CLEAN POWER PLAN: The U.S. Court of Appeals expands the number of judges hearing next week’s Clean Power Plan arguments to 10, which could make it tougher for plan opponents but also raises the possibility of a 5-5 split. (Greenwire)
POLITICS:
• Conservative lawmakers speak out in favor of renewable energy at the second annual Conservative Clean Energy Summit, which attracted about 480 participants in Washington, D.C. (Southeast Energy News)
• Critics say Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s pledges to expand both the shale gas and coal industries are inherently contradictory. (Washington Post)
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UTILITIES:
• The governor of Puerto Rico declares a state of emergency as more than a million homes on the island are still without electricity due to a power plant fire. (Miami Herald)
• Regulators approve a $1.1 billion natural-gas-fired power plant in eastern Ohio, which will power about a million homes. (Columbus Business First)
• A U.S. Tax Court orders Chicago-based Exelon to pay up to $1.45 billion in back taxes, penalties and interest to the Internal Revenue Service. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric car maker Tesla sues the state of Michigan for the right to sell its vehicles directly to customers and bypass dealerships. (Detroit News)
TECHNOLOGY: A 19-year-old student entrepreneur seeks to “revolutionize the energy market” with an invention that is placed under flooring and generates energy by getting stepped on. (Midwest Energy News)
SOLAR: Tesla chairman Elon Musk announces plans to unveil a new product that combines solar power, battery storage and electric-vehicle charging – part of his vision to run homes on solar energy, even after sundown. (Bloomberg)
WIND:
• Wyoming lawmakers are considering raising the nation’s only wind tax in an effort to raise revenues after a drop in coal, oil and gas production in the state. (Inside Energy)
• Coastal North Carolina residents are ready for off-shore wind, but advocates say it won’t happen without a change in the market and better state policies. (Southeast Energy News)
• A Minnesota utility announces a major push for wind energy, with plans to develop 1,500 megawatts across states in the Upper Midwest at a cost of $2 billion. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
OIL & GAS:
• An oil executive predicts that 100 new rigs will be added to Texas’s Permian Basin over the next year. (Bloomberg)
• A state environmental group wants the University of Texas to tighten rules on methane and greenhouse gas emissions on land the school leases to oil and gas producers. (San Antonio Business Journal)
• Alaska’s governor agrees to approve a plan that will allow BP, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips to continue operations at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, following the rejection of an original proposed that state officials said lacked details. (Alaska Dispatch News)
• Earthquakes in East Texas in 2012 and 2013 were caused by injections of wastewater from oil and gas drilling operations, according to a new study that used radar from satellites to track the unnatural ground movements. (Associated Press)
PIPELINES:
• House Democrats say more needs to be done to stop the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline project and are urging federal agencies to revoke construction permits. (The Hill)
• Three American Indian tribes in North Dakota are asking a federal appeals court to expedite their review of a $125 million pipeline that runs 100 feet beneath a Missouri River reservoir, where the tribes say they own mineral rights. (Associated Press)
• 50 aboriginal tribes from Canada and the northern U.S. sign a treaty to fight proposals to build pipelines transporting crude from Alberta’s oil sands, as well as tanker and rail projects. (Reuters)
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POLLUTION: An oil refinery in the San Francisco Bay Area temporarily shuts down operations at a dock after oil sheens were spotted in the water on Wednesday. (Los Angeles Times)
COMMENTARY: Hillary Clinton has broken from the anti-nuclear Left and the Democratic party by endorsing nuclear energy. (National Review)