NUCLEAR: Regulators authorize Georgia Power charging ratepayers up to $99 million to study its plan for another reactor. (Platts)
ALSO:
• Southern Co. and SCANA are lobbying to extend a tax credit to help pay for their four reactors under construction. (Bloomberg BNA)
• A nonprofit says cooling towers should replace a canal system at Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point nuclear plant. (Palm Beach Post)
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FRACKING: Virginia’s long-running move to update its oil and gas regulations may bring clarity to fracking oversight and authority for local governments. (Southeast Energy News)
UTILITIES:
• Regulators approve Georgia Power’s big boost in renewables. (WABE Public Radio)
• Florida-based NextEra agrees to buy Texas-based transmission operator Oncor for $18.4 billion. (Bloomberg)
• Duke Energy expands a control center to monitor 1,000 megawatts worth of renewables owned by other companies. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• New Orleans City Council leaders begin parsing Entergy’s restructuring proposal, including its offer of a $25 million credit to customers. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
• A Duke Energy executive predicts its low customer ratings will improve. (Charlotte Observer)
PIPELINES:
• Opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline look to elevate their case now that one of their Senators – Tim Kaine – is the Democrats’ Vice Presidential nominee. (The Intercept)
• Local residents and two lawmakers voice concerns about a compressor station near Nashville, Tennessee for a proposed natural gas pipeline. (WSMV)
• Nearly 40 people in Fayetteville, North Carolina speak at a public meeting against the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Fayetteville Observer)
POLLUTION: Views of North Carolina’s Great Smokey Mountains are significantly clearer today due to Clean Air Act rules passed in the 1990s. (Charlotte Observer)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A church in Newport News, Virginia turns on four charging stations to demonstrate its commitment to “creation care.” (Daily Press)
OIL & GAS: 840 gallons of oil leak from a pipe near the Mississippi River in Louisiana. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
COAL:
• Virginia is among several states complaining to the federal government about access to data backing up President Obama’s Stream Protection Rule. (Washington Examiner)
• Kentucky approves a $200,000 grant to Western Kentucky University to research how to reduce emissions from burning coal. (Bowling Green Daily News)
• A conservative think tank challenges a veto by the EPA of a water permit sought by the operator of a mine in West Virginia. (Greenwire)
SOLAR: Appalachian State University’s solar vehicle team places third in the national Formula Sun Grand Prix. (Appalachian State University News)
GRID: Coordinating distributed energy resources is evolving in the PJM Interconnection. (Greentech Media)
NATURAL GAS: Royal Dutch Shell defers planned development of a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana. (MarketWatch)
COMMENTARY: A non-profit applauds regulators for their approval of Georgia Power’s new 20-year integrated resource plan. (Southern Environmental Law Center)