ENERGY STARTUPS: Steel company owner David Hornsby spends $1 million to launch Sun Charge Systems in Alabama to keep employees busy during down times. (Birmingham Business Journal)
OIL & GAS:
• Williams Energy and state regulators are working to mitigate the impact of the April 9 natural gas pipeline rupture in Marshall County. (Associated Press)
• West Virginia regulators do not regularly inspect the vast majority of pipelines transporting natural gas and oil throughout the state. (Wheeling News-Register)
• Bill in Florida House rejects bill amendments that would have allowed local bans or referendums on hydraulic fracturing. (Saint Peters Blog)
• Increase in West Virginia oil and gas severance taxes pull at least one county out of economic distress — for now. (Wheeling News-Register)
• The U.S. Forest Service has approved a permit to survey part of the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia for a proposed natural gas pipeline. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES:
• Legislation to ‘crack down’ on questionable dealings between Florida commissioners and utilities now awaits action in the state Senate. (WUSF Public Media)
• TVA draws mostly accolades for how its draft Integrated Resource Plan boosts deployment of energy efficiency and solar energy. (Bowling Green Daily News, Kentucky)
POWER LINES: Dominion Virginia Power should not rush toward its first choice for a power line serving the Hampton Roads region. (The Virginian-Pilot)
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: Waste-to-energy getting traction with more than 40 projects in North Carolina. (Star News Online, Wilmington)
SOLAR:
• Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell warns customers against scams offering solar power systems to reduce energy costs. (The Times Picayune)
• The Regional Energy Alliance in Richmond, VA launches its second solar bulk-purchasing coop. (Augusta Free Press)
CLEAN ENERGY LEGISLATION: A summary of six new Virginia laws designed to help create jobs, boost efficiency and enable a market for solar energy. (Solar Novus Today)
SERIES ON COAL IN APPALACHIA:
• Writer Silas House reflects on coal’s ‘double-edge’ sword;
• Cleaning up coal’s legacy;
• Federal regulations drive the past and future of coal.
(The Allegheny Front, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Inside Energy)
VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE: Federal investigators reviewed a relationship between Republican Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment with lobbyist Angela Bezik but took no action. (The Washington Post)
COMMENTARY:
• TVA’s Integrated Resource Plan provides the clearest look yet by a Southeastern utility at solar energy as a resource – not a threat. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy blog)
• Columnist Tom Jackson reflects on climate believers’ “trash talk” about global warming. (The Tampa Tribune)
• A pastor and a climate activist in North Carolina contest claims that solar energy policies only benefit those who can afford it. (The News & Observer, Raleigh)
• An associate professor of biology hails the declining cost of solar energy systems. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Despite proclamations to the contrary, Florida administrators are paying at least some attention to how climate change affects the risks of disasters the state tries to plan for. (The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville)