SOLAR: Virginia regulators prepare rules for a new program allowing state residents to buy solar power via subscription. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• A Florida lawmaker files a bill that would allow schools to contract with third-party solar vendors to operate their own net metering programs. (Spectrum Bay News 9)
• Arkansas regulators approve a 4.8 MW solar array that will provide net metering for a state water utility. (Arkansas Business)
• County commissioners in eastern Texas approve a 10-year tax abatement for the 400 MW Mockingbird Solar Center. (East Texas Radio)
***SPONSORED LINK: Whether you’re aware of it or not, clean energy is working for you right now. Support NCSEA’s efforts to continue building a clean energy future that works for all North Carolinians by giving a tax-deductible donation before December 31. www.energync.org/cleanworks .***
TRANSITION:
• President-elect Joe Biden names Brenda Mallory, director of regulatory policy for the Southern Environmental Law Center, to lead the Council on Environmental Quality. (Bloomberg)
• Former EPA officials Michael Regan of North Carolina and Heather McTeer Toney of Mississippi are potential choices to lead the EPA. (NC Policy Watch, Associated Press)
EFFICIENCY: Environmental groups blast a rule proposed by Florida regulators to address how companies set energy-savings goals, saying it uses outdated energy efficiency standards that will cost customers more money. (Florida Phoenix)
PIPELINES: A planned 12-mile Louisville Gas and Electric pipeline would remove 40 acres of forest, cross six waterways and disturb habitat for as many as eight threatened or endangered species. (WFPL)
UTILITIES:
• South Carolina lawmakers consider whether to sell, reform or find a private operator to run the state-owned Santee Cooper utility ahead of their 2021 legislative session. (WSPA)
• Environmental and solar energy groups criticize Dominion Energy proposal to raise rates and fees on solar customers in South Carolina. (PV Magazine)
• Virginia regulators will reconsider their decision to deny Appalachian Power a rate increase. (Roanoke Times)
• East Kentucky Power Cooperative announces a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 70% by 2050 and obtain 15% of its energy from new renewables by 2035. (WTVQ)
OIL & GAS: As other natural gas projects stall amid the pandemic, construction on a new export terminal in Louisiana moves ahead of schedule, with operation expected by 2022. (Bloomberg)
WIND: Dominion Energy begins construction on a 472-foot ship that will install wind turbines off Virginia’s coast beginning in 2023. (Daily Press)
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GRID: Arkansas researchers look into artificial intelligence as a way to protect the electric grid and other infrastructure from cyberattacks. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
COMMENTARY:
• The CEO of a North Carolina investment firm calls for elected officials to work together to facilitate economic growth that will come from the transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles. (Energy News Network)
• A vice president at Duke Energy touts the utility’s progress in reducing carbon emissions — 38% since 2005 in the Carolinas— as it moves away from coal toward natural gas and renewables. (Winston-Salem Journal)