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Georgetown County, South Carolina is witnessing a rural revival through clean energy. The Lambert Solar Farm, a 250 MW energy infrastructure project from Silicon Ranch, is transforming 3,200 acres of former timberland into an economic engine for the community. The project has been in the works for a long time. In 2020, Silicon Ranch contracted with local utilities Santee Cooper and Central Electric Power Cooperative, which will pay for the generated solar power. Reagan Farr, co-founder and CEO at Silicon Ranch, told Inside Climate News that it was “a very heavy lift to get through the permitting process. But because of the collaboration with the community, the third project was a very streamlined effort.”

The Clean Energy Fund of Texas (TxCEF), in partnership with the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University (BCECJ; jointly, CEFBC), will deploy technical assistance, private capital, and grants to minority serving institutions. Together, these organizations will facilitate the development of residential-serving community solar projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities on the frontlines of energy policy and grid vulnerability challenges. Projects will drive expected emissions reductions, household utility bill savings, generate direct shared revenues through community ownership, and mobilize private capital. Projects will deploy solar and energy storage, delivering grid and community benefits by powering community resilience centers. These outcomes will deliver the benefits of greenhouse gas and air pollution-reducing projects to American communities. Based in Texas, TxCEF will operate in 19 states across the United States South and Southeast (EPA Regions 3, 4, and 6).

Awarded $29.7 million to significantly expand the scientific and production capabilities of this world-class facility, delivering impact on fundamental physics and delivery of rare isotopes critical to our economic, energy, health, and national security.

As a new academic year gets underway at Caltech, part of the excitement on campus centers around the opening of the Institute's newest building: the Resnick Sustainability Center (RSC), which has been five years in the making. Located on the western edge of campus along Wilson Avenue, the striking four-story building will serve as a defining component of a major sustainability thrust at Caltech and strives to do something truly unique—to bring the entire campus together to address the warming planet's most pressing problems related to energy and resource utilization.

Scout Motors Inc. (“Scout”) is establishing its first manufacturing plant in Blythewood, which is near Columbia, South Carolina. At the Richland County site, the company will build all-electric, next-generation trucks and rugged SUVs harkening back to the iconic Scout vehicles produced from 1960 to 1980. The company’s $2 billion investment has the potential to create 4,000 or more permanent jobs. At full capacity, more than 200,000 Scout vehicles may be produced annually at the facility.

Birla Carbon, a leading manufacturer and supplier of carbon solutions, today announced it selects Orangeburg County to establish the company’s first South Carolina operation. The $1 billion investment will create 124 new jobs. With more than 160 years of experience, Birla Carbon is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon additives globally. The company currently operates 17 manufacturing facilities in 14 countries, providing solutions for rubber, plastics, coatings, inks and other niche industries.

Intelligent power management company Eaton is helping address the critical shortage of transformers and record demand for its solutions across utility, large commercial, industrial and data center customers. The company is investing $340 million to increase U.S. production of its three-phase transformers essential to reliable electrical power. Production and hiring at Eaton’s new Jonesville, South Carolina facility is expected to begin in 2027. Eaton will continue to also manufacture three-phase transformers at two Wisconsin facilities.

Silfab Solar, a leading North American solar panel manufacturer, today announced plans to expand its U.S. footprint by establishing operations in York County. The company’s $150 million investment will create 800 new jobs.

Synapse provided expert witness services to Kingstree East 230 to support its application before the South Carolina Public Service Commission for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Convenience and Necessity (CECPCN) for construction and operation of a 249 MW solar facility in Williamsburg County, South Carolina.

The Cadence Solar Energy Center is a proposed solar power generation facility of up to 240 megawatts (MW) in Union County, Ohio, targeted to begin operating in 2026. Solar technology uses the power of the sun to deliver clean, renewable energy and is now one of the lowest-cost energy sources available.