Georgia Power begins big battery buildout

STORAGE: Georgia Power prepares to begin operation of a 65 MW battery storage system in Georgia, the first in a series of battery installations planned to eventually total 915 MW. (Macon Telegraph)

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NUCLEAR: A Southeast trade association says the nuclear industry’s $9.8 billion footprint in Tennessee means the state will lead a pending “nuclear renaissance” in the region as utilities consider building a wave of new plants. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)

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TRANSITION:

• Environmentalists and climate activists decry the Tennessee Valley Authority’s decision to replace a coal-fired power plant with natural gas, although local residents are glad for the shift from coal after a massive coal ash spill at the plant in 2008. (WATE)
• Florida wildlife officials say the shift to renewable energy could hurt populations of manatees that huddle where warm water is discharged from fossil fuel-fired power plants. (Palm Beach Post)

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SOLAR:

• Georgia lawmakers begin consideration of a bill to create a community solar program to allow Georgia Power customers to buy solar power from third-party projects no larger than 6 MW. (Capitol Beat News Service)
• Even though Georgia is in the top 10 states in the country for solar capacity, it ranks only 35th for rooftop solar installations. (WUGA)
• A Virginia county board approves an 80 MW solar farm despite opposition from some residents. (Farmville Herald)
• Rising power bills and the availability of federal incentives prompt a growing number of Oklahomans to invest in solar power. (KWTV/KSBI)

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WIND: Wind energy company Enel considers whether to appeal, negotiate with tribes or remove its 48-turbine wind farm in Oklahoma after a judge found the company failed to secure mineral rights from the Osage Nation. (Engineering News-Record)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Kentucky breaks ground on the first of 40 electric vehicle charging stations planned for the state’s interstates and highways. (Spectrum News, WHAS)

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EMISSIONS: An analysis finds oil and gas producers would have owed as much as $1.1 billion, largely from leaky well and pipeline infrastructure, had a new federal methane fee been in place for a one-year period ending in March 2023. (Grist)

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UTILITIES: Duke Energy revises its long-term plan in North Carolina to reflect an “unprecedented” increase in power demand by adding more solar and offshore wind, but also new natural gas-fired power plants and experiments in nuclear power. (Wilmington StarNews)

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OIL & GAS: West Virginia lawmakers complain about miscalculations that cost eight counties a total of $22.9 million as they advance legislation to make permanent a relatively new method for assessing tax valuations for oil and gas properties. (WV Metro News)

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RENEWABLES: A Spanish company secures $200 million in financing to build out 1.9 GW of solar, storage and wind facilities on Texas’ standalone power grid. (PV Tech)

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COAL: A creditor of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies joins a legal dispute between those companies and a Virginia bank over $226.2 million plus interest in debt payments. (Cardinal News)

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COMMENTARY: An analyst at a conservative think tank complains that net-metering subsidizes homeowners with rooftop solar at the expense of other utility customers. (Carolina Journal)

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