Interest in community solar is on the rise, as a greater share of West Virginians' household incomes go toward utility bills.

Federal data show electricity rates are increasing in the Mountain State, and major utilities are proposing more rate hikes for next year.

Danny Chiotos, development manager for Chaberton Energy, explained community solar is emerging as an alternative.

"As a general rule, community solar generation subscriptions are subscribed to at a rate lower than the electricity that it is offsetting," pointed out. "If you're paying, say, 11 cents for your electricity now per kilowatt-hour, you can generally subscribe to a community solar facility at nine cents or 10 cents."

Community solar lets individuals, businesses and organizations buy a "share" in community solar panels -- usually anywhere between five and 60 acres per site -- and in exchange, receive a credit on their monthly electric bill.

Two bills introduced by West Virginia state lawmakers this year, Senate Bill 627 and House Bill 2159, would have made it easier to implement community solar projects.

Critics say solar farms take up space, and point out community solar users often are not eligible for state-based incentives.

Chiotos countered that state-level legislation is needed to ensure companies providing community solar can do so cost effectively.

"As a trend, we're seeing that there's increasing energy burden on homes," Chiotos observed. "Community solar is the best way to reduce electric rates in the face of the quickest-rising electric rates in the country."

At least 18 states nationwide have passed legislation changing how local utilities are regulated in order to approve community solar.

A proposed corn-starch-to-jet-fuel plant in South Dakota is on track to get big federal funding, but its feasibility could hinge on election results.

The proposed Lake Preston facility, dubbed Net-Zero 1 by the company Gevo, is set to receive a conditional loan of nearly $1.5 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy.

This comes just before Election Day, when voters will decide on Referred Law 21 - which will determine the future of carbon dioxide transmission pipelines in the state - and which Andrew Swanson, postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Davis, said projects like Net-Zero 1 would rely on.

"They can capture carbon dioxide that's naturally produced from distilling corn into ethanol, put it in a pipeline and send it underground," said Swanson. "And by doing that, that would dramatically reduce the emissions of ethanol."

Those reductions would get companies below federally-set emissions thresholds, triggering high tax credits in return.

Recent campaign finance reports show ethanol producers have contributed $2.7 million in support of the ballot measure, according to reporting from South Dakota Searchlight.

Opponents of the measure, mostly individuals and farm and ranch corporations, have raised just under $250,000.

Net-Zero 1 would support the Biden administration's goal of producing 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel in the U.S. by 2030.

The world's first ethanol-to-jet-fuel plant opened in Georgia earlier this year and will produce 10 million gallons of fuel per year. Swanson said the industry is still brand new.

"The federal government wants to increase the production by 100-200 fold within six years," said Swanson. "Now, we're kind of just waiting on the edge of our seats a little bit to see what they're going to decide with the carbon pipeline."

According to the Department of Energy, Net-Zero 1 would also make more than 1 billion pounds of animal feed protein and 30 million pounds of corn oil annually, and would create 100 operations jobs.



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Ahead of tomorrow's presidential election, a nonprofit is raising concerns Project 2025 and its proposed rollback of federal aid could disrupt economic growth in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.

Pennsylvania is set to receive more than $15 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for more than 450 projects.

David Kieve, president of EDF Action, the advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund, said the Inflation Reduction Act has made Pennsylvania cleaner and greener, and is boosting the Lehigh Valley economy.

"They're incentivizing and attracting private sector investment to communities like the Lehigh Valley," Kieve pointed out. "Mack Trucks has received $208 million in IRA funding, which is going to create nearly 300 union jobs."

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has allocated $11.1 billion for transportation, including roads, bridges, public transit, ports, and airports and $859 million for water infrastructure.

Kieve pointed out many people would feel the effects of Project 2025, including more than 200,000 in Lehigh Valley's Hispanic community. The proposed cuts could result in lost jobs and investments from recent federal legislation.

"These are communities that have sort of had fallen on hard times because of President Trump's spectacular mishandling of the COVID pandemic, but that are digging out and that are recovering," Kieve noted. "Project 2025 and the Donald Trump agenda would pull the rug right out from under those communities."

Pennsylvania is set to receive around $172 million over five years from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand electric vehicle charging. Allentown, within the Lehigh Valley, has 122 public charging ports, most of which are Level 2, which are more powerful than home units and charge vehicles more quickly. Some offer free charging.

Arizona is ground zero for the 2024 election, but also sits on the front lines of the climate crisis, as the state has seen another year of record-breaking temperatures. One organization says the two issues go hand in hand.

Chispa Arizona executive director Vianey Olivarría said many state and local races in Arizona will have direct impacts on how state leaders not only manage environmental challenges, but also preserve democracy. She contended that Arizona isn't taking full advantage of the natural resources at its disposal.

"When we talk about clean energy, democracy and the future of Arizona, that's what we are talking about," she said. "It's a future where this heat is going to get worse, the pollution is going to get worse - that means that our ability to survive will highly depend on our ability to produce electricity."

She added that voters will get to choose candidates vying for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, which has significant power over the state's energy decisions. Olivarría contended that the commission's current members have been voting against the interest of ratepayers and the environment, and siding with utilities.

The commission has said it strives to deliver reliable, cost-effective energy. But just last month, the conservative-leaning commission approved two gas-powered plants.

While the Corporation Commission is supposed to play a significant role in fighting climate change, Olivarría said state legislative races can also make a difference.

"And that is a space that for a long time has become a very 'right-wing' space," she said. "There have been bills in the state Legislature that would take climate change out of our education systems, out of public schools - just talking about it, acknowledging it."

Olivarría said she wants lawmakers to visit the communities disproportionately affected by the urban heat island effect, in which the built environment and a lack of tree canopy makes them more vulnerable to hot weather. Since time is running short before Nov. 5, she reminded folks to vote in person on Election Day, or take their mail-in ballot to a secure dropbox or polling location.