Virginia volunteers link low-income residents with energy upgrades

EFFICIENCY: Volunteers with a Virginia climate group partner with four nonprofits to encourage their low-income clients to register for no-cost energy efficiency upgrades. (Energy News Network)

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OIL & GAS: The specter of South Carolina’s $9 billion failed construction of a nuclear plant looms over new efforts by Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper to build a natural gas-fired power plant. (Post and Courier)

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SOLAR:

• A federal tax credit and nonprofit that pairs anonymous donors with nonprofit agencies enables an Oklahoma school district to install solar panels. (Oklahoman)
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin considers signing a bill to create a community solar program for Appalachian Power and expand Dominion Energy’s current program. (Virginia Mercury)
• A Virginia county board updates its solar ordinance to cap solar projects at 50 acres under panel, though it nixes a commission’s recommendation to also limit projects to 10 MW. (Amherst New Era-Progress)
• A company begins construction of a 5.5 MW solar farm on a West Virginia coal ash disposal site of a former power plant that was closed in 2012. (WV Metro News)

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CLEAN ENERGY:

• U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announces plans to spend up to $6 billion to cut carbon emissions from heavy industries, including $75 million for a West Virginia aluminum casting plant that will run on hydrogen instead of natural gas. (New York Times)
• The U.S. Energy Department announces $475 million for solar, storage and geothermal projects on current and former mine lands, including projects in Kentucky and West Virginia. (Associated Press)

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NUCLEAR: Kentucky lawmakers unanimously pass legislation to prep the state for nuclear energy development, but clarify they see nuclear power as a complement and not replacement for coal. (Associated Press)

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HYDROGEN: Texas boosters hype hydrogen as a clean fuel option for transportation companies, but critics warn that making it by using fossil fuels will further strengthen the oil and gas industry. (Texas Tribune)

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WIND: Federal officials plan to auction leases for offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico in four locations that are smaller than initially planned, but larger than last year’s auction. (NOLA.com)

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GRID:

• A Texas Congress member’s bill to connect the state’s standalone power grid to neighboring regional grids sparks debate over how it might affect energy growth within the state. (Inside Climate News)
• Xcel Energy gets hit with multiple lawsuits over a dilapidated power pole’s role in this month’s Texas wildfires, just three years after it was hit with 280 lawsuits over a Colorado fire that caused more than $2 billion in damage. (Amarillo Globe-News)

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OVERSIGHT: Georgia lawmakers pass legislation to increase state energy regulators’ terms from six to eight years, as a long-running legal case that halted elections for the offices appears to be nearing a conclusion. (Associated Press)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Louisiana State University plans to drill a well on campus to test carbon capture technology. (KTBS)

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COMMENTARY: The natural gas industry’s promise to generate economic prosperity in Appalachia never came to pass even during times of booming output, and efforts to build a hydrogen hub will likely suffer the same fate while continuing to defile the land, writes a climate activist. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

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