SOLAR: 

• California’s public advocacy agency recommends applying new net-metering rules to existing rooftop solar, saying slashing compensation would reduce cost-shifting to non-solar customers. (PV Magazine)
• A developer secures $550 million in financing and breaks ground on its 140 MW Rosamond South solar-plus-storage project in Kern County, California. (Solar Power World)
• Washington state regulators approve a decommissioning plan for a solar facility under development in the southern part of the state. (Yakima Herald-Republic)

CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Energy Department awards Arizona $1.7 million to fund commercial sector energy efficiency projects aimed at benefiting low-income and disadvantaged communities. (Solar Quarter)

STORAGE: A California startup raises $2 million to further develop a thermal energy storage system for industrial applications that uses bricks to convert electricity into heat. (Canary Media) 

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

• The Biden administration awards California, Oregon and Washington $102.4 million to fund a zero-emissions truck charging and fueling corridor along the West Coast. (RTO Insider, subscription) 
• A California startup begins selling its DC-to-DC electric vehicle fast charger, saying it reduces energy loss and allows for direct link to solar panels. (Green Car Reports)

ELECTRIFICATION: An Alaska city begins offering residents up to $500 to replace oil-based heating systems with electric heat pumps. (KTOO) 

COAL: Data show 10 coal-fired generating units provide about one-third of Colorado’s power, but the facilities all are slated to close by 2031. (Colorado Sun)

OIL & GAS: 

• Alaska petroleum firms ask the state for additional subsidies and royalty relief before drilling for natural gas in the Cook Inlet to mitigate a looming regional fuel shortage. (Northern Journal)
• Data show two New Mexico counties in the Permian Basin have surpassed their Texas counterparts in oil production by churning out more than one million barrels per day. (Bloomberg)

UTILITIES: Utah lawmakers raise concerns about the state’s largest utility’s proposed 36% rate hike. (Deseret News)

CLIMATE: A study finds an increase in heat-related deaths between 2018 and 2023, with the vast majority of fatalities occurring in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. (Los Angeles Times)

COMMENTARY: California energy analysts find undergrounding power lines is necessary to mitigate wildfire hazard in some areas, but urge utilities to use more cost-effective methods when possible. (Energy Institute at Haas)

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Analysts: Data centers pose emerging risk to the Western grid is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

GEOTHERMAL: 

• Facebook parent company Meta strikes a deal with a geothermal startup to develop up to 150 MW of generation to power its data centers. (New York Times)
• Houston startups say they’ve created a geothermal energy storage system that uses fracking-like technology to store pressurized water deep in the ground, then release it to power a turbine. (Inside Climate News)

OIL & GAS: Northeast states are leading the way in pursuing compensation from oil companies for economic damages from climate change. (Stateline)

GRID: 

• Regional transmission experts say the buildup of energy-intensive data centers poses an “emerging risk” to grid reliability in the West. (OPB)
• Texas’ grid operator sees an unofficial record for power demand but experts say it seems more stable than last year due to the addition of wind, solar, battery storage and a small amount of gas. (Houston Chronicle)
• Federal data shows electricity generation from fossil fuels spiked during heat waves in New England this summer, with natural gas providing 61% of capacity on June 22. (Energy Information Administration)
• Southwest Power Pool seeks federal approval to delay its interconnection queue study process and to stop accepting new projects amid a growing number of connection and withdrawal requests. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR:

• The leader of a “grassroots” anti-solar energy group admits to Ohio regulators that a well-connected natural gas executive is among its largest financial supporters. (Energy News Network)
• A developer secures $550 million in financing and breaks ground on its 140 MW Rosamond South solar-plus-storage project in Kern County, California. (Solar Power World)

CLIMATE: A study finds an increase in heat-related deaths between 2018 and 2023, with the vast majority of fatalities occurring in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. (Los Angeles Times)

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Tesla Superchargers still aren’t open to other cars is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

HYDROELECTRIC: Michigan’s top energy regulator says the Upper Peninsula may have a leg up in the state’s clean energy transition based on the amount of hydroelectric generation there. (Interlochen Public Radio)

WIND: Ameren Missouri is working to determine the cause of a wind turbine’s collapse over the weekend. (KRCG)

NUCLEAR: An environmental justice group applauds a new permit for a southeastern Michigan nuclear plant that includes new safeguards meant to avoid overheating local waters. (Metro Times)

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‘Grassroots’ Ohio anti-solar group admits fossil fuel ties is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

ALSO: 

• Fishing groups stage a floating protest of the Vineyard Wind project, with a protest leader criticizing “the industrialization of our oceans” he says is a threat to fisheries. (New Bedford Light)
• While New Hampshire’s outgoing Republican governor, Chris Sununu, has been supportive of offshore wind, the candidates to replace him are divided along party lines. (New Hampshire Bulletin)

