Home solar-battery systems shine through Hurricane Beryl response

SOLAR: Houston home solar-battery owners were able to keep themselves powered through Hurricane Beryl and its aftermath, demonstrating the potential of distributed energy as CenterPoint Energy took days to restore power across the city. (Canary Media)

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ALSO:

• Dominion Energy proposes building a 125 MW solar farm in Virginia, slightly downsizing and revamping plans at a site where another company had received a permit in 2019 before terminating its lease. (Charlotte Gazette)
• A Virginia county board considers a proposed 5 MW solar farm on 43 acres, the first since the county updated its ordinance to cap solar projects at 50 acres. (Amherst New Era-Progress)
• A new report shows Tennessee is lagging most of the Southeast in solar generation, but Knoxville’s municipal utility is on track to have 325 MW of solar power by 2026. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• An energy company that’s already installed more than 1,200 MW of wind power in Texas begins producing power from its first solar facility in the state. (Daily Energy Insider)

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PIPELINES: A review of cases filed with federal regulators show erosion around the now-operating Mountain Valley Pipeline, with roughly three dozen reports of sediment leaving the pipeline’s right-of-way in western Virginia. (Roanoke Times)

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WIND: North Carolina sees the groundbreaking for only its second wind farm and considers the potential for more as state officials seek to cut carbon emissions. (WSOC)

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OIL & GAS: Emissions from a Texas refinery complex skyrocketed by more than 150% between 2015 and 2022, demonstrating how pollution continues to spike at some facilities despite the U.S. EPA’s landmark update to oil refinery regulations nearly a decade ago. (E&E News)

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NUCLEAR: A new unit at Georgia Power’s nuclear Plant Vogtle is operating once again after it was taken offline more than a week ago with a valve problem. (Macon Telegraph)

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OVERSIGHT: Consumer advocate groups sue to challenge a newly passed Georgia law delaying the election of state energy regulators for one to two years, which critics say unconstitutionally prevents the election of Democrats to the all-Republican board. (Georgia Current)

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CLIMATE:

• A North Carolina town that’s the oldest community in the U.S. ​​founded by formerly enslaved people receives millions of federal dollars to relocate to higher ground, but only after years losing residents and businesses due to flooding damage. (Grist)
• A Louisiana activist who formed an organization after back-to-back hurricanes in 2020 now is rallying residents against the proposed construction of a massive liquified natural gas export terminal. (Yale Environment 360)
• Texas lawmakers organize a committee to investigate CenterPoint Energy’s planning and response to Hurricane Beryl. (Houston Chronicle)

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UTILITIES:

• As North Carolina regulators prepare for hearings next week on Duke Energy’s carbon plan, critics charge the utility’s plan to replace coal with natural gas disproportionately benefits shareholders. (Port City Daily)
• Duke Energy and four other utilities argue against federal regulators’ proposal to eliminate a transmission owner’s right to earn a profit on network upgrades for interconnecting power projects. (Utility Dive)

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COMMENTARY:

• Despite its costly, protracted construction process, Georgia Power’s addition of two units at Plant Vogtle spotlights the long-term viability of nuclear power, writes the president of a conservative group. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Florida officials’ politically motivated refusal to distribute federal money to offset the cost of electric vehicle charging stations is hampering motorists in a state that ranks second in the U.S. for EV registration, writes a journalist. (Florida Phoenix)

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