UTILITIES: North Carolina approves two natural gas-fueled generators for Duke Energy’s Asheville plant but holds off on a third. (Charlotte Observer)
SOLAR:
• Details emerge about what could be the largest solar energy facility in South Carolina. (Myrtle Beach Sun News)
• A proposed amendment to Florida’s Constitution backed by utilities has 73% public support, a poll paid for by utilities finds. (Sun Sentinel)
• Students at West Virginia University begin building a transportable solar-powered home for the 2017 Solar Decathlon competition. (The Daily Athenaeum)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Nissan shuts down the mobile app for its Leaf after a security breach. (Motor Trend)
CLIMATE: The pastor of a community church in Virginia spotlights the burden of fossil fuels on nearby minority communities. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
NATURAL GAS: An environmental group warns that cheap natural gas is spawning a wave of petrochemical plants in Louisiana and elsewhere that will emit significant greenhouse gas emissions. (Associated Press)
POWER GRID: The growing amount of natural gas and renewable power sources calls for new reliability rules, some experts say. (EnergyWire)
NUCLEAR:
• The House explores resuming the opening of a planned long-term commercial waste storage facility beneath Yucca Mountain in Nevada. (The Hill)
• There may be lessons for U.S. utilities from how South Korea actually lowered costs of building new reactors. (Vox)
COAL ASH:
• Environmental groups are trying to monitor liquid from ash disposal sites being treated at a wastewater plant in North Carolina. (Fayetteville Observer)
• How the disposal of coal ash in Southeast states has become part of the national energy conversation. (Power)
• One train at a time, Duke Energy is moving seven million tons of coal ash to disposal sites in North Carolina. (Wilmington Star News)
COAL:
• When coal companies fail, who pays for the cleanup? (National Public Radio)
• Consol Energy says it has reached an agreement to sell an active coal mine in southwestern Virginia and an idled mine in West Virginia. (Pittsburgh Business Times)
PIPELINES:
• The West Virginia Senate votes down a bill that would have allowed surveyors to enter private property without owners’ approvals. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• The Forest Service asks for public comment on the latest proposed route for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline through the George Washington National Forest. (Associated Press)
• Some opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline plan a protest Wednesday in Virginia over what they describe as “Dominion’s bullying of property owners.” (The News Virginian)
OIL & GAS: A federal appeals court hears arguments next Monday in a suit filed by a south Louisiana flood board against dozens of companies over alleged damages to wetlands. (Associated Press)
WEST VIRGINIA: Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin approves tax breaks for the state’s coal and natural gas industries effective July 1. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
COMMENTARY:
• Will students in West Virginia ever learn about the changing climate and what can be done to mitigate it? (Climate Progress)
• South Carolina needs to keep an eye out for companies trying to accept and dispose of out-of-state coal ash. (Greenville Online)