OIL & GAS: 

• Northeast states are leading the way in pursuing compensation from oil companies for economic damages from climate change. (Stateline)
• The city of Baltimore sues natural gas producers in federal court, accusing the companies of conspiring to curb production in order to raise prices. (Reuters)
• Pennsylvania launches a new apprenticeship program to train workers to plug abandoned oil and gas wells. (Tribune-Democrat)

GRID: 

• Federal data shows electricity generation from fossil fuels spiked during heat waves in New England this summer, with natural gas providing 61% of capacity on June 22. (Energy Information Administration)
• Calpine says it will pursue more natural gas generation in Pennsylvania and Ohio in response to high prices in PJM Interconnection’s recent capacity auction. (Power Engineering)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

• A New York official acknowledges challenges with the state’s rollout of electric school buses, but says districts should still start now to prepare for the transition. (WHEC)
• Rhode Island’s transportation department will build more than 200 electric vehicle charging stations with help from a $15 million federal grant. (What’s Up Newp)

UTILITIES: A hearing examiner’s report supports a Maine utility’s effort to avoid state regulatory review of its parent company’s acquisition by Iberdrola. (Portland Press Herald)

OVERSIGHT: Consumer and environmental groups push back on the New Hampshire PUC’s plan to introduce stricter requirements for groups or individuals to intervene in regulatory proceedings. (RTO Insider, subscription)

SOLAR: A Pennsylvania school board unanimously rejects a plan for a solar array on district property that would have brought in $200,000 a year in revenue. (Lancaster Online) 

WASTE TO ENERGY: Neighbors push Connecticut regulators to hold a public hearing on plans to allow a waste-to-energy plant to burn medical waste. (WFSB)

EQUITY: Philadelphia is holding a series of neighborhood-level workshops as it plans a city-specific environmental justice mapping tool. (WHYY)

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Federal report says offshore wind work not a threat to whales is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

GRID: 

• Texas’ grid operator sees an unofficial record for power demand but seems more stable than last year due to the addition of wind, solar, battery storage and a small amount of gas. (Houston Chronicle)
• Georgia Power sidestepped state regulators to sign a deal to buy power from a Mississippi company that will continue operating a coal plant slated for closure to meet the new demand. (Grist)
• Experts try to understand how Hurricane Beryl caught Houston residents and CenterPoint Energy by surprise despite warnings about the aging grid and threat of extreme storms exacerbated by climate change. (Houston Chronicle)
• Extreme weather events and targeted attacks on infrastructure in a neighboring state cause concern about the reliability of the power grid in Tennessee. (WATE)

SOLAR: Nonprofits plan to expand a solar cooperative in El Paso, Texas, even though higher inflation and interest rates dampened interest in the program this year. (El Paso Matters)

STORAGE: 

• Three Houston startups pursue energy storage projects that don’t require lithium batteries by injecting water underground at high pressure that can then turn a turbine to generate power. (Inside Climate News)
• An energy developer launches a 200 MW battery facility at the site of a former gas-fired power plant as the Houston area’s first grid-scale storage system. (Houston Chronicle)

OIL & GAS: 

• Oilfield services firm Halliburton is hit by a cyberattack that affects its Houston campus and global operations. (Reuters, Houston Chronicle)
• Kentucky officials hand out gas monitors to 100 households due to an underground methane gas leak from a former landfill. (WCPO)

GEOTHERMAL: A Houston-based geothermal energy startup signs a deal to build a facility to eventually provide 150 MW to Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. (Houston Chronicle)

NUCLEAR: The director of a University of Kentucky energy center tells state lawmakers nuclear companies are increasingly considering building in the state, but construction of a new nuclear reactor won’t likely occur for at least a decade. (Kentucky Lantern)

CARBON CAPTURE: A Louisiana timber company sells carbon credits for unharvested trees on 100,000 acres, including more than $100 million worth of credits through the end of 2023. (WWNO)

CLIMATE: 

• Norfolk, Virginia, residents and property developers react negatively to planned stormwalls and other measures intended to reduce the coastal city’s flood risk. (Virginia Mercury)
• August has been quiet for hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean, but forecasters warn a weather pattern shift could lead “a frenzy of tropical activity to unfold.” (Florida Times-Union)

COMMENTARY: 

• A Kentucky opinion writer in need of a new car test drives an electric vehicle and is sold on its convenience, ease of driving and falling prices. (Louisville Courier Journal)
• A Republican Alabama lawmaker touts the state’s nuclear and hydroelectric power generation as a sign of how it’s shifting toward clean energy. (AL.com)

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Feds take another look at permit for Hyundai’s Georgia EV complex is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.