NUCLEAR: TVA’s draft 20-year plan for electricity generation anticipates cancelling construction of the Bellefonte nuclear power plant in Alabama and shifting to more reliance on natural gas and renewable energy. (The Birmingham News, Alabama)
COAL ASH:
• North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s refusal to sign a bill funding a new commission overseeing the cleanup of coal ash dumps leaves it in limbo. (Associated Press)
• A federal judge sets an open hearing Tuesday on Duke Energy’s sealed motion to delay its sentencing hearing in the criminal case involving last year’s coal-ash spill on the Dan River. (Charlotte Business Journal)
UTILITIES:
• With solar and coal ash disposal rulings sweeping through the Southeast U.S., Duke Energy sharply increased contributions to the Republican Governors Association in 2014. (Greensboro News & Record)
• A group of large power customers asserts if a bill that would enable Duke Energy Florida to securitize nuclear plant shutdown costs is going to save customers money, then that language should be put in the bill. (Saint Peters Blog, Florida)
CLIMATE:
• Critics of West Virginia’s new science standards for educating students about human-caused climate change accept less than what they called for, but see improvements. (The Charleston Gazette, West Virginia)
• Many Georgia farmers are mitigating risks of global warming yet remain skeptical whether it’s even happening. (Thomasville Times-Enterprise, Georgia)
• While Catholics may lean conservative, they are believers in climate change and in taking action to prevent it, according to new research. (Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee)
SOLAR: A proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution would shift some costs of maintaining electricity plants and power lines from homes and businesses with solar energy to other utility customers, representatives of cities and electric utilities claim. (Saint Peters Blog, Florida)
OIL & GAS:
• Williams Energy and West Virginia officials are investigating two natural gas pipeline ruptures that occurred within hours of each other in Marshall County after heavy rains. (Associated Press)
• A test well in Putnam County, West Virginia signals a possible shale gas boom extending into Eastern Kentucky and western Virginia. (The Charleston Gazette, West Virginia)
• Kinder Morgan releases aerial maps showing desired route in Eastern Georgia for its proposed Palmetto petroleum pipeline only to government officials who refuse to make them public. (Savannah Morning News, Georgia)
• Eminent domain is being tested in Kinder Morgan’s bid to site petroleum pipeline through Eastern Georgia. (Savannah Morning News, Georgia)
• Natural gas workers in Jane Lew and Bluefield, West Virginia are among layoffs planned by Consol Energy. (Marcellus Drilling News)
• Trans Energy is selling selected natural gas production wells in West Virginia to focus more sharply on other Marcellus Shale holdings in the Mountaineer state. (Marcellus Drilling News)
• The team underwritten by the oceanographer who located the remains of the Titanic is charting exploration of deepwater corals in the Gulf of Mexico to determine their health five years after the BP oil spill. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana)
• Sales of oil and gas drilling leases on Louisiana state and local lands crashed in April after surging in March. Total bids were the lowest in more than two years. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana)
• Tank ship owner files suit against cargo ship in Mississippi River last week’s collision. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Virginia’s untapped energy efficiency reserves are the Commonwealth’s best opportunity for meeting — and exceeding — its Clean Power Plan target. (NRDC Switchboard)
ENERGY STORAGE: Aleva Energy ramping up its energy storage and other service operations in Concord, North Carolina repurposing a warehouse of a cigarette factory. (Charlotte Business Journal)
COAL: Costs of building the Kemper coal gasification plant in Mississippi come under heightened scrutiny after a PSC order and subsequent Supreme Court ruling; an 18 percent rate increase may hang in the balance. (The Meridian Star, Mississippi)
COMMENTARY: Former South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis asks: Are conservatives turning the corner on climate change? (Charlotte Observer, North Carolina)