Utilities

Voting rights decision may curb push to diversify Georgia, Alabama utility commissions

Plaintiffs in the challenge to Georgia Public Service Commission’s statewide elections appear headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gulf Coast

Public outcry against carbon capture in Louisiana growing

Some activists worry that the daytime state task force hearings in Baton Rouge on the issue are missing important voices from affected Black communities.

Gulf Coast

Plan to stash planet-heating carbon dioxide under U.S. national forests alarms critics

Around 140 groups have called for an extension of public comment period over U.S. Forest Service proposal amid questions about safety and impact.

Utilities

Going clean means more ‘green’ — for electric companies

Billions in new projects to reduce emissions means ratepayers must foot the bill while utilities earn guaranteed, often double-digit, profits.

Gulf Coast

LSU’s new energy institute faces global challenges, local skepticism

In Louisiana, the energy transition away from high-intensity carbon fuels is focused on things such as creating lower-carbon hydrogen and capturing climate-warming carbon from industry and directly from the air.

Gulf Coast

Advocates fear billions in Inflation Reduction Act money won’t reach targeted communities

Community-led organizations and grassroots environmental advocacy groups in Louisiana could finally get money to help reduce electricity bills, fortify homes against natural disasters and reduce pollution in underserved communities.

Gulf Coast

In communities of color, most oil and gas jobs still go to white workers

There’s an unspoken promise when an industry moves into any community: We will disrupt your lives, but in exchange we will provide good-paying jobs.

Fueling Disinformation

Politicians say this Florida news site lets them buy coverage. Is your state next?

Political strategist Eunic Epstein-Ortiz arrived in Florida from New York in 2017 to help a major labor union turn out voters for the following year. She recalls being pleasantly surprised by the positive coverage the campaign received from Florida Politics.

Utilities

Public utility commissions are exceptionally white. It’s hurting black residents.

As the new head of a group of conservation voters in Georgia, Brionté McCorkle wanted to sit down with regulators who oversee the state’s utilities to talk about carbon emissions.

Gulf Coast

A known risk: How carbon stored underground could find its way back into the atmosphere

Generous federal tax credits are driving the onrush of carbon capture and storage projects being proposed in the U.S. But like a game of whack-a-mole, there’s a chance the planet-warming emissions could seep back up into the atmosphere after they are injected underground.

Polluting Democracy

How a utility’s silent spending to control energy policy might determine abortion rights in Florida

Over the past five years, the largest power company in the U.S. quietly financed groups working to restrict Floridians’ ability to change laws independent of the legislature.

Gulf Coast

St. John grain export facility opponents score win in court

Advocates working to block the development of a more than $200 million grain export terminal in St. John the Baptist Parish got another legal win recently when a state judge blocked the property rezoning needed to move the project forward.

Gulf Coast

Carbon-capture gold rush an ‘insult’ to locals in emissions-hit Louisiana

Millions of dollars of investments in new carbon capture projects in Louisiana – with more announced this week, are unwelcome developments to some environmental activists in the state.

Utilities

US utilities oppose Biden efforts to make gas power plants cleaner

Lobbying group’s pushback is out of step with voters and raises questions about industry commitment to reducing pollution

Gulf Coast

Property insurance disappears for Louisianans – but not for gas facilities

Oil and gas facilities along the Gulf coast have long been a major market for speciality insurance carriers.

Gulf Coast

Environmental group applauds proposed rule updates for flaring, idle wells

Proposed rules are being described by environmental advocates as a “critical step” toward reducing routine gas flaring of active oil and gas wells.