CLEAN POWER PLAN: California is the first state to publish a draft blueprint for complying with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. (ClimateWire)
CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects carbon-free energy sources will make up 45 percent of North America’s generating mix by 2025.(Utility Dive)
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OIL & GAS:
• A pact made by 15 states to jointly investigate Exxon Mobil for allegedly misleading the public about climate change seeks to keep prosecutors’ deliberations confidential and could be used to probe other fuel companies. (Reuters)
• Environmentalists sue California agencies to stop an Arizona-based company from injecting oil production waste into a federally protected aquifer. (Associated Press)
• Government attorneys say Exxon Mobil should comply with safety directives ordered after a 2013 Arkansas oil spill and should be denied a court stay. (Arkansas Online)
• Environmental groups line up to defend the Obama administration’s rules on methane emissions from oil and gas after states and trade groups seek to unravel the new standards. (EnergyWire)
EMISSIONS: A coalition of oil groups tells the EPA that its data for a new methane rule “has all the signs of a rushed job.” (The Hill)
SOLAR: Louisiana runs out of money to fund tax credits for solar purchases. (The Times-Picayune)
COAL:
• Colorado’s coal production is down 42 percent for the first six months of this year, but on-the-job injuries increased. (Denver Post)
• Heavy rains in North Carolina cause up to 50,000 gallons of stormwater to run off a Duke Energy coal pile into the Broad River. (Charlotte Business Journal)
NUCLEAR:
• The “polarizing debate” over helping struggling nuclear plants stay open moves back to Illinois after a supporting vote in New York. (EnergyWire)
• After a federal review of its safety plans, Duke Energy is another step closer to winning approval of a new power plant in South Carolina. (WFAE Public Radio)
• A South Carolina nuclear plant suspends operations while federal investigators determine the cause of elevated uranium levels found there. (Pittsburgh Business Times)
ELECTRIC CARS: Kansas City sees a boom in charging stations as a utility serving the city attempts to spur electric vehicle sales. (ClimateWire)
PIPELINES:
• Developers of the Midwest’s troubled Sandpiper pipeline say they are scrapping agreements and transportation services for the project. (Reuters)
• Michigan officials say Enbridge is now violating the terms of a decades-old easement because its pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac doesn’t have sufficient supporting structures underwater. (Detroit Free Press)
• Critics say the decision by California prosecutors to pursue only $6 million in damages for a 2010 pipeline blast that killed eight people is “unbelievable” and shocking. (Associated Press)
GRID:
• A California legislative leader voices skepticism on a regional electricity grid intended to increase cooperation between California and five other states. (Los Angeles Times)
• A 35-mile transmission line is expected to begin delivering wind power from New Mexico to California in early 2017. (Albuquerque Business First)
COMMENTARY: On 1-year anniversary, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is confident that federal Clean Power Plan regulations will be upheld in the Supreme Court. (EPA Connect)