** Texas lawmakers approve legislation to require nearly every solar and wind farm in the state to back up their energy production with gas-fired power plants or batteries or face a steep fine, potentially shutting down thousands of megawatts of existing projects.
** Duke Energy blames a slithering snake for causing the May 5 power outage that put 10,000 customers in the dark in North Carolina. The snake crawled into an electrical substation and shorted out power. It did not survive.
** U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, introduces legislation that would streamline oil and gas permitting on federal lands.
** The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposed uranium exploratory drilling project in central Wyoming.
** The University of Arkansas moves forward on a plan to partner with a solar company to build the first four of a planned 18 solar power plants despite uncertainty about federal funding to back the project.
** Georgia regulators fine Hyundai’s electric vehicle factory $30,000 for wastewater management violations.
** A federal judge rejects 10 activists’ motion to dismiss the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s lawsuit against them over allegedly interfering with its construction by chaining themselves to equipment.
World
** Premier Doug Ford’s government has given Ontario Power Generation the green light to start construction on Canada’s first small modular reactor, a new nuclear energy technology to be built next door to the Darlington power plant.
** EV infrastructure giant ChargePoint has had success with its new carbon credit sales in Africa, according to Sustainability Magazine. ChargePoint has partnered with Africa GreenTec to install solar energy infrastructure for about 1,000 people in the Senegal village of Keur Niangane.
** The Canary island of La Palma was hit by a major power cut on Thursday morning, just 10 days after mainland Spain suffered a blackout. According to La Palma’s government, more than a third of its 85,000-strong population was without power for around 45 minutes.
