Critics charge Duke’s green tariff tweaks won’t add enough NC solar

SOLAR: Critics charge that Duke Energy’s revised green tariff program in North Carolina will do little to accelerate new renewable development because it requires large customers to choose from projects among losing bids in the utility’s solar procurement process. (Energy News Network)

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ALSO:

• Gainesville, Florida’s municipal utility board votes to reduce its net metering payments to the growing number of homeowners with rooftop solar arrays. (WUFT)
• Entergy Texas begins drawing power from a 150 MW solar farm, the first contracted through a renewables-focused request for proposals. (Bluebonnet News)
• A steel company and utility break ground on a solar farm in Kentucky. (WFIE)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Construction has stalled on Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast’s planned North Carolina factory after the company revised its plans for a smaller building footprint but hasn’t yet submitted new documents to the state. (Raleigh News & Observer, WRAL)

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Republican attorneys general from Florida and 22 other states petition the U.S. EPA to stop taking race into account when regulating pollution. (Floodlight)

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GRID:

• Entergy’s Louisiana subsidiary presses state regulators to fast-track approval of its $1.9 billion plan to harden grid infrastructure, but one official complains the document obscures important details. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• The Texas power grid remained stable with no energy conservation requests this week after the grid operator requested power plant operators to defer maintenance due to an anticipated spike in demand. (Houston Chronicle)
• A Virginia county board unanimously passes a resolution calling on NextEra Energy to use existing transmission corridors to build 500 kV lines between two proposed substations. (Loudoun Times-Mirror)

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UTILITIES:

• Lobbying reports reveal Kentucky’s electric cooperative association spent big successfully pushing for passage of a bill to create more obstacles to retire fossil fuel-fired power plants, while two for-profit utilities also spent large amounts of money in a failed attempt to block the legislation. (WKYU)
• A Kentucky city council considers requiring a franchise agreement with electric providers who lease city land, enabling it to charge a 3% franchise fee. (Link NKY)
• Georgia regulators approve Georgia Power’s plan to build new gas plants and add battery storage to account for growing power demand, but critics question assertions the changes will result in lower bills. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

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COAL: Democratic U.S. senators in Virginia and West Virginia applaud a new federal rule to more tightly regulate silica dust, which factors into black lung disease. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

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EMISSIONS:

• Texas regulators fine a liquified natural gas export facility for violating air pollution rules between 2019 and 2021. (Reuters)
• Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asks state environmental regulators to delay approval of new permits for cement plants until 2025 due to community concerns about air and water pollution. (Texas Tribune)

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CLIMATE: Advocates and families of people incarcerated in Louisiana prisons say the state has failed to protect prisoners from extreme summer heat, while officials say they’ve asked for state funding to install air conditioning in two prisons. (Verite News)

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NUCLEAR: Virginia lawmakers approve Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s changes to a bill that allows utilities to seek regulatory approval to charge customers for the cost of developing small modular nuclear reactors. (Cardinal News)

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