SOLAR: Utilities, regulators and lawmakers debated a variety of solar policy changes in all but four states last year. (Utility Dive)
ALSO:
• Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist voices support for Maine solar legislation. (Portland Press Herald)
• Billions of dollars are at stake in Massachusetts’ solar fight. (ClimateWire)
• The mayor of a Massachusetts city urges state lawmakers to preserve net metering. (Boston Globe)
• Iowa’s two major utilities are seeking a new rate structure for distributed generation that clean energy advocates say would undermine solar producers in the state. (Midwest Energy News)
• A Maryland utility will collaborate with Sunrun to lease solar systems to homeowners. (Baltimore Business Journal)
• An aide to Nevada’s governor says a recent net metering decision “rightly or wrongly” has tarnished the state’s reputation as a clean-energy leader. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
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PIPELINES:
• An industry official says activists “looking for a chink in the armor” are disrupting pipeline approval processes. (Platts)
• Georgia’s legislature approves a temporary moratorium on pipeline projects. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Massachusetts landowners plan to use the Clean Water Act to sue FERC and a pipeline developer to halt a project. (SNL Energy)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Colorado lawmakers try, and fail, to disrupt funding for Clean Power Plan work in the state. (Denver Post)
COAL:
• The Utah lawmaker behind an effort to help fund a West Coast coal export terminal says the project “actually may be improving the environment” because “Utah has the cleanest coal on the planet.” (KQED)
• A California lawmaker says funding from Utah likely means the Oakland project will move forward, despite local opposition. (San Francisco Business Times)
• Utility coal stockpiles are at their highest level in 25 years. (Houston Chronicle)
COAL ASH:
• Environmental groups sue a Utah utility over coal ash disposal. (Deseret News)
• A Georgia congressman introduces a bill calling for tougher oversight of coal ash disposal. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
WIND: Oregon landowners are receiving between $5 million and $10 million a year in lease payments from wind energy, according to an industry group. (Portland Business Journal)
NUCLEAR: Environmental groups plan to sue a Florida utility over water contamination from the Turkey Point nuclear plant. (New York Times)
OIL AND GAS:
• Pennsylvania lawmakers question whether the state should continue subsidizing natural gas. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Environmental groups and the federal government make legal arguments against a federal court’s injunction last year on fracking rules for public and tribal lands. (EnergyWire)
• A Colorado county lifts a six-month moratorium on new drilling. (Denver Post)
ETHANOL: Automakers gradually prepare for the prospect of higher ethanol blends. (Reuters)
GRID:
• In general, utilities are still figuring out whether energy storage is a threat or a business opportunity. (Utility Dive)
• A New York utilities smart meter plan would offer customers energy data on 15-minute intervals. (Greentech Media)
CLIMATE: New U.S. climate czar Jonathan Pershing looks ahead to implementing the Paris agreement. (ClimateWire)
COMMENTARY: Why “West Texas