UTILITIES: Dominion Energy CEO Tom Farrell will step down in October as part of an executive shakeup in the wake of the utility’s cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Greentech Media)

ALSO:
• Southern Company says electricity demand bounced back in June and July, when sales were down just 1% compared to a year ago. (E&E News, subscription)
• Utility crews are working in smaller groups because of the pandemic, which means customers might need to wait longer for power to be restored after storm outages. (WRAL)

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OVERSIGHT:
• North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality is bracing for likely budget cuts as it deals with high-profile crises like coal ash and drinking water safety. (Coastal Review/Carolina Public Press)
• A Georgia man agrees to settle civil charges that he swindled investors in his energy development company out of $23 million. (Associated Press)

PIPELINES:
• The U.S. Forest Service plans to release a draft report by September on the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s potential environmental impacts to the Jefferson National Forest. (Roanoke Times)
• A lawsuit filed by victims of a Kentucky gas pipeline explosion says the operator failed to properly maintain the line and repair corrosion. (Lexington Herald Leader)

HYDROGEN: Florida-based NextEra is among the utilities making moves to compete with oil and gas companies for a piece of the hydrogen energy market. (Greentech Media)

SOLAR:
• A solar project combining fixed-tilt and tracking panels with on-site battery storage begins producing power for a pair of Arkansas farms. (Talk Business & Politics)
• Duke Energy begins work on a 25-megawatt solar project on a 180-acre site west of Charlotte, North Carolina. (Gaston Gazette)

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POLITICS: President Trump is routinely lying about Joe Biden’s policy on fracking as Texas becomes a political battleground state. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY: A columnist writes that South Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper finally appears to be shedding some of the secrecy that helped mask the collapse of its failed nuclear project. (Post and Courier)

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Dan Haugen

Dan has two decades' experience working in print, digital and broadcast media. Prior to joining the Energy News Network as managing editor in December 2017, he oversaw watchdog reporting at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, part of the USA Today Network, and before that spent several years as a freelance journalist covering energy, business and technology. Dan is a former Midwest Energy News journalism fellow and a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and mass communications from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.