NUCLEAR:
• Potential buyers for the TVA’s unfinished Bellefonte plant in northeast Alabama have been identified but not disclosed as the utility’s board prepares for a vote on Thursday. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• Five environmental groups urge the TVA to keep the unfinished Bellefonte plant and retool it for renewable energy. (Associated Press)
ALSO: Dominion Virginia Power seeks to extend the Surry plant operating license by 20 years into the 2050s. (The Daily Press)
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COAL: Employment in Kentucky dips to lowest recorded level since 1898. (WFPL)
TECHNOLOGY: Virginia-based utility software developer Opower accepts a $532 million buyout from Oracle. (Greentech Media)
SOLAR:
• Duke Energy buys six solar systems and will sell their power to Dominion North Carolina Power. (Charlotte Observer)
• On-bill financing is all some utility customers in Arkansas, Kentucky and elsewhere need to go solar. (CleanTechnica)
• A Tennessee solar company wins a people’s choice award for a hands-on sustainability project aimed at middle and high school students. (The Chattanoogan)
NORTH CAROLINA: Renewable energy’s growth in the Tar Heel State may be peaking. (Raleigh News & Observer)
CLIMATE:
• “We’re going to lose all our heritage, all our culture”: America’s first climate refugees, in Louisiana, react to being resettled. (New York Times)
• A new study finds south Florida’s coral reefs may be vanishing faster than expected. (Miami Herald)
• Florida Gov. Rick Scott meets a scathing critique of his climate policies from Gov. Jerry Brown while on a recruiting trip in California. (The Hill)
PIPELINES: Two historic preservation groups in Virginia add their opposition to the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipeline projects. (Richmond Times -Dispatch, The Daily Progress)
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OFFSHORE DRILLING: A retired Navy rear admiral in South Carolina slams the media’s coverage of seismic testing sought off the Atlantic coast. (Palmetto Business Daily)
COMMENTARY:
• Some pipeline opponents contend they’re not being heard by federal regulators. (The News Virginian)
• A Virginia farmer touts the benefits of turbines as an additional and stable source of income. (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Kentucky lawmakers deny climate change science while urging students to study how to mitigate it. (Lexington Herald-Leader)