SOLAR: The Florida Supreme Court reschedules oral arguments on a utility-backed solar amendment for the state’s Constitution for March 7. (Florida Politics)
UTILITIES:
• Duke Energy threatens to continue using coal if its bid for a third natural gas-fueled generator at its Asheville, North Carolina plant is rejected. (Mountain Xpress)
• Southern Co. moves to grow its distributed power business with the proposed acquisition of a North Carolina-based technology company. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Virginia regulators approve the acquisition of AGL Resources and its Virginia Natural Gas subsidiary by Southern Company. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
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CLIMATE: Kentucky and other states that officially dismiss global warming face losing federal funds unless they submit plans to mitigate climate-related disasters disasters. (WKU Public Radio)
EPA: Six Southeast states are among 20 asking the Supreme Court to halt a rule designed to slash mercury emissions from power plants. (E&E Daily)
EFFICIENCY: North Carolina-based Cree says it has achieved a new LED milestone. (Triangle Business Journal)
WIND:
• A wind farm operator in West Virginia is sentenced to pay $30,000 for deaths of migratory birds. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• The operator of the power grid that includes parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi reports a new daily peak in power generation. (SNL Energy)
COAL:
• The industry is emphasizing litigation over lobbying as it struggles to deal with rapidly declining demand. (Bloomberg Business)
• Interior Secretary Sally Jewell warns struggling coal companies they need to meet their cleanup obligations at shuttered facilities. (Reuters)
• A large West Virginia coal mine halts production for at least two weeks. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• A showdown is brewing between Kentucky and coal-producing counties there over sharing of severance taxes from coal sales. (WKU Public Radio)
• Declining demand in China is seen as a major cause of the industry’s downturn. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
COAL ASH: Dominion agrees not to import any more coal ash to a Virginia power plant site. (Chesterfield Observer)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Democrat John Yarmuth of Louisville is the only federal lawmaker from Kentucky who did not join the state’s lawsuit against the Clean Power Plan. (WKU Public Radio)
FRACKING: Senate Democrats in Florida prepare to fight a bill preempting local controls. (Saint Peters Blog)
OIL & GAS:
• The West Virginia Senate passes bills to limit lawsuits and allow companies to build roads before a drilling permit is issued. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• West Virginia’s environmental chief speaks out against a bill that would ease some drilling regulations. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
NUCLEAR: Industry leaders bemoan the Supreme Court’s stay of the Clean Power Plan. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
SUSTAINABILITY: Georgia moves to build more “green” features into a stretch of I-85 which already includes a free solar-powered charging station for electric vehicles. (Grist)
PIPELINES:
• The recently-approved Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline from Alabama and Georgia into Florida will have to meet several environmental conditions. (EnergyBiz)
• Dominion plans three information meetings to explain its proposed alternative route for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Augusta News Leader)
• A West Virginia man is dead after a natural gas well malfunctioned at a pipeline construction project in the Mountain State. (TimesWV.com)
COMMENTARY: Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good is often asked if the company is innovating fast enough. Her response: it’s “complicated.” (Fayetteville Observer)
CORRECTION: An item in yesterday’s digest misspelled Volkswagen.