NUCLEAR: Cooling challenges and cost increases at Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point plant heighten scrutiny of the utility’s plans for more reactors there. (Miami Herald / Politico Florida)
SOLAR:
• North Carolina surpasses New Jersey to become the number 3 state in the U.S. for solar capacity. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Dominion’s North Carolina subsidiary ranked near the top among U.S. utilities for the total amount of solar deployed in 2015 and the amount deployed per customer. (Utility Dive)
• Critics charge Santee Cooper in South Carolina is starving its service territory of the economic and environmental benefits of solar energy. (The Post and Courier)
• Works begins on a large-scale solar system in Georgia by the Navy and Georgia Power. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
• Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch raises $100 million to grow its solar business. (SolarServer)
• Led by its solar projects, Robeson County, North Carolina topped all counties in the state for clean energy investments from 2007-2015. (The Robesonian)
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COAL:
• Georgia and North Carolina are among six states accounting for nearly half of the decline in U.S. coal use, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (ClimateWire)
• Duke Energy began destroying the second of three coal-fired boilers at its Sutton Plant in North Carolina Sunday. (Wilmington Star News)
• What happens when science education hits a nerve in a state with a dominant industry such as coal in West Virginia? (ClimateWire)
• The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is seeking written comments on potential reforms to the federal coal program, and will hold public meetings in Tennessee and elsewhere this month. (WRCB)
UTILITIES:
• Dominion Virginia Power outlines how natural gas and solar, and possibly nuclear, could dominate spending on new generation over the next 15 years. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Virginian-Plot)
• Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources is outpacing its own projections for deploying renewable sources of power across the country. (SNL)
NATURAL GAS: Shipments of liquefied natural gas from Louisiana undermine Gazprom’s grip on natural gas supplies to Europe. (New Eastern Europe)
WIND: The extension of the industry’s production tax credit stands to boost the technology in the Carolinas and elsewhere for the next five years. (Wind Power Monthly)
CLIMATE:
• New polling suggests more Republicans are opening to policies that mitigate the risks of climate change, but not Kentucky’s senators. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
• Florida Atlantic University prepares for its third Sea-level Rise Summit this week in Fort Lauderdale. (Claims Journal)
EFFICIENCY:
• Atlanta-based Beazer Homes receives the EPA’s 2016 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award for sustained excellence. (Energy Manager Today)
• North Carolina-based Cree and other LED lighting companies scramble to focus on profitable niches. (Greentech Media)
ACADEMIA: The University of Virginia rolls out an ambitious plan to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. (The Daily Progress)
PIPELINES: A prominent foundation in Virginia opposes both the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
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VIRGINIA: Environmental groups criticize Gov. Terry McAuliffe for supporting offshore drilling, pipelines and coal ash disposal. (Chesapeake Bay Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• The chairman of West Virginia’s Democratic Party decries how coal producers are using bankruptcy proceedings to dodge financial obligations. (West Virginia State Journal)
• A citizens-rights activist calls on lawmakers to block a “land grab” for proposed pipelines in Virginia. (The Virginian-Pilot)
• The TVA should stop pursing another costly experiment – this one to develop small “modular” nuclear reactors. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• A ballot amendment to boost solar in Florida with a tax exemption for commercial operations deserves a “yes” vote. (Tampa Bay Tribune)