PIPELINES: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers propose a land swap with the Interior Department in order to cross the Appalachian Trail, but it would delay the project until mid-2020 and increase costs to up to $5 billion. (Roanoke Times)
OVERSIGHT:
• North Carolina regulators will not hold additional hearings on Duke Energy’s long-range power generation strategy despite calls to do so from clean energy groups and lawmakers. (Energy News Network)
• Mississippi utility regulators create a formal long-term energy planning process for the electric companies they regulate, which could boost renewables, storage and energy efficiency. (E&E News)
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WIND:
• Oklahoma regulators will meet with wind industry leaders to discuss updated rules meant to protect military training areas. (Oklahoman)
• An energy company will repower two Texas wind farms with a combined capacity of 283 MW. (Renewables Now)
• Developers secure a 300 MW wind turbine contract for a wind project in Texas. (ReNews)
SOLAR:
• A Mississippi school board will conduct a feasibility study for the use of solar panels in its district. (Meridian Star)
• Florida leads the U.S. in new installed solar capacity for the first quarter of the year, according to a solar industry group’s report. (PV Magazine)
NUCLEAR: Five Georgia colleges and universities get $5 million in Energy Department grants to develop a nuclear energy workforce. (Augusta Chronicle)
COAL:
• Cambrian Coal files for bankruptcy protection in Kentucky. (Bloomberg Law)
• Floyd County, Kentucky, officials seek $670,300 in delinquent taxes from coal companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family. (Appalachian News-Express)
• A West Virginia company plans to build a plant that will turn coal and natural gas into fuel that burns cleaner than petroleum-based fuel. (WSAZ)
COAL ASH: The Tennessee Valley Authority’s coal ash disposal plan for a Tennessee power plant could take more than two years to form. (WATE)
OIL & GAS:
• U.S. oil output is expected to rise by about 70,000 barrels per day in July to a record 8.52 million, largely because of Permian Basin production. (Reuters)
• Pipeline company Enterprise Products Partners seeks to sell its stake in a new south Texas crude export terminal. (Reuters)
COMMENTARY:
• American Electric Power wants to use customer money to fund a “clean coal” group involved in misleading attacks on wind and solar power, a policy expert says. (Energy and Policy Institute)
• South Carolina needs to protect its offshore waters from drilling and seismic testing, a state representative writes. (Post and Courier)
• A North Carolina bill that would require new utility-scale renewable projects to fund the recycling of solar modules and batteries may not be as renewable-friendly as it sounds, a columnist writes. (PV Magazine)