NUCLEAR: Georgia Power warns — again — of still higher costs and more time needed to complete construction of Plant Vogtle’s two new nuclear reactors. (The Florida Times-Union)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Georgia House lawmakers face a deadline for considering a bill expanding the number of locations where Tesla can sell directly to customers.
SOLAR:
• Expect North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory to oppose a push by House Republicans to extend the state’s 35% renewable-energy tax credit. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• North Carolina is a top 10 state for solar energy by five different measures. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• FLS Energy of Asheville, NC has sold most of its portfolio of operating solar farms in the state to Sustainable Power Group of Utah for an undisclosed price. (Charlotte Business Journal)
COAL:
• Representatives of coal miners and their unions attack a new law that removes safety provisions intended to protect West Virginia miners in the event of a fire. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• Unions’ reign on Kentucky coal mines comes to an end. (Western Kentucky University Public Radio)
COAL ASH: The public has 60 days and upcoming hearings to comment about whether water quality will be protected from the re-use of coal ash in open-pit mines in central North Carolina. (Raleigh News & Record)
CLIMATE:
• Florida state Rep. John Wood is the latest lawmaker to claim carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. (The Tampa Tribune)
• Secretary of State John Kerry takes a swipe at Gov. Scott about denying the risks of climate change. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES:
• The Sierra Club’s Virginia Chapter head slams Dominion Virginia Power for withholding financials from regulators and the public. (The Virginian Pilot)
• Duke Energy has paid $171 million in fines for spilling coal ash and misleading shareholders leading up to its 2012 acquisition of Progress Energy. (WUNC North Carolina Public Radio)
OIL & GAS:
• Owners of a proposed oil pipeline through Georgia and South Carolina field hard questions from residents. (The Florida Times-Union)
• The United Steelworkers has tentatively agreed to a four-year labor deal to end the largest oil refinery strike in Louisiana in 35 years. (The New Orleans Times-Picayne)
• While other unions settle, local issues are keeping about 400 union workers at Marathon’s refinery complex south of Catlettsburg, WV out of work. (The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, WV)
BIOFUELS: The operator of plant to turn wood chip waste from Louisiana’s lumber industry into gasoline and an agricultural crop booster plans to expand its operations. (The New Orleans Times-Picayune)
COMMENTARY: A Miami Herald editorial decries Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s ban on state officials using “climate change” or “global warming.”