SOLAR: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz says the U.S. solar industry would continue to grow without the current 30% investment tax credit that companies want extended beyond 2016. (PV Magazine)
VIRGINIA: Gov. Terry McAuliffe launched a state program Wednesday to help local governments and businesses lower financing costs of clean energy projects. (WRIC-TV, Richmond)
ENERGY STORAGE: Spurred by innovators like Tesla, the energy storage business is growing fast. (The Washington Post)
NUCLEAR: A new study says a sweeping retirement of nuclear power reactors would make it “extremely difficult if not impossible” for the Clean Power Plan to succeed. (Greentech Media)
COAL: As the decline of the coal industry accelerated, executive salaries and bonuses at the top 10 publicly traded U.S. coal companies increased an average of 8% from 2010 to 2014. (Mother Jones)
COAL ASH:
• Radioactive contaminants have been found in coal ash, according to a new Duke University study. (WFDD Public Radio)
• Residents in Lee County, North Carolina say they aren’t comforted by tests that Duke Energy officials say show no hazardous levels of toxic material in a nearby coal ash site. (Fayetteville Observer)
OIL TRAINS:
• A survey by the Associated Press indicates New Orleans and many other big cities are ill-prepared for a major oil train derailment.
• Nearly 300 Fayette County, West Virginia residents have sued CSX for exposing them to chemicals after one of its trains carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in February. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Federal regulators are soliciting grant applications to improve highway-rail grade crossings and tracks along routes that transport crude oil. (The Hill)
• Federal regulators have extended a deadline until year’s end for railroad oil train operators to fix defective valves. (McClatchy Newspapers)
POLITICS: In a preview of his energy platform, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said he wants to end the “massive regulation” of the oil and gas industry and halt the Clean Power Plan. (Saint Peters Blog, Climate Progress)
COMMENTARY: Virginia’s monopoly utility model does not serve 21st century needs nor capitalize on now-proven technologies. (Power for the People VA)