PIPELINES: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers will pay $58,000 in fines for its latest erosion and sediment control violations in Virginia. (Roanoke Times)
ALSO:
• Equitrans says it still plans to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline in early 2021 despite legal fights and permitting delays. (Reuters)
• A Texas U.S. senator introduces a bill to ease pipeline permitting with support by lawmakers in North Carolina, West Virginia and Oklahoma. (S&P Global)
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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY:
• TVA moves to change its policies following President Trump’s executive order limiting federal agencies from using workers with H1B visas. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• The utility’s CEO defended his $8 million salary after being criticized by the president. (E&E News, subscription)
COAL ASH: TVA extends its first virtual open house until Friday, offering virtual walk throughs of its Bull Run plant and space to leave comments about its plans for storing coal ash. (Oak Ridger)
SOLAR:
• Texas grid operators approved 180 MW of commercial solar in July; another 435 MW of wind projects are nearing completion. (S&P Global)
• The federal government invests $40 million into a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill program to create liquid fuel from sunlight. (Triangle Business Journal, subscription)
• TVA is looking to buy a 280-acre property in Tennessee to possibly build a solar project. (Cheatham County Exchange)
WIND: Developers say North Carolina’s first offshore wind farm could be operational by 2026. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)
OIL & GAS: Texas oil and gas regulators approve draft rules for natural gas flaring, but environmentalists say it won’t do enough to curb methane emissions. (E&E News, subscription)
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NUCLEAR: Tropical Storm Isaias knocked out power to a North Carolina nuclear plant when it made landfall this week. (WWAY)
COMMENTARY: Two Sierra Club representatives say the Atlantic Coast Pipeline cancellation shows the lack of need for such a project, not problems with regulatory uncertainty. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)