NUCLEAR: A bill introduced in Ohio would use zero emission credits to help keep nuclear plants open, resulting in a “small increase” in some customers’ monthly electric bills. (Columbus Business First, Utility Dive)
ALSO:
• A bill that would provide financial support for Connecticut’s only nuclear power plant would cost consumers $300 million a year, according to a new report commissioned by the Electric Power Supply Association. (Utility Dive)
• A weekly podcast explores what Westinghouse’s bankruptcy means for the nuclear industry and whether two nuclear power plants in Georgia and South Carolina will meet their 2019 construction deadline. (Greentech Media)
PIPELINES: By failing to fill three empty seats on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, President Trump is putting an indefinite delay on some pipeline projects. (National Review)
OIL & GAS: President Trump is preparing an executive order that would expand offshore oil drilling, according to three anonymous sources. (Bloomberg)
FRACKING: A magnitude 3.0 earthquake in southeastern Ohio this month is prompting a closer look at fracking in the state. (Midwest Energy News)
COAL:
• The president of Cloud Peak Energy, one of country’s largest coal companies, writes a letter asking President Trump to keep the U.S. in the Paris climate agreement. (The Hill)
• The Bureau of Land Management switches its featured homepage image from an idyllic shot of hikers enjoying nature to a giant wall of coal. (Washington Post)
POLITICS: Democrat and Republican voters in North Carolina strongly approve of candidates tho support renewable energy development and energy efficiency, according to a recent survey. (Greentech Media)
ADVOCACY: Local activists in California are putting their energy into small-town elections as a way to block big fossil-fuel infrastructure projects. (Capital & Main)
CAP-AND-TRADE: A California appeals court says the state’s cap-and-trade program does not amount to an illegal tax, upholding a ruling from 2013. (Reuters)
CLIMATE: Maine’s attorney general says a bill that would prohibit discrimination against a person based on their climate change beliefs is unnecessary and “would be a constitutional violation.” (Portland Press Herald)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Utility demand charges pose “a significant barrier” to making public fast-charging stations economical, according to a new report. (Greentech Media)
SOLAR:
• A coal museum in Kentucky is installing rooftop solar panels that are expected to save up to $10,000 a year on energy costs. (Associated Press)
• North Carolina regulators approve a solar microgrid in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that will allow Duke Energy to remove a transmission line. (Southeast Energy News)
• Duke Energy may seek help from the North Carolina legislature in its effort to change the way solar projects are financed in the state. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Clean energy advocates in Missouri are confident that a bill allowing utilities to impose additional fees on solar customers will not pass the Senate in its current form. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND: The Southwest Power Pool is adding 19 gigawatts of wind capacity, providing new wind energy opportunities for corporate buyers. (Greentech Media)
GRID: The national Grid Modernization Forum in Chicago this week centered on the question of who should pay for grid modernization efforts, and how to quantify costs and benefits. (Midwest Energy News)
COMMENTARY:
• A senior editor and climate writer at Vox tries to predict surprising outcomes that could stem from the Trump administration’s climate policies.
• President Trump’s wreckage of environmental, health and safety regulations has been extensive, and leaves nothing for most Americans to celebrate, says the editorial board of the New York Times.
• Trump can bring back coal jobs by working with China on clean coal technology, says a senior fellow on energy at the Progressive Policy Institute. (Politico)