UTILITIES: Documents show Duke Energy funneled half a million dollars through a tax-exempt political group before the North Carolina primary, and a state law allows it to hide which candidates benefited. (Energy News Network)
PIPELINES: Several major pipelines, including the Atlantic Coast, Mountain Valley and Permian Highway, could be at risk of delays after a judge ruled the Army Corps of Engineers inappropriately used a permit program. (Reuters)
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RENEWABLES: Duke Energy sets a goal of doubling the renewable energy it produces or buys to 16 GW by 2025, according to its latest report. (WFAE)
SOLAR:
• Arkansas regulators approve the state’s largest utility-owned solar project: Entergy’s 100 MW solar farm and 10 MW battery. (Energy + Environment Leader)
• An Arkansas utility contracts its first solar project, a 13 MW system that will support 125 jobs. (KASU)
• Large-scale utility solar projects are in the works in North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee. (PV Magazine)
OIL & GAS:
• Several expansion projects at Corpus Christi are delayed or rushed because of the oil market crash, threatening jobs and investments. (New York Times)
• Several Louisiana oil and gas industry businesses expect to lay off at least 600 workers due to the economic downturn from the pandemic. (The Advocate)
• Texas energy regulators will vote next week on a proposal to reduce the state’s oil output after delaying it over concerns of legal challenges. (Reuters)
OFFSHORE DRILLING: An Interior Department inspector general investigation reveals the crew of an unnamed corporation manipulated results of a blowout preventer test on a Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling platform. (E&E News, subscription)
COAL ASH: A landmark Clean Water Act ruling by the Supreme Court may have avoided creating a major loophole for coal ash ponds, which could cause debates between industry and environmental groups. (E&E News)
ADVOCACY: A former presidential adviser and Tennessee Valley Authority board chairman is now the senior energy adviser for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. (E&E News, subscription)
COMMENTARY:
• A former state representative says Republicans in Florida have a chance to be on the front lines of finding free-market solutions to climate change like renewable energy. (Sun Sentinel)
• A clean energy group says the Tennessee Valley Authority has locked local utilities into unfair contracts after promising they could self-generate 5% of energy, then changing it to offer much less. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
CORRECTION: The Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline case is being reviewed by the D.C. Court of Appeals. A commentary item in yesterday’s digest misidentified the court.