SOLAR: New residential solar capacity has dropped by 17 percent this year, led by a 31 percent drop in California. (Greentech Media)

ALSO:
• An Arizona utility proposes new export rates and time-of-use rates for solar, which could make installing distributed solar less attractive to customers. (Utility Dive)
• A plan is underway to install floating solar panels in a California reservoir. (Fox 5)
• Bankruptcy filings reveal Georgia-based Suniva was deep in debt to foreign suppliers, despite claims its products were mostly American-made. (E&E News)

RENEWABLES: Renewable energy groups tell the Department of Energy that its study on the electric grid is “based on a faulty premise” and ask for more input. (The Hill)

CLEAN TECH: The San Francisco Bay Area leads the country in venture capital funding for cleantech, representing 24 percent of the $33.8 billion invested across the country, according to a new report. (San Francisco Business Times)

NUCLEAR: Following Westinghouse’s bankruptcy filing, North Carolina regulators have given Duke Energy 60 days to provide information about potential impacts on its proposed Lee Nuclear Station. (Charlotte Business Journal)

TRANSPORTATION: Volkswagen will pay Utah an additional $7.5 million as part of its emissions cheating settlement, which will pay for the replacement of 100 diesel-burning buses. (Deseret News)

CLIMATE:
• Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued a directive Tuesday for the state to begin developing regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, saying Virginia would “fill the void” left by the Trump administration. (Reuters)
• The CEO of Detroit-based DTE Energy, which plans to cut carbon emissions 80 percent and phase out coal use by 2050, says climate change is “the policy issue of our era.” (Crain’s Detroit Business)

OVERSIGHT:
• Environmental activists and Democrats are vowing to fight President Trump’s nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with more than 160 activist groups already signing a petition. (The Hill)
• More than 55,000 people respond to an EPA call for comments about what environmental regulations should be rolled back, and thousands ask the agency to leave the regulations alone. (Washington Post)

OIL & GAS:
• An Oregon county 200 miles south of Portland will vote on a ballot measure to block a proposed natural gas terminal, which could put it in conflict with the Trump administration. (Reuters)
• An oil and gas company associated with a fatal home explosion in Colorado last month says it is permanently disconnecting its 1-inch diameter return lines, which were found to have fueled the blast. (Longmont Times-Call)
• An environmental impact report compares alternatives for siting Enbridge’s revamped Line 3 pipeline through Minnesota, but makes no definitive recommendations. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

PIPELINES:
• Tribes from the U.S. and Canada plan to sign a 16-page declaration against the Keystone XL oil pipeline at a ceremony on Wednesday. (Associated Press)
• More than 60 Ohio residents are suing to prevent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from approving construction on a $2 billion natural gas pipeline from northern Ohio to Canada. (Plain Dealer)

COAL:
• Following a yearlong prison sentence, former coal executive Don Blankenship urges President Trump to “get to the truth” about the fatal coal mining accident that put him behind bars and to resist Congressional efforts to enhance criminal penalties for mining violations. (Reuters, Associated Press)
• Duke Energy plans to close coal ash ponds in Indiana because of new federal environmental regulations. (News and Tribune)
• The future is unclear for an Indiana coal plant that faces a lawsuit over a lease and costly pollution control upgrades. (Midwest Energy News)

COMMENTARY:
• A climate and clean energy expert explains how states, cities and corporations can lead the charge on reducing emissions. (Huffington Post)
• Despite being upheld in the Senate, the administrative process is just starting for an Obama-era rule to limit methane emissions from oil and gas operations on public lands, says an attorney who specializes in environmental regulation. (The Hill)