WIND: The Southeast’s first-ever wind energy system by Amazon in North Carolina could trigger more wind energy throughout the region, says Duke University professor. (WABE Public Radio, Atlanta)
SOLAR:
• Dominion Virginia Power is looking for developers to expand its solar energy portfolio with projects up to 20 megawatts. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Alabamans surveyed call for utilities to generate more power from solar and for their right to choose solar energy for their homes. (Triple Pundit blog)
• Taxpayers in Louisiana are complaining it is withholding refunds longer than allowed to review credits claimed for installing home solar energy systems. (WVUE New Orleans)
COAL:
• What happens after a coal-fired power plant in West Virginia closes? (Bloomberg View)
• Dr. Donald Rasmussen, who pioneered research and subsequent treatment for black lung disease in miners, died Thursday. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• West Virginia miners and elected officials who support them called for easing water quality rules imposed on coal mines in the state. (Coal Tattoo blog)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• States can significantly lower electricity bills for consumers and businesses if they take the right steps to comply with the Clean Power Plan, a new report concludes. (The Hill)
• Key congressional Republicans want a “full inter-agency review” of the Clean Power Plan before it is finalized later this summer. (The Hill)
• A North Carolina lawmaker offered a plan to delay state action on the EPA’s controversial Clean Power Plan until it clears legal challenges. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE: More than 60 percent of voters surveyed in Virginia and other swing states support the Pope’s call to mitigate climate change. (The Hill)
PIPELINES: Georgia’s attorney general defended its denial of eminent domain authority for the Palmetto gasoline pipeline planned through the Savannah area, asserting it does not meet the “public necessity” test. (Morris News Service)
POLITICS: Jeb Bush says he wants to phase out subsidies for all forms of energy through tax reform. (The Hill)
COMMENTARY:
• The Clean Power Plan is unfair to rural electric cooperatives in Florida. (Rural Electric Magazine)
• The Clean Power Plan is helping cleaner energy take hold more quickly than capitalists would like, but slower than environmental advocates want. (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Does it matter where a pipeline’s profit is being made, whether it’s the sale of natural gas in the American Southeast or in South Asia? (The Roanoke Times)
• Virginia Gov. McAuliffe should avoid letting Dominion Virginia Power’s Integrated Resource Plan impede the pursuit of his “New Virginia Economy” goals. (NRDC Switchboard blog)