SOLAR: Duke Energy asks regulators for permission to introduce a bidding system on the projects it wants and to build some systems on its own – changes it says would give utilities more control over development. (Charlotte Business Journal)
ALSO:
• While an associate of President-elect Trump says differently, rumors surface of how a repeal of the solar Investment Tax Credit could get swept into an omnibus overhaul of the federal tax code. (Utility Dive, Greentech Media)
• North Carolina regulators order Duke Energy to answer complaints alleging it is violating state and federal law by slowing or blocking connection of new systems to the grid. (Charlotte Business Journal)
PIPELINES:
• The West Virginia Supreme Court rules developers of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline cannot survey land without owners’ permission. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Protesters in Arkansas against the Diamond oil pipeline urge regulators to re-examine the developers’ planned route. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
COAL:
• Two groups warn of a possible boost in the federal subsidy for the often-delayed and over-budget Kemper “clean coal” plant being built by Mississippi Power. (Associated Press)
• A West Virginia senator introduces a bill to set aside $525 million in federal tax credits for investments in communities hurt by coal’s decline. (Associated Press)
• A county in Southwest Virginia is to receive a federal grant to provide public water to an additional 15 homes affected by coal mining. (Augusta Free Press)
NUCLEAR: The real estate developer who purchased an unfinished plant in Alabama from the TVA could become the first individual to own and operate a reactor in the U.S. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
OFFSHORE DRILLING:
• A long-shot bid to limit drilling off the Atlantic Coast gains support from environmentalists, including Tom Steyer. (Bloomberg)
• As the Interior Department prepares to release its final five-year plan for leases to drill off the Atlantic Coast, coastal businesses urge President Obama to impose limits. (UPI)
COAL ASH: Residents along North Carolina’s Dan River prod state officials to raise disposal standards on Duke Energy’s ash near there. (Winston-Salem Journal)
FRACKING: Kentucky fines several entities for dumping radioactive fracking waste in a landfill as anger over the violations mounts. (Richmond Register)
NATURAL GAS: Residents of two Nashville neighborhoods join elected officials opposing the siting of two large pipeline compressor stations. (Southern Environmental Law Center)
HYDROPOWER: Environmental groups challenge Alabama’s permit of seven dams operated by Alabama Power. (Anniston Star)
VOLKSWAGEN EMISSIONS SCANDAL: VW reportedly agrees to fix or buy back 80,000 more vehicles equipped with illegal software, some of which was installed at its Tennessee plant. (Bloomberg)
2010 BP OIL SPILL: A wildlife foundation earmarks $356 million for restoration projects along the Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf coastlines. (Associated Press)
NORTH CAROLINA: What last week’s elections could mean for the state’s environmental health. (North Carolina Health News)
COMMENTARY:
• The purchaser of the TVA’s Bellefonte nuclear plant has weathered many career ups-and-downs, including a failed bid to buy the Washington Nationals baseball team. (Alabama Media Group)
• President-elect Trump will have to explain in four years why he couldn’t keep his promise to reverse the coal industry’s downturn. (MIT Technology Review)
• The trend away from coal toward gas-fired and other forms of power generation should continue as rapidly as possible. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Why Donald Trump’s opposition to an offshore wind system off Scotland’s coast doesn’t mean he’ll try to defeat similar systems off the Atlantic coast. (Windpower Engineering & Development)