NOTE TO READERS: Southeast Energy News is taking a break for Independence Day. The email digest will return on Tuesday, July 5.

COAL ASH:
• North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is set to sign a compromise bill giving Duke Energy lower-cost options for disposing coal ash. (Associated Press)
• A new map shows drinking water sources for 2.3 million Tennesseans is at risk from ash sites run by the TVA. (Southern Environmental Law Center)

UTILITIES:
• The TVA asks 3,500 employees to quit or retire as part of a cost-cutting move. (Chattanooga Times Free-Press)
• The New Orleans City Council calls on Entergy to better justify the need for a new natural gas-fired power plant compared to investments in efficiency and renewables. (The New Orleans Times-Picayune)

POLICY:
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s bid to step up reductions in power plant emissions is a product of partisan gridlock. (Virginia Public Radio)
• Some Virginia lawmakers question the governor’s executive order to reduce power plant emissions. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

POLITICS:
• Is North Carolina’s Jay Faison Republicans’ answer to Tom Steyer? (Saint Peters Blog)
Faison’s Clear Path nonprofit selects its first three federal candidates to back, including one in Florida. (The New York Times)

HYDRO: The TVA and other stakeholders agree on a program to modernize hydroelectric dams in Tennessee. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

WIND: Stakeholders in a proposed interstate transmission line to import wind-generated power from Texas hear about Mississippi’s projected $700 million stake in the project. (WTVA)

FRACKING: A citizens group in Kentucky calls on the state to disclose its talks with a company trying to dispose of radioactive fracking waste there. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

COAL: Georgia Power finds contaminants that exceed permitted levels near three of its coal-fired power plants. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

SOLAR: Regulators approve three solar projects sought by Dominion Virginia Power. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

NUCLEAR:
Santee Cooper in South Carolina says it will use proceeds from a $831 million bond sale to help pay for its share of escalating nuclear construction costs. (The Post and Courier)
• Environmental advocates support both sides of a dispute between South Carolina and the federal government over converting plutonium into commercial nuclear fuel. (The Post and Courier)

ALTERNATIVE FUELS: The 150 alternative fueling stations in the Jacksonville, Florida area draw praise from the U.S. Deptartment of Energy. (The Florida Times-Union)

RENEWABLES: The head of the Florida Solar Energy Center envisions paths towards U.S. energy independence. (Florida Today)

OFFSHORE DRILLING: Louisiana and other Gulf states are making progress towards a vote to secure a larger share of oil and gas drilling revenue off their coasts. (Houma Today)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The federal government is probing a deadly collision in Florida of a Tesla S on autopilot with a truck. (Orlando Sentinel)

2010 BP OIL SPILL: Louisiana and Mississippi today are to receive their first payments from settlements associated with the spill. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY:
• Capturing uranium from seawater can make nuclear power renewable. (Forbes)
• The push for fewer power plant emissions by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is what environmental leadership looks like. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Plaudits for Gulf Power’s commitment to 272 MW of wind energy. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)

Jim Pierobon, a policy, marketing and social media strategist, was a founding contributor to Southeast Energy News. He passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

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