Texas bill would ban offshore wind

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Southeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Nashville is among the cities expecting federal clean energy funding to be restored under a judge’s ruling this week, including $14 million for electric vehicle charging, transit, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure. (The Tennessean)

• Texas could save nearly 7 GW — enough to power 170 data centers — if all single-family households invested in heat pumps and weatherization upgrades, according to a report. (Canary Media)

WIND

• Clean energy and consumer advocates say a bill advancing in the Texas Legislature would essentially ban offshore wind development, removing a potentially cheap and plentiful source of electricity. (S&P Global)

• An Arkansas county votes to ban any new commercial wind or solar energy projects for the next five years. (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

SOLAR

• North Carolina plans to launch a $156 million program this year to expand community and residential solar in low-income and disadvantaged communities. (Blue Ridge Public Radio)

• Mississippi residents attended a public hearing for a proposed $310 million solar farm that would grow the county’s tax base. (WDAM)

• A Virginia county supervisor recuses himself from an upcoming vote on a solar project on land owned by his cousin’s company. (Southside Sentinel)

UTILITIES

• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and state regulators tout an agreement with Georgia Power to freeze base electricity rates in the state for the next three years. (Georgia Recorder)

• Appalachian Power asks Virginia regulators for permission to increase customer bills to help pay for renewable energy investments and compliance with environmental laws. (Cardinal News)

NUCLEAR

• A Louisiana legislative committee unanimously approves a bill that would streamline environmental permitting for advanced nuclear power projects. (Center Square)

• A giant plume of super salty water under Florida’s Turkey Point nuclear power plant is seeping into an aquifer that supplies drinking water to Miami-Dade county. (Local 10)

CO2 CAPTURE

• A federal appeals court rules that three environmental groups lack standing to challenge the EPA’s approval for a Louisiana carbon capture program. (Bloomberg Law)

GRID

• Northern Virginia residents attend an open house to learn about a planned 105-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line project. (Winchester Star)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A subsidiary of BP announces a partnership with Waffle House to install electric vehicle charging stations at the diner’s locations across the South. (Houston Chronicle)

NEW FROM CANARY

• House Republicans’ proposed rollback of two tax credits for weatherization and clean energy installations could prevent homeowners from lowering their energy costs and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, Alison F. Takemura reports.

• Researchers recommend ways states can continue cleaning up heavy industry even as the Trump administration moves to cancel funding for decarbonization projects, Jeff St. John reports.