NUCLEAR:
• Dominion Virginia Power admits the cost of a third reactor at its North Anna nuclear plant, its fifth in the state, will top $19 billion. (Power for the People VA blog)
• The TVA said it has completed a key test of the Watts Bar 2 nuclear reactor in Tennessee and set its formal startup date for June 2016. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
WIND: Fed by deals to power huge data centers, including one in North Carolina, growth of the wind industry in the U.S. is accelerating. (The Washington Post)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• It will be extraordinary difficult for a future president hostile to environmental regulation to undo the Clean Power Plan, says EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. (The Hill)
• Some utilities are warning of risks the Clean Power Plan poses to grid reliability. (Politico)
• Activists are trying to prevent a proposed coal plant in Washington County, Georgia from proving it commenced construction before the now-final Clean Power Plan was announced earlier this month. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy blog)
CLIMATE: The head of an Atlanta-based environmental group explains how cleaner energy ultimately benefits minority communities. (WABE Public Radio)
TECHNOLOGY: Several Arkansas municipalities are using “smart” technology to help residents track their electricity use, have shorter waits at stoplights or find water leaks. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
POLLUTION:
• Georgia has joined other states in opposing a petition initiated by the Sierra Club challenging the EPA over previously approved rules regulating emissions from industrial sources. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
• Tennessee should see big long-term benefits from the cross-state pollution rule as it and neighboring states are forced to clean up their air. (Lebanon Democrat)
COAL:
• Coal companies seeking Chapter 11 “restructuring” are facing a lot of scrutiny from investors and judges for how their businesses can survive in the future. (EnergyWire)
• A 30-year-old mining technique is becoming all that’s keeping a group of U.S. coal producers from joining their competitors in bankruptcy. (Bloomberg Business)
• West Virginia lawyers are warning that bankrupt Patriot Coal’s current reorganization plans could stick the state with millions of dollars in land reclamation and water treatment costs. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Patriot Coal and Blackhawk Mining project a jump in coal sales from their combined 12 West Virginia mines if their merger is approved. (Platts)
• Defense lawyers for former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship are trying a second time to prevent evidence about its 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster from an upcoming the jury trial. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
OIL & GAS: If a natural gas power plant fails to open in Marshall County, West Virginia as proposed, the company overseeing the project would be required to terminate the contract and a lease with the county. (Wheeling News-Register)
PIPELINES: A new, award-winning, technology creates a “geofence” around pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico to help prevent contact with vessels entering that area. (Houma Today)
COAL ASH: A packaging company that emphasizes environmental stewardship has been hit with a $230,000 fine for operating an unapproved coal ash dump in eastern South Carolina. (The State)
COMMENTARY:
• Tennessee is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities built in to the Clean Power Plan to create more local jobs and lower electricity bills. (Southern Environmental Law Center blog)
• Offshore drilling is a danger to Florida. (Florida Times-Union)