COAL:
• Bankruptcy documents reveal Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources‘ contributions to climate denial groups and other dark-money political organizations. (The Intercept)
• West Virginia regulators have cited Alpha Natural Resources and Murray Energy after investigations of deaths earlier this year of a miner and a fuel-truck driver, according to reports made public Wednesday. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• In a potential lifeline for a coal miners in Appalachia and the western U.S., China and U.S. officials have agreed to advance “clean coal” technologies to combat climate change. (Associated Press)
WIND: A startup with significant financial backing says new transmission lines will be key to delivering wind energy to the Southeast and elsewhere. (Greentech Media)
DRILLING WASTE: A coalition of environmental groups in West Virginia and elsewhere is planning to sue the U.S. EPA over what they consider to be lax regulation of oil and gas drilling waste. (Greenwire)
PIPELINES:
• Since Georgia denied a permit for the Palmetto Pipeline, the owner — Kinder Morgan — has made at least three sizable donations to schools and other organizations along the proposed route. (Savannah Morning News)
• Dominion draws opposition after purchasing land in the Charlottesville, Virginia area for a planned natural gas pipeline compressor station. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Florida and a member of the House energy committee, blasts the Clean Power Plan at the close of this year’s Gulf Coast Energy Forum. (Saint Peters Blog)
UTILITIES:
• A filing by Florida Power & Light shows that its investments in natural gas fields in Oklahoma are losing money for customers and producing less gas than anticipated. (Utility Dive)
• Entergy received approval from Louisiana regulators to merge two of is utilities in the state. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
COAL ASH: Duke Energy says groundwater from coal-ash ponds at seven of eight of its power plants in North Carolina flows away from nearby residential wells and poses no significant health threat. (Triad Business Journal)
OIL & GAS:
• The number of drilling rigs in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations is set to decline for the first time since the U.S. EIA began tracking the data. (Wheeling News-Register)
• Fossil fuel interests dominated this week’s proceedings at the 2015 Gulf Coast Energy Forum in Tampa. (Saint Peters Blog)
COMMENTARY: President Obama’s push for cleaner energy is encountering an old nemesis: relatively cheap oil. (Mashable)