Feds take another look at permit for Hyundai’s Georgia EV complex

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Army Corps of Engineers will reassess the permit it awarded to Hyundai’s planned $7.6 billion electric vehicle and battery factory in Georgia because it says state and local agencies never mentioned the company’s plans to withdraw up to 6.6 million gallons per day from an underground aquifer used for drinking water. (Associated Press)

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GRID:

• Texas’ grid operator sees an unofficial record for power demand but seems more stable than last year due to the addition of wind, solar, battery storage and a small amount of gas. (Houston Chronicle)
• Georgia Power sidestepped state regulators to sign a deal to buy power from a Mississippi company that will continue operating a coal plant slated for closure to meet the new demand. (Grist)
• Experts try to understand how Hurricane Beryl caught Houston residents and CenterPoint Energy by surprise despite warnings about the aging grid and threat of extreme storms exacerbated by climate change. (Houston Chronicle)
• Extreme weather events and targeted attacks on infrastructure in a neighboring state cause concern about the reliability of the power grid in Tennessee. (WATE)

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SOLAR: Nonprofits plan to expand a solar cooperative in El Paso, Texas, even though higher inflation and interest rates dampened interest in the program this year. (El Paso Matters)

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STORAGE:

• Three Houston startups pursue energy storage projects that don’t require lithium batteries by injecting water underground at high pressure that can then turn a turbine to generate power. (Inside Climate News)
• An energy developer launches a 200 MW battery facility at the site of a former gas-fired power plant as the Houston area’s first grid-scale storage system. (Houston Chronicle)

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OIL & GAS:

• Oilfield services firm Halliburton is hit by a cyberattack that affects its Houston campus and global operations. (Reuters, Houston Chronicle)
• Kentucky officials hand out gas monitors to 100 households due to an underground methane gas leak from a former landfill. (WCPO)

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GEOTHERMAL: A Houston-based geothermal energy startup signs a deal to build a facility to eventually provide 150 MW to Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. (Houston Chronicle)

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NUCLEAR: The director of a University of Kentucky energy center tells state lawmakers nuclear companies are increasingly considering building in the state, but construction of a new nuclear reactor won’t likely occur for at least a decade. (Kentucky Lantern)

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CARBON CAPTURE: A Louisiana timber company sells carbon credits for unharvested trees on 100,000 acres, including more than $100 million worth of credits through the end of 2023. (WWNO)

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CLIMATE:

• Norfolk, Virginia, residents and property developers react negatively to planned stormwalls and other measures intended to reduce the coastal city’s flood risk. (Virginia Mercury)
• August has been quiet for hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean, but forecasters warn a weather pattern shift could lead “a frenzy of tropical activity to unfold.” (Florida Times-Union)

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COMMENTARY:

• A Kentucky opinion writer in need of a new car test drives an electric vehicle and is sold on its convenience, ease of driving and falling prices. (Louisville Courier Journal)
• A Republican Alabama lawmaker touts the state’s nuclear and hydroelectric power generation as a sign of how it’s shifting toward clean energy. (AL.com)

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