The Permian Basin’s upside-down natural gas market

OIL & GAS: Some drillers in Texas’ Permian Basin are paying buyers to take their excess supply because they’re producing so much natural gas they’ve exceeded available storage space and pipeline capacity. (New York Times)

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ALSO:

• A U.S. court overturns federal regulators’ approval of two liquified natural gas terminals and a pipeline in Texas for not properly assessing their greenhouse gas emissions and effects on nearby communities. (Houston Chronicle)
• The U.S. oil and gas industry sets production records, even as it sees declining employment due to companies’ cost-cutting. (E&E News)

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SOLAR:

• Experts say Texas’ rapid growth in solar energy production should enable the state power grid to meet high demand amid the summer heat, but some worry it may still be vulnerable over the winter. (Houston Chronicle)
• A solar company applies for a permit to build a 3 MW solar farm in Virginia. (News-Gazette)

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COAL:

• As West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s debt problems pile up, federal lawyers ask a judge to hold 23 companies owned by his family in contempt for making continually late payments and failing to meet the terms of a settlement over mine safety fines. (WV Metro News)
• Federal officials find a West Virginia agency violated labor laws by failing to pay mine inspectors who worked overtime without preapproval. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

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GRID: Louisiana residents complain to local and state officials about frequent outages in an area managed by Entergy. (WVUE)

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UTILITIES:

• Texas lawmakers blast CenterPoint Energy’s $800 million purchase of generators that went unused after Hurricane Beryl, but critics point out the purchase was enabled by state law and approved by regulators. (Houston Chronicle)
• Duke Energy officials warn that its equipment is not for sale and would have to be taken through eminent domain as a Florida city studies whether to form a municipal utility when its 30-year contract with Duke expires next year. (Tampa Bay Times)

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CLIMATE: As Tropical Storm Debby swamps the Carolinas, causing widespread outages and threatening a Georgia dam, experts say climate change is making tropical cyclones even worse. (Charleston Post and Courier, The State, WAGA, Inside Climate News)

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BUILDINGS: A technology company experiments with using Virginia dredging waste as an ingredient in concrete to lower its carbon footprint and make a stronger product. (Virginia Mercury)

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STORAGE: An Oklahoma fire department posts a video of a dog sparking a fire by chewing on a lithium-ion battery to its Facebook page as a warning to residents. (Associated Press)

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EFFICIENCY:

• Tampa Electric Co. and the Orlando Utilities Commission say they’ve reached an agreement with environmental groups to expand their energy efficiency programs for low-income residents. (E&E news, subscription)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority and a Tennessee electric company expand an energy efficiency rebate program. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, subscription)

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COMMENTARY: West Virginia regulators’ push to prop up coal is harming state residents and their pocketbooks, writes an environmental policy analyst. (West Virginia Watch)

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