N.C. regulators approve Duke gas expansion, punt on emissions deadline

UTILITIES: North Carolina regulators approve Duke Energy’s long-term resource plan, which ramps up renewable energy and retires the utility’s final coal plants, but also includes 9 GW of new natural gas-fired power and gives up on the state-mandated goal of cutting emissions 70% by 2030. (Energy News Network)

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ALSO:

• CenterPoint Energy hires a senior executive to revamp its emergency preparedness after the utility was widely criticized for its response to Hurricane Beryl and related outages in Houston. (Houston Chronicle)
• Duke Energy officials say they’ll ask regulators to let them issue bonds to pay for Hurricane Helene and other storm-related costs, which will likely result in higher bills for customers. (WRA)

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SOLAR: New solar installations in North Carolina fell 40% from last year after Duke Energy lowered the rate it pays for rooftop solar, but longtime installers remain optimistic because of new home battery incentives. (Energy News Network)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle startup Canoo furloughs 30 workers in Oklahoma as it struggles to raise capital, and company officials report it might have to “terminate or significantly curtail” its operations there. (Tulsa World)

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WIND: Members of the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma say they’re worried about potential environmental and property value impacts from a proposed 100-turbine wind farm. (KOKI)

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PIPELINES: Anti-pipeline activists who spent the last decade fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline turn their efforts to blocking a 26-mile project in Virginia that’s part of a broader Southeast expansion. (WVTF)

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STORAGE: A startup receives $20 million in federal funding to build a Texas factory for containers that hold used electric vehicle batteries that can be assembled for stationary energy storage. (Canary Media)

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OIL & GAS:

• A company withdraws its application to build a 3,500 MW gas-fired power plant and accompanying data center complex in Virginia after county supervisors said they’ll vote it down, but it plans to rework the project and reapply. (Danville Register & Bee, Cardinal News)
• Texas regulators request $100 million in state emergency funding to address problems related to uncapped wells and oil field wastewater, including multiple leaks and the eruption of a 100-foot geyser in a region where earthquakes have been linked to wastewater injection. (Houston Chronicle)

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GRID: A Tennessee man faces federal charges for allegedly planning to damage an electrical substation in Nashville with a drone armed with explosives. (CNN)

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CLIMATE:

• The Tennessee Valley Authority reports that Hurricane Helene dumped two months’ worth of rainfall in three days on western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, but flood mitigation strategies prevented roughly $406 million of potential damage. (Citizen Tribune, Kingsport TimesNews)
• As the Biden administration prepares to distribute $2.3 billion to people affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, research shows the system for distributing relief money exacerbates historical divides over race, education and homeownership. (Inside Climate News)

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POLITICS: Virginia Congress members call for reauthorization of the landmark 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which funded abandoned mine land restoration, accelerated the energy transition and paid for transportation projects. (Virginia Mercury)

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COMMENTARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority owes an apology to the families of more than 50 workers who helped clean up the utility’s 2008 coal-ash spill in Tennessee and have since died from illnesses related to their exposure, writes a columnist. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

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