Good morning. Western North Carolina was overwhelmed with an excess of donations following Hurricane Helene — including donated solar panels and batteries. In today’s top story, Elizabeth Ouzts profiles a local nonprofit that’s opened a permanent “free store” to hand out the extra gear.
In other news, Texas renewables are booming, and now Virginia lawmakers take steps to add more battery power.
And don’t forget: Canary Media’s Jeff St. John will discuss the growing challenges facing data centers and the power grid in a webinar tomorrow. Sign up for it here.
TODAY'S TOP NEWS
RENEWABLES
A small nonprofit that set up in western North Carolina to distribute solar panels, batteries, and other so-called climatetech opens a clearinghouse to hand out all the extra gear it received after Hurricane Helene. (Canary Media)
Austin, Texas’ municipal utility currently gets 49% of its energy from wind and solar, but is bracing for turbulence as President Trump and state lawmakers take aim at renewables. (KXAN)
SOLAR
Solar energy projects continue to boom in Texas despite state lawmakers’ attempts to restrict the industry. (CleanTechnica)
Duke Energy outlines plans to build four Florida solar farms totaling nearly 300 MW. (Renewables Now)
STORAGE
Virginia lawmakers pass a bill to raise the targets for new energy storage Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power must add by 2045. (Cardinal News)
A Virginia renewables company announces the start of operations at a 100 MW battery storage facility in Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
GRID
A Duke University study questions the need for mass construction of gas-fired power plants to power data centers, suggesting roughly 100 GW in data center investments can be supported by the grid if they reduce their usage during peak demand. (Port City Daily)
FOSSIL FUELS
A coal mining company lays off 165 workers in West Virginia because of a global downturn in metallurgical coal markets. (WBOY)
West Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Justice’s coal companies ask a federal court to push back reclamation deadlines and lift a ban on mining at three Virginia mines that are no longer producing coal but have received dozens of environmental violation notices. (Cardinal News)
West Virginia sees an increase in the number of permits issued for new shale wells as the state’s largest drilling company announces plans to ramp up its activity. (WV News)
Kentucky Power seeks regulatory approval to pay for its share of wastewater upgrades at a West Virginia coal-fired power plant, after previously seeking to divest from the plant in 2021. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Arkansas freezes its electric vehicle charger installation program after Trump rolls back federal funding for the program. (Arkansas Business)
NASCAR partners with Florida Power & Light and a tech company to install 30 electric vehicle chargers at its headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Ormond Beach Observer)
CARBON CAPTURE
West Virginia officials and energy industry leaders hail the U.S. EPA’s approval for the state to regulate carbon capture wells, while Louisiana officials worry the Trump administration will undermine the emerging industry. (WV News, KLFY)
NUCLEAR
An energy company that went bankrupt in 2017 over the high cost of its nuclear reactors has reemerged after the completion of a long-delayed expansion at a Georgia plant and South Carolina’s reconsideration of a similarly large nuclear expansion. (CNBC)
OVERSIGHT
Staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could undermine the distribution of more than $1 billion in federal disaster recovery money to western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene. (Inside Climate News)
An Alabama agency reinstitutes a program to help low-income residents pay their electric bills after it was canceled by Trump, though how and why it was restarted remain unclear. (Inside Climate News)
COMMENTARY
Appalachia should focus less on celebrating its resilience than on taking steps to prepare for and reduce the chances of historic flooding, writes the director of media arts nonprofit Appalshop. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Texas lawmakers should embrace creativity and renewables to strengthen the grid rather than trying to hamper wind and solar to boost natural gas, writes an editorial board.(Dallas Morning News)
