NORTH CAROLINA: Advocates say a provision in North Carolina’s energy bill could open the door to the state’s largest utility cutting net metering rates. (Southeast Energy News)
ALSO: A moratorium on wind farm permits in the bill puts Gov. Roy Cooper between “a rock and a hard place.” (Citizen Times)
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COAL:
• The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts coal will be the top source for the country’s power generation in 2017, but just barely. (Herald-Dispatch)
• Two power plants in the Southeast are examples of coal’s struggle against natural gas. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• A Kingsport, Tennessee, coal company pleaded guilty in federal court to giving advance notice of safety inspections to mine employees. (Times News)
UTILITIES:
• The Virginia State Corporation Commission will reconsider allowing Dominion Energy power lines to go through land that has been owned for more than a 100 years by descendants of a freed slave. (Associated Press)
• South Carolina’s electric utilities once fought removing coal ash from their sites but are now leading the Southeast in cleanup efforts. (Post and Courier)
• Georgia Power held an energy efficiency summer camp for children. (Valdosta Daily Times)
CLIMATE:
• The effects of climate change and reductions in federal money could hit states hard, including many in the Southeast. (Washington Post)
• A group of moderate Republican lawmakers led by Florida’s Carlos Curbelo defeated a proposal to nix a Defense Department report on the threats posed by climate change to military installations. (McClatchy)
PIPELINES: Virginia’s Democratic candidate for governor Ralph Northam faced more pressure at an event on Saturday from anti-pipeline groups to oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (NBC 29)
SOLAR:
• The president of Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky says the timing is right for utility-owned solar in Kentucky on the heels of receiving approval to build three solar projects there. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Florida’s new solar laws are expected to help the state’s commercial installations, but are causing confusion for residential consumers. (Palm Beach Post)
• Orlando Utilities Commission is expanding its solar farm on top of a coal byproduct landfill. (News 13)
OIL & GAS: Energy officials are optimistic about the industry’s future in West Virginia, predicting a price increase for the Appalachian basin’s natural gas. (Exponent Telegram)
COMMENTARY:
• The president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition says North Carolina’s proposed wind moratorium would close off an economic development opportunity for rural communities. (News & Observer)
• One of the country’s leading residential solar installers is expanding into Virginia, which is “both a massive opportunity and an interesting move.” (Clean Technica)