Helene exposes solar supply chain’s vulnerability

SOLAR: Hurricane Helene’s damage to a North Carolina town home to the purest quartz in the world highlights the solar industry’s precarious reliance on materials produced from a single location, especially in the face of escalating weather disasters. (Grist)

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ALSO:

• North Carolina solar companies partner with a clean energy group to build solar and battery microgrids in parts of western North Carolina that were damaged by Hurricane Helene. (PV Magazine)
• A Florida-based clean energy developer secures a $440 million investment from Goldman Sachs to support its construction of utility-scale solar and energy storage projects, including an 810 MW solar farm on a former coal mine in Kentucky. (Canary Media)
• A company begins construction of two 3 MW solar facilities in a Virginia county after securing land-use permits, two years after the projects first were approved. (Farmville Herald)
• A Texas company buys a Houston-based maker of utility-scale solar and battery energy storage systems in a deal valued at more than $12 billion. (Dallas Innovates)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Hyundai begins producing electric SUVs at its new, $7.6 billion Georgia factory ahead of a grand opening planned for 2025. (Associated Press)

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GRID:

• Florida imports a projected 30,000 power line workers from states as far as New Mexico, Arizona and California as electric utilities prepare for the approaching Hurricane Milton. (Tallahassee Democrat, WKMG)
• Texas regulators set a public hearing in Houston to hear from residents about CenterPoint Energy’s response to power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl and a derecho. (Houston Chronicle)
• South Carolina generally lagged Florida, Georgia and North Carolina in restoring power after outages caused by Hurricane Helene. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: A federal court hears arguments in a lawsuit by Louisiana community groups alleging a parish government “intentionally discriminated against Black residents” by placing polluting industrial facilities near majority-Black communities. (Associated Press)

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OIL & GAS: A Houston-based pipeline company heads up emergency response to a 100-foot oil-laced saltwater geyser that erupted in a part of Texas that’s experienced a recent rash of earthquakes linked to wastewater injection. (Houston Chronicle)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Texans testify to U.S. EPA officials about a planned carbon dioxide injection site in the Permian Basin that would be part of the largest direct air capture facility in the U.S. (Texas Tribune)

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HYDROPOWER:

• Hurricane Helene pushes Tennessee officials to confront “outdated or incorrect” emergency plans and flooding data linked to 274 dams that are considered to have “high hazard potential” for downstream communities. (WPLN)
• Kentucky officials fret about the lack of local funding to fix dozens of aging “high hazard” dams that need extensive repairs and rehabilitation. (Kentucky Lantern)

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NUCLEAR: The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to review a ruling in a dispute over a company’s plans to store nuclear waste at a dump located in Texas’ Permian Basin. (Houston Chronicle)

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UTILITIES: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calls for the resignation of CenterPoint Energy’s CEO due to the utility’s botched response to power outages in Houston caused by Hurricane Beryl. (Houston Chronicle)

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COMMENTARY:

• Hurricane Helene’s devastation of a community known as a “climate haven” shows there’s no escaping the effects of climate change, writes an Asheville, North Carolina-based freelance reporter. (Sierra)
• A clash between Virginia U.S. Senate candidates over whether the country is energy independent sheds light on oil production and importation trends, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)

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