30 April 2025

EMISSIONS

• Some of the same paper mills, furniture factories, and other large industrial customers that shaped North Carolina’s landmark 2021 climate law now are embracing fossil fuels, criticizing renewables, and pushing for legislation to let Duke Energy miss its 2030 carbon reduction target. (Canary Media)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Korean solar cell and transmission companies are ramping up their investments into U.S. manufacturing facilities in Georgia and North Carolina to take advantage of Trump’s trade war and get a leg up on Chinese companies affected by the tariffs. (Dong-A Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo)

FOSSIL FUELS

• An Australian company announces plans to spend $17.5 billion on a liquified natural gas export terminal in Louisiana, which its CEO says will turn it into a “global LNG powerhouse” but which critics decry for its carbon emissions. (Louisiana Illuminator, Guardian)
• Louisiana officials confirm reports of an oil leak in a marsh near a crude oil production facility by the mouth of the Mississippi River. (WVUE)
• Four Texas residents sue Energy Transfer after its pipeline was hit by an SUV and exploded, arguing its pipelines had been damaged by vehicle collisions at least five times in the prior five years. (Houston Landing)

GRID

• A transformer manufacturer shifted its plans from building a factory in Michigan to South Carolina because of its reliance on workforce training and government cooperation, but now plans to scale back dramatically due to Trump’s tariffs and pullback in clean energy funding. (Latitude Media)

SOLAR

• A Kentucky county board moves to ban future solar projects within 1,000 feet of non-participating landowners, though the ordinance won’t affect a planned 100 MW solar farm that’s generated local opposition. (WKYU)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Louisiana lawmakers vote down a proposal to give parishes the right to vote on whether to allow carbon capture projects, dealing a setback to local control of the growing industry. (Louisiana Illuminator)

STORAGE

• A Virginia county board turns down a permit for a battery storage facility to store power from a nearby solar farm after neighbors complain about noise and safety concerns. (Daily News-Record)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A nonprofit reports that Georgia motorists who put at least 25,000 miles a year on their cars and trucks could save up nearly $4,000 per year in fuel costs by switching to electric vehicles. (Current)

OVERSIGHT

• Georgia gears up for a rare, off-year primary and general election for the state’s regulatory board, which entails statewide voting for district-based seats. (Blackshear Times)

UTILITIES

• The CEO of a Georgia electric cooperative discusses electric rates, reliability, and the job of righting a utility after a previous CEO was indicted — but not convicted — of racketeering, theft and more. (Marietta Daily Journal)
• Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power ask West Virginia regulators to approve a $71.6 million fuel cost recovery. (WV Metro News)

POLITICS

• West Virginia U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito says some previously laid-off staffers have temporarily returned to work at a federal worker safety office that researches coal-related health issues. (West Virginia Watch, Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

COMMENTARY

• A South Carolina lawmaker warns North Carolina officials against a bill to allow utilities to charge customers upfront for power plants by pointing to the state’s failed V.C. Summer nuclear plant, which cost residents $9 billion but never came to fruition. (Butner-Creedmoor News)

NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA

• The transition away from diesel trucks is still going strong in Southern California, where two new charging stations for heavy-duty trucks just opened, Jeff St. John reports.