SOLAR:
• A California developer has proposed building 15 utility scale solar projects in North Carolina since Aug. 1 ranging from 5 to 80 megawatts. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• The industry expresses alarm at Duke Energy’s bid to shorten power purchase contracts secured under the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978. (Utility Dive/PV Magazine)
• The nation’s largest solar installer is expanding its presence in Florida. (Orlando Business Journal)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The head of Virginia’s motor vehicle division approves Tesla’s bid to open a Richmond-area store, the second in the state. (Washington Post)
POLICY: A former buyer and seller of distressed coal mines – Wilbur Ross – is to be the nation’s next Commerce Secretary. (WTVR)
NUCLEAR:
• Without the Clean Power Plan, how essential are nuclear plants to combat climate change? (Utility Dive)
• A new TED talk spotlights work by a Florida firm to develop next-generation plants using molten salt technology. (Engineering.com)
WIND: An industry report finds more than 100 factories in the Southeast supply parts for wind farms. (American Wind Energy Association blog)
COAL:
• The Obama administration hurries to enact the stream protection rule. (Mother Jones)
• A North Carolina court upholds a permit authorizing the flooding of a popular creek with mine wastewater. (Southern Environmental Law Center)
• In life after coal, Appalachia tries to reinvent itself. (Governing)
• An Interior Dept. official urges President-elect Trump to visit Appalachia before he tries to revive coal mining. (Bloomberg BNA)
• More lawmakers in West Virginia and Kentucky see a contradiction from President-elect Trump: trying to revive coal while boosting natural gas. (The Flyer Group)
PIPELINES:
• South Carolina regulators weigh how to stiffen controls and boost monitoring for leaks. (The State)
• A new map aggregates 30 years of pipeline spills throughout the lower 48 states. (City Lab)
NATURAL GAS:
• Piedmont Natural Gas expands its network of compressed natural gas fueling stations to meet growing demand. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Anticipation builds after a county in Tennessee hears arguments for and against the TVA’s plan to tap Memphis’ drinking water to cool a gas-fired power plant. (Memphis Flyer)
COAL ASH: A University of North Carolina professor discusses advances in recycling coal ash. (Salisbury Post)
2010 BP OIL SPILL: A media company spotlights 15 high-impact ecological restoration projects along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast funded by the spill settlement. (Mississippi Today)
FRACKING: FirstEnergy turns on a new high-voltage power line aimed primarily at serving fracking companies in West Virginia. (news release)
UTILITIES: The American Association of Retired Persons assesses how best to confront regulators over Florida Power & Light’s newly-approved $811 million, multi-year rate increase. (Palm Beach Post)
WEST VIRGINIA: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito tries to motivate coal-ravaged communities to seek funding available to revive their economies. (West Virginia Record)
COMMENTARY:
• Don’t revive a plan for drilling off the Atlantic Coast. (The Herald)
• Two Central Virginia counties look to boost their electricity supplies with new solar systems. (The News & Advance)