NETWORK: Texas network operator fires its chief executive and prohibits a second electrical supplier to operate on the network as the consequences of storms interruptions and price increases in the past month. (Associated Press, Reuters)
BESIDES THAT: A US House committee launches an investigation into the Texas grid operator and seeks documents related to your preparation before last month’s winter storm. (Associated Press)
*** SPONSORED LINK: Check out NCSEA’s Squeaky Clean Energy Podcast! Get a new view on North Carolina’s clean energy scene with biweekly episodes. Available wherever you get your podcast or at: www.energync.org/podcast. ***
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• General Motors plans to build a second battery factory and is eyeing Tennessee as a likely location as you increase your investment in electric vehicles. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
• The federal transportation department will to revise an international trade rule in a dispute between Korean battery manufacturers for its effects on the production of domestic electric vehicles. (Reuters)
NUCLEAR:
• Duke Energy starts the process for renewing its operating license at a South Carolina nuclear power plant for another 20 years, while a nearby hybrid coal plant is expected to close by the end of March. (Star News Online)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority begins to update an equipment update on its oldest and largest nuclear power plant. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
PETROLEUM GAS:
• Green light from state regulators Oklahoma Natural Gas plans to postpone nearly $ 1.5 billion in costs last month’s storms, which were five times more than the company’s total gas supply costs for the 2019 calendar year. (The border)
• A federal judge fines Exxon Mobil $ 14.25 million for air pollution violations at a refinery and petrochemical complex in the Houston area, in what lawyers say is the biggest penalty ever imposed in a Clean Air Act citizen lawsuit. (E&E News, subscription)
• Exxon’s natural gas business sues the second largest US gas trader about missed deliveries during last month’s winter freeze and power outages. (Reuters)
CLIMATE:
• A West Virginia congressman disputes the climate legislation introduced by Democrats by reintroducing a plan sponsored by Republicans with less ambitious goals and financing for carbon capture technology that can extend the useful life of fossil fuel generation. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A congressman from Texas refuses the new goal of the energy secretary to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, saying it would jeopardize the state’s oil industry. (WRIC)
WIND: A new report states that North Carolina’s central location on the east coast could make you an important player in the offshore wind industry as a destination and supply and service center, but the state needs to make policy and regulatory changes if it is to take advantage. (WFAE)
COAL ASH: Georgia lawmakers promote legislation requiring utilities to monitor coal ash ponds for the next 50 years, while refusing to move a bill requiring the ashes to be stored in landfills. (Correction)
PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICES: A Texas city approves a program allowing consumers of local utilities to pay a fee to receive 100% renewable energy. (San Marcos Daily Record)
COMMENT:
• The energy and water crisis surrounding Texas and Mississippi shows how deregulation, party divisions and systemic racism disproportionately put black neighborhoods at risk of infrastructure failures, writes a Texas professor. (CNN)
• A wide review of energy efficiency policies gives regulators in Florida the chance to significantly reduce the state’s high electricity rates, writes the president of an air conditioning installation company. (Herald Tribune)