WIND: The wind industry tops 100,000 workers in 2016, while the demand for wind turbine technicians is growing faster than any other occupation in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (ThinkProgress, Washington Post)
ALSO:
• A U.S. District Court kills a large wind energy project and transmission line in southeast Oregon to protect the sage grouse population there. (Associated Press)
• Wind power represents more than 80 percent of the new electricity generating capacity built in the Midwest and Great Plains states over the past five years, according to a new report. (Midwest Energy News)
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SOLAR:
• A Duke Energy proposal would allow the company to cut the price it pays to independent solar power producers by 36 percent. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Seventy percent of households with solar panels have annual incomes between $45,000 and $150,000, according to a new report. (Greentech Media)
RENEWABLE ENERGY: The largest investor-owned utility in Washington state launches the first subscriber-style green tariff program for retailers and small governments. (Greentech Media)
UTILITIES: The city council of Boulder, Colorado, votes to proceed with an effort to create a city-owned electric utility that would replace Xcel Energy. (Public Power Daily)
NUCLEAR: A company that stores radioactive waste asks the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to temporarily suspend its application to store spent nuclear fuel in West Texas due to budget shortfalls. (Texas Tribune)
OIL & GAS:
• Exxon Mobil applies for a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia in an effort to resume a joint venture with Russian oil giant PAO Rosneft to drill in the Black Sea. (New York Times)
• Michigan’s oil and gas regulatory program is running out of money due to declining prices for oil and gas. (Midwest Energy News)
PIPELINES:
• More than 90 landowners in Nebraska continue fighting to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run through their properties. (Reuters)
• Native American tribes in Northeast Montana are asking TransCanada to reroute the Keystone XL pipeline away from their drinking water source. (Rolling Stone)
COAL:
• The CEO of Duke Energy says the company won’t stop moving away from coal, despite the Trump administration’s push for fossil fuels. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Retired coal miners criticize President Trump’s silence on the possible end of federal health benefits: “He promised to help miners, not just mining companies.” (New York Times)
• President Trump’s pro-coal policies may have little effect on reviving mining jobs in Utah, according to a new report. (Deseret News)
POLLUTION:
• Energy Transfer Partners spills almost 50,000 barrels of drilling fluids into Ohio wetlands while constructing a $4.2 billion natural gas pipeline. (Bloomberg)
• As the Trump administration moves to roll back the Clean Power Plan, nearly 40 percent of Americans live in places where the air is unhealthy to breathe, according to a new report by the American Lung Association. (Mother Jones)
REGULATION: The EPA is starting to review an Obama-era rule that limits methane emissions at oil and gas drilling sites, as part of President Trump’s executive order to roll back climate-friendly regulations. (The Hill)
POLITICS: Coal, oil and gas companies contributed at least $10 million to fund President Trump’s inaugural festivities, according to Federal Election Commission filings. (New York Times)
COMMENTARY:
• A new bill proposed in Colorado would utilize private investments to help struggling coal communities, says a senior fellow for the firm Energy Innovation. (Forbes)
• A Kentucky coal museum that is going solar “sees the future,” even if President Trump doesn’t. (New York Times)