NUCLEAR: Ohio’s attorney general says state lawmakers should require FirstEnergy and Energy Harbor officials to testify on whether two nuclear plants set to receive a $1.3 billion bailout are profitable without the subsidy. (Cleveland.com)
ALSO:
• An Ohio House committee reviewing the state’s power plant subsidy law adjourns for the coming weeks with no immediate plans for repeal. (Associated Press)
• Nuclear companies in at least four states have followed a similar pattern: announce plant closures, negotiate with states over job losses and clean power, secure subsidies, and rescind closures. (Forbes)
• A renewable developer says Ohio’s nuclear subsidy debate created a “false dichotomy — that Ohio must sacrifice a clean-energy future at the expense of its energy past.” (Toledo Blade)
***SPONSORED LINK: Start Your Day with CGA on October 9! Join us for a conversation with Miranda Ballentine, CEO, REBA, on Delivering a Renewable Energy Future and Transforming the Energy Marketplace for C&I Customers. INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ARE FREE! Click here to Register.***
CLEAN ENERGY: Indiana NAACP organizers create a clean energy job training program to develop a “black to green” pipeline in marginalized communities. (Energy News Network)
UTILITIES: FirstEnergy stands to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over the coming decade based on a decoupling provision in a state law at the center of a bribery scandal. (E&E News, subscription)
SOLAR: General Motors signs a power purchase agreement for a 180 MW solar project to be built in Arkansas. (PV Magazine)
COAL:
• Vistra Energy officials blame state subsidies, declining gas prices, overbuilt generation and grid operator MISO’s “irreparably dysfunctional” market while announcing a suite of coal plant closures in Ohio and Illinois. (Utility Dive)
• Former Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray files an application for black lung benefits despite years of fighting federal mining safety regulations aimed at curbing the disease. (Ohio Valley Resource)
• Missouri-based Arch Resources is considering divesting from thermal coal used in power plants and focusing on metallurgical coal used in steelmaking after a judge’s ruling blocked a joint venture with Peabody Energy. (E&E News, subscription)
OIL & GAS: An estimated 42,000 gallons of produced water leaks from a pipeline in western North Dakota. (Forum News Service)
TRANSMISSION: NextEra will pay $660 million to buy independent transmission company GridLiance, which owns 700 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada and Oklahoma. (RTO Insider, subscription)
COMMENTARY: Ameren Missouri’s revised long-term energy plan that significantly boosts renewable energy investments and retires coal plants earlier is a “big step in the right direction,” clean energy advocates say. (Natural Resources Defense Council)