle infrastructure company to develop a “fleet flexibility microgrid” in North Carolina for commercial trucking companies, with Daimler Truck North America a founding participant. (Utility Dive)
• Hyundai unveils a new electric vehicle the company hopes will overcome political headwinds and justify its investment in a large Georgia factory. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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TRANSITION: West Virginia regulators grant an extension to Longview Power subsidiaries to build a 1,200 MW gas-fired power plant and solar array at the site of a former coal plant. (WV Metro News)

GRID:

• Houston’s city council votes to purchase a nearly $900,000 generator to power a city facility that’s home to a resilience hub to provide a place for residents to gather during storm-related outages. (Houston Chronicle)
• Texas regulators adopt a rule requiring crypto-mining firms to register as the state’s power grid operator sees rising electricity demand from the sector. (Houston Chronicle)

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NUCLEAR: A company begins manufacturing centrifuges at a Tennessee factory that separate out uranium fuel to power commercial nuclear reactors. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

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UTILITIES: The Tennessee Valley Authority has received about 1,600 comments so far on its proposed long-term resource plan, which includes construction of several new gas-fired power plants. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

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POLITICS: Critics worry a conservative think tank’s policy proposals that have been called a blueprint for the Trump administration could reduce access to flood insurance and hamper local governments that rely on National Weather Service data for disaster preparedness. (Houston Chronicle)

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COMMENTARY: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to promote nuclear power in the state are intended to attract more data centers, not to benefit state residents, writes an opinion editor at a college newspaper. (Cavalier Daily)

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