FLORIDA:
• A mysterious voters guide purporting to back Democratic candidate surfaces in the Miami area urging a “yes” vote on Amendment 1. (Miami Herald)
• “People in Florida are pretty confused” about the amendment. (ThinkProgress)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Dominion Virginia Power is accused of inflating projected demand in a bid to build more of its own plants. (Southeast Energy News)
• South Carolina’s growing reliance on nuclear power could make it a big winner under the plan or any law taxing carbon emissions. (The Post and Courier)
• A small group of clean energy advocates in Kentucky grows to more than 1,000 trying to develop a compliance plan. (ClimateWire)
SOLAR:
• Dominion Virginia Power signals a possible move toward community solar projects as it completes construction of three large-scale systems. (Penn Energy)
• A civil lawsuit over a planned solar plant to supply power to Aberdeen, Mississippi has been postponed. (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
• Stakeholders in Virginia move to organize and strengthen statewide support at a first-ever Solar Congress in Richmond Nov. 12. (Virginia Solar United Neighborhoods)
• Dominion now has 10 large-scale projects outside of Virginia while advocates hit its efforts to undermine independent solar in its regulated territory. (PV Magazine)
• A developer announces plans to build 100 megawatts of solar projects in Virginia and the Carolinas. (PV Magazine)
VW EMISSIONS SCANDAL: A federal judge approves awarding $15 billion to compensate Volkswagen owners from cheating software installed at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Associated Press)
WIND: Developers push back to late 2018 the planned startup of a large system atop a mountain range in southwest Virginia. (Roanoke Times)
COAL:
• A West Virginia University professor calls on lawmakers to stop talk of a “war on coal” and focus instead on recasting the state’s economy. (West Virginia Record)
• Exports from a Virginia port continue to drop although the pace has slowed. (The Virginian-Pilot)
COAL ASH:
• Stakeholders are watching closely today for Georgia regulators’ vote on new ash disposal rules. (WABE Public Radio)
• The TVA completes closure of a dry ash impoundment in Alabama. (Decatur Daily)
• Duke Energy completes the first cleanup of an ash basin in North Carolina. (Asheville Citizen-Times)
NUCLEAR:
• A proposal submitted to the TVA for the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear plant outlines a U.S./Russia partnership to build reactors in the Middle East. (Alabama Media Group)
• A prominent investment firm sees the end of nuclear power in some states without new government subsidies. (Bloomberg)
PIPELINES: Three environmental groups ask federal regulators to stop construction of a nearly 700-mile pipeline slated to deliver natural gas to power plants in South Florida. (Palm Beach Post)
UTILITIES: The Power Board in Johnson City, Tennessee votes to become an energy authority to provide new services with private partners. (Johnson City Press)
RESEARCH:
• Georgia Tech launches a regional energy center to focus on challenges and opportunities in the Southeast U.S. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
• A sustainable energy research group at the University of Mississippi receives a $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study the reuse of water from biomass operations. (The DM Online)
COMMENTARY:
• Here’s how inaction by Gov. Rick Scott puts Floridians at risk from climate change. (The Daily Climate)
• It’s time to regroup to oppose seismic blasting off North Carolina’s coast. (Carteret County News-Times)
• Virginia’s natural and historical lands should not suffer to enable the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Lynchburg News & Advance)
• A member of the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce in Florida urges voters to reject the state’s solar Amendment 1. (Florida Times-Union)