COAL ASH: North Carolina regulators order Duke Energy to manage ash swept away from its H.F. Lee power plant by flooding. (Associated Press)
ALSO:
• In a deposition made public Thursday, a North Carolina official testified the governor’s office last year rewrote a health risk warning to private well owners near ash basins. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• In the first rate case to deal with ash cleanup costs, South Carolina and Duke Energy Progress agree on its first overall rate increase in 27 years. (Charlotte Business Journal)
SOLAR:
• Is net metering the ultimate target in the battle over Florida’s Amendment 1? (InsideClimate News)
• Firefighters in South Carolina are learning how to deal with rooftop solar systems during emergencies. (The State)
• A company completes a grid-tied 1.2 megawatt research project at the University of Georgia. (PV-Tech)
• The new program by electric co-ops in Georgia is set to grow solar beyond their current total of 240 megawatts. (Green Power EMC)
• Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe cuts the ribbon on the sixth public school in Ablemarle County to host a solar system funded by a federal grant. (The Daily Progress)
• Public hearings are set for a large solar system planned in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. (South Hill Enterprise)
CLIMATE:
• A coastal Virginia city combats sometimes catastrophic flooding by recharging aquifers with purified wastewater. (Washington Post)
• The longest-tenured broadcast meteorologist in South Florida says others need to talk on air about the weather’s links to rising sea levels and their regional impacts. (ThinkProgress)
NUCLEAR:
• Florida Power & Light embarks on a 10-year effort to rid its Turkey Point cooling pond of extremely salty water and the threat it poses to area drinking water supplies. (Palm Beach Post)
• Georgia Power customers are to get a rate decrease for four years under a settlement on recovering reactor construction costs. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
COAL: As Congress fails to act, the stakes rise for retired coal miners set to lose benefits at year’s end. (Mother Jones)
PIPELINES: How pipelines cross streams draws scrutiny at a public meeting in West Virginia about the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. (The Exponent Telegram)
COMMENTARY:
• Recently revealed comments expose “mendacious doublespeak” by Florida utilities in promoting the solar Amendment 1. (Miami Herald)
• Some states are making real progress growing solar energy, although they’re far behind North Carolina. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
• Reject Florida utilities’ “shameful” solar campaign. (Orlando Sentinel)