COAL: A Kentucky developer is set to begin operating its $90 million investment in two new mines in Virginia and West Virginia for steel production. (Associated Press)
ALSO:
• Shipments of coal mined in the U.S. to overseas markets from Newport News, Virginia continue their slide, down 36% through the first six months of 2016. (Daily Press)
• Stakeholders look forward to results from a comprehensive study by the National Academy of Sciences on the health effects of mountain removal for coal mining. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• A jobs initiative in Eastern Kentucky tries to hold on to displaced miners by helping them transition to new careers. (Georgia Public Broadcasting)
• A bill in Congress to extend health-care and pension benefits for retired miners divides coal-state Republicans. (Associated Press)
• Coal’s future in West Virginia and throughout Appalachia depends on whom you ask. (The Herald-Dispatch)
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UTILITIES:
• A judge rules a shareholder lawsuit over Duke Energy’s 2012 firing of then-CEO Bill Johnson may proceed to trial. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• The University of Florida moves to retain Duke Energy as its electricity provider, rejecting a bid by the Gainesville Regional Utilities. (SaintPetersBlog)
• Amid slowing demand growth, Duke Energy adjusts its spending on new plant construction in the Carolinas in favor of renewables and combined-heat-and-power plants. (Charlotte Observer)
CLIMATE:
• Scientists’ warnings that sea level rise would eventually imperil the Southeast and other coastlines are no longer theoretical. (New York Times)
• How growth-focused politics helped build vulnerability in Louisiana’s flood zones. (Dot Earth blog)
NUCLEAR:
• Flood protection at the Oconee plant in South Carolina comes under scrutiny after its owners complete modifications. (All Things Nuclear blog)
• Activists in Scotland condemn plans to ship nuclear waste by airplane to South Carolina. (Herald Scotland)
COAL ASH: North Carolina’s attorney general launches a TV ad seeking to capitalize on the resignation of the state’s epidemiologist over water safety notices. (Raleigh News & Observer)
PIPELINES:
• The U.S. Forest Service writes federal regulators expressing concerns about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s possible impact on a stream and its tributaries in Virginia. (The News Virginian)
• ExxonMobil challenges the authority of federal regulators to order certain safety measures for a pipeline in Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• Southern Co. and Kinder Morgan finalize a natural gas pipeline venture in the southern U.S. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR: Passage of Florida’s solar Amendment 4 last week is seen as a small but helpful boost to the industry there. (St. Augustine Record)
OIL & GAS: A neighborhood association in New Orleans steps up its demand that the city stop allowing a railroad to park loaded tank cars nearby. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
NATURAL GAS: Activists in North Carolina decry a heavy reliance on natural gas as a “trap” to replace coal-fired power. (The Blue Banner)
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EFFICIENCY: Virginia’s Housing Development Authority is making strides in boosting efficiency at some of its apartment communities. (The Energy Collective)
COMMENTARY:
• A new “Stories of Solar” series spotlights people and organizations who’ve adopted solar energy in the Southeast U.S. (Southeast Energy News)
• Dominion’s push for a third reactor at its North Anna nuclear plant is too costly and possibly unlawful. (Powered by Facts blog)
• Two nuclear reactors under construction in South Carolina are vital to meeting the state’s energy needs. (The Post and Courier)
• Voters for Florida’s solar Amendment 4 got it, but will they understand what’s behind the state’s solar Amendment 1 on the November 8 ballot? (Truth Dig)