UTILITIES: North Carolina clean energy advocates say they’re open to Duke Energy’s request for upfront, multi-year rate increases, but not in a proposed bill that would remove discretion from utility regulators and benefit Duke at ratepayers’ expense. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Virginia regulators approve costs for Dominion Energy’s planned purchase of carbon allowances in a regional cap-and-invest program for power plant emissions. (Virginia Mercury)
• The new president and CEO of Tampa Electric pledges to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and invest more in solar energy. (Tampa Bay Times)
COAL:
• West Virginia regulators approve cost recovery for three American Electric Power subsidiaries to keep three coal-fired power plants operating through 2040, although Kentucky regulators rejected the request and Virginia’s have yet to decide. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• About 2,000 people attended a United Mine Workers of America rally for Alabama miners who are in their fifth month of a strike against Warrior Met Coal for better pay and benefits. (AL.com)
SOLAR:
• Oil giant BP looks to begin construction on a 345 MW solar project in Louisiana by October and sell power to companies such as McDonalds and eBay. (The Advocate)
• Solar Holler helps grow a solar cooperative in two West Virginia counties by providing assessments, financing and discounts on installation. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
OIL & GAS:
• The Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and environmental groups sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for awarding a permit to an oil-export marine terminal without adequately studying its environmental impacts. (Reuters)
• Equitrans says it is making progress on the long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline while also considering market requests to further build out natural gas transmission between Appalachia and the Midwest and Gulf Coast. (Natural Gas Intelligence)
GRID: “It would be the equivalent of going back to the Stone Age”: Former Texas regulators contemplate what would happen if the state’s standalone grid goes down and needs to perform a “black start.” (KUT)
PIPELINES: Virginia landowners want Dominion Energy to rescind and restore land easements claimed for the now-canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (WVTF)
INFRASTRUCTURE: Advocates of a U.S. Senate-negotiated infrastructure investment package make their case for how the bill would benefit Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WKRN, Oklahoman, Spectrum News 1)
NUCLEAR: An official at Oak Ridge National Laboratory advocates for nuclear power as a cheap, efficient and reliable producer of electricity when compared to clean energy such as solar and wind. (Oak Ridger)
COMMENTARY:
• A Texas regulator calls for the state to award economic incentives to natural gas producers and pipelines for adding carbon capture technology and storage to boost grid reliability. (Houston Chronicle)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority could win back public trust lost with the Kingston coal ash spill by shifting completely from fossil fuels, writes a state resident. (Oak Ridger)
• West Virginia should invest in rare earth mineral mining to build on its coal infrastructure and fill spiking demand in the semiconductor chip industry, writes a state lawmaker. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)