WIND: Appalachian Power is seeking proposals for 150 megawatts of wind-generated electricity from Kentucky, Virginia and/or West Virginia. (Associated Press)
EFFICIENCY: Five Southeast states are part of a study on how to make homes more energy efficient. (Builder)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Advocates call on North Carolina to do more to cut carbon emissions under the plan. (Wilmington StarNews)
NORTH CAROLINA: There are 201 pending applications for almost $1 billion worth of tax credits under a provision of the state’s renewable energy incentive, which expired Dec. 31. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• A Charlotte investment firm has raised $20 million for solar projects in North Carolina. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• A fast-growing racking manufacturer looks to North Carolina and others states to fuel rapid growth. (SeeNews Renewables)
OFFSHORE DRILLING:
• Led by representatives from South Carolina and Virginia, selected members of Congress step up their bid to urge the federal government to rewrite environmental reviews for seismic testing. (Coastal Review Online)
• Two North Carolina counties are the only governments in the state that support seismic testing for offshore drilling. (Wilmington StarNews)
OIL & GAS: More than a half-dozen environmental groups challenge a company’s bid to seismically explore for oil in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve. (Miami Herald)
NUCLEAR:
• Georgia Power says litigation over the expansion of the Vogtle nuclear plants under construction has been settled and will cost it $350 million. (POWER)
• With a new contractor in place, SCANA looks to regain time and money lost from construction delays at the V.C. Summer plant. (The Post and Courier)
UTILITIES: Florida Power & Light is a step closer to developing a $1.2 billion, 1,600 megawatt, natural gas-fired power plant in Okeechobee County. (Florida Politics)
COAL ASH: Reactions to North Carolina’s risk classifications of coal ash basins grow more critical. (Carolina Public Press)
COAL:
• Peabody Energy agrees with the United Mine Workers of America to pay $75 million to help provide health care benefits for retirees in Kentucky, West Virginia and elsewhere. (WDTV-TV)
• Six mines in West Virginia drew “serious and substantial” safety violations from the federal government. (West Virginia Newspaper Publishing Co.)
TECHNOLOGY: University of Alabama students begin re-engineering a Chevy Camaro to improve its efficiency without sacrificing performance as part of a contest sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Energy and General Motors. (Tuscaloosa News)
COMMENTARY:
• Some people, including those in Woodland, North Carolina, actually need to see solar working in their communities before they’ll accept it. (Huffington Post)
• Be prepared for a major oil spill if one or more Southeast coastal states authorizes offshore drilling. (The Millbrook Independent)
• Gov. Scott should at least drawing attention to the real-life impacts that climate change is bringing to Florida. (Tampa Bay Times)
• If oil prices remain relatively low for too long, efforts to mitigate climate change will suffer. (Palm Beach Post)