OIL & GAS: The federal government says its broadcasting today for the first time a Gulf of Mexico lease sale in New Orleans live via the internet as protestors call for halting all drilling there. (Associated Press)
OFFSHORE DRILLING: Animated maps from a conservation group illustrate risks to marine life from seismic testing. (Southeast Energy News)
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NUCLEAR:
• Southern Co.’s nuclear unit signs a memorandum of understanding with a technology company to develop next-generation reactors. (EnergyWire)
• An adjunct professor at North Carolina State University addresses the public’s perception of nuclear energy. (Daily Tarheel)
• Drone videos capture recent progress of the two reactors under construction at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. (Nuclear Street)
SOLAR:
• Citing Florida as an example, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen urges the Federal Trade Commission to ban certain activities of companies that lease solar systems. (Daily Caller News Foundation)
• Here is how the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 is helping boost utility scale solar in North Carolina. (Solar Industry)
• An installer applies to build a third solar system in a North Carolina county. (Winston-Salem Journal)
• Onslow County reportedly is leading all counties in North Carolina in the amount of solar capacity installed. (WNCT)
COAL ASH:
• An environmental group claims Duke Energy is overestimating the cost to clean up its ash to discourage excavating it from leaking pits, court filings show. (Salisbury Post)
• An environmental group tells residents of Lee County, North Carolina it’s not abandoning them despite its rejection of $6,000 from the county to buy them water filters. (Fayetteville Observer)
PIPELINES: Dominion unveils a simulation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s visual impact on a Virginia county. (Nelson County Times)
BATTERIES: A California company agrees to work with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to boost its development of battery technology. (AltEnergyMag.com)
HYDROPOWER: Duke Energy takes its case for a 50-year extension of a license to manage a power plant on the Catawba River to a federal appeals court. (Charlotte Observer)
GRID: Two Virginia utilities are among those proposing a broad reassessment of a regional transmission grid’s program to sell capacity rights. (Utility Dive / RTO Insider)
BIOENERGY:
• Blue Sphere Corp. signs options to purchase two sites in Eastern North Carolina where it plans to build swine-waste-to-energy plants. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• The biomass industry pushes for federal incentives to make it more attractive to burn wood waste for generating electricity. (Climate Central)
EFFICIENCY: Florida and West Virginia are among states to receive Department of Energy funding to advance clean energy programs. (EIN Newsdesk)
UTILITIES:
• Regulators authorize Dominion Virginia Power to bury certain power lines underground where it says reliability is lagging and boost rates accordingly. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A Memphis city councilman adds his voice to those who oppose a plan by the TVA to cool water for a new gas plant under construction there. (Memphis Flyer)
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COAL: Federal officials today are to unveil “significant” investments in Appalachian communities hit hard by layoffs in the coal industry. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY:
• It is helpful to see how various officials have backed off their support of drilling off Virginia’s coast. (The Virginian-Pilot)
• The head of Mississippi’s economic development authority spotlights the growing role of wood and wood waste in generating electricity. (SunHerald)
• The TVA is ignoring public concerns about capping coal ash ponds. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• Commissioners in King George County, Virginia are right to impose strict limits on fracking. (Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star)