OIL & GAS: Dominion Energy asks Virginia regulators to drop an analysis of a possible natural gas buildout from its long-range resource plan because the path won’t be viable under a new state law. (Utility Dive)
ALSO:
• Oil and gas rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico struggle to practice social distancing because of cramped quarters, raising concerns about the spread of COVID-19. (Bloomberg)
• A Texas oil and gas regulator asks state officials to extend a monthly deadline to file crude oil and natural gas production taxes for three to six months. (Houston Chronicle)
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PIPELINES: A Texas appellate court won’t intervene in Kinder Morgan’s fight to lift a temporary injunction blocking construction on the Permian Highway natural gas pipeline, citing a need for more time due to the pandemic. (Law 360)
SOLAR: A developer begins building a 25 MW solar farm near Baxley, Georgia, and asks local workers to apply online because of the pandemic. (Solar Power World)
EFFICIENCY: At least 20 states, including Florida, stop retrofits under the federal low-income Weatherization Assistance Program to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (Utility Dive)
GRID: Texas officials instate a temporary emergency fund to help financially struggling residents pay their bills in parts of the state with a fragile deregulated energy market. (Houston Chronicle)
UTILITIES:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority is assessing the environmental impacts of a plan to allow local power companies produce their own power rather than buy from TVA. (Renewables Now)
• The former North Carolina president for Duke Energy will join the Tennessee Valley Authority in a newly created role called vice chief counsel. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)
• Manufacturers call on Duke Energy to stop fixed-demand charges for electricity they are not using during the coronavirus pandemic. (Triad Business Journal, subscription)
COAL:
• A Duke University study finds high concentrations of selenium in stream insects and spiders that eat them, an indication that pollution from old mines moves from water to land. (Phys.org)
• A West Virginia lawmaker raises concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in coal mines because companies and regulators aren’t taking proper safety precautions. (Cumberland Times-News)