Ford cancels new electric SUV, delays launch of Tennessee factory

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Ford scraps a new electric vehicle model and pushes back the start of production from 2025 to 2027 at its BlueOval electric vehicle and battery factory in Tennessee so it can use lower-cost battery technology. (Tennessee Lookout; Commercial Appeal)

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SOLAR:

• General Motors signs a deal to purchase power from a 180 MW Arkansas solar farm to power factories in Michigan and Missouri. (PV Magazine)
• A German renewables company partners with social media giant Meta to build a 100 MW solar farm in Louisiana, with more likely to come. (NOLA.com)

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COAL:

• Lawyers representing 23 coal companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family write in a court filing they can’t pay a settlement agreement over mine safety fines because they’re broke. (WV Metro News)
• Coal producers Arch and Consol merge to form a single company valued at $5 billion, as coal contracts and fossil fuel companies across the spectrum consolidate. (Associated Press)
• Virginia officials nominate four economic development projects on abandoned mine land to receive a total $10 million in federal grants. (Virginia Business)

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OIL & GAS:

• Permian Basin producers see negative natural gas prices for 26 consecutive days as production hovers near record highs, with an additional takeaway pipeline expected to open next month. (S&P Global)
• Dominion Energy moves the proposed site for new gas-fired generators to an existing plant instead of an adjacent industrial park after vehement community opposition. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

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HYDROPOWER: Duke Energy wants to further expand a South Carolina pumped storage battery project after recent upgrades that added 320 MW of capacity. (Greenville News)

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POLITICS:

• South Carolina state senators begin reworking a sweeping energy reform bill they previously killed during the legislative session that would have rolled back regulatory protections and accelerated construction of a gas-fired power plant to replace coal. (Post and Courier)
• Democrats call on West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate over financial problems, including the failure of his Greenbrier Hotel to pay for workers’ health insurance. (WV Metro News)

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HYDROGEN: West Virginia U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito cut the ribbon on a state office for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

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BUILDINGS: Developers in Austin, Texas, increasingly build with climate change in mind and aim to partner with electric utilities given the fragility of the state power grid. (Austin Monitor)

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UTILITIES:

• A series of several “fair weather” outages in New Orleans stemming in part from faulty equipment has city officials reconsidering its reliance on Entergy, which has blamed the outages on weather and an aging grid. (NOLA.com, WVUE)
• Florida regulators approve a base rate increase for Duke Energy, just as a city begins to consider cutting ties with the utility when its 30-year agreement expires next year. (WUSF, WFTS)

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COMMENTARY: Recent calls by West Virginia’s oil and gas industry to remove regulatory constraints disingenuously promise lower energy prices while exacerbating climate change and downplaying its effects on residents who live near projects like the Mountain Valley Pipeline, writes an environmental activist. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

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