Critics: Alabama Power is trying to stamp out third-party solar

SOLAR: Alabama Power is paying less for power generated by third-party companies and charging them a fee to connect to the grid, prompting criticism that the utility is “trying to protect their monopoly” from solar energy providers. (AL.com)

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CLEAN ENERGY:

• Texas leads the U.S. in adding power plant capacity so far in 2024, with most of that coming from solar power, then battery, wind and natural gas. (Inside Climate News)
• Kentucky receives $60 million in federal funding for clean energy projects in rural communities, including three 3 MW hydroelectric plants and a 5 MW solar farm. (WDRB)

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COAL:

• A sudden collapse of a fiberglass component disables two of the four turbines at South Carolina’s largest coal-fired power plant, knocking out one of them for eight days and the other indefinitely. (Post and Courier)
• A Virginia bank reaches a settlement with investors in an international lender to dismiss a lawsuit involving West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s financially strapped coal companies. (WV Metro News)
• Federal officials indict a retired union official for allegedly using explosives to damage a gas pipeline in Alabama during a labor dispute with Warrior Met Coal. (WABM)

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WIND: North Carolina’s second onshore wind farm begins operations as the sector struggles under a 2018 moratorium on wind permits. (Daily Tar Heel)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Electric vehicle maker Canoo offers to relocate 137 out of 194 workers from California to Texas or Oklahoma, with plans to lay off the rest. (Houston Chronicle)
• As demand for electric vehicles sags, Hyundai adjusts its planned EV factory in Georgia toward hybrids. (Atlanta Business Chronicle, subscription)
• North Carolina receives $1 million in federal funding to install 20 electric vehicle chargers at 10 community colleges and to add workforce training for the EV industry. (Greater Fayetteville Business Journal)

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GRID:

• Dominion Energy officials say they’re receiving so many requests from Virginia data centers to hook up to the power grid that new applicants may have to wait as long as seven years. (Bloomberg)
• A Texas lawmaker calls for schools to push back their start dates until after Labor Day to relieve pressure on the state power grid. (KDFW)

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PIPELINES: The Mountain Valley Pipeline identifies a manufacturer’s defect in an elbow joint as the cause of a May rupture that occurred during water pressure testing. (Roanoke Times)

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GEOTHERMAL: Two of the most promising companies in the emerging geothermal energy industry are based in Houston, largely because the technology builds on hydraulic fracturing techniques. (Texas Monthly)

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BIOMASS: Environmentalists blast Georgia Power’s plan to add 80 megawatts of generation from biomass facilities, which regulators are considering ahead of a mid-September vote. (Georgia Recorder)

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STORAGE:

• San Antonio, Texas’ municipal utility partners with a company to develop 350 MW of battery storage at two sites. (PV Magazine)
• Georgia Power plans to add 500 MW of battery storage through four projects, including two at solar plants, one at a retired coal plant and at another battery site. (Capitol Beat News Service)

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FINANCE: A progressive business group sues Texas over a 2021 law that blocks state investments in companies that have reduced or cut ties with the oil and gas sector and that state officials say are antagonistic to fossil fuels. (Texas Tribune)

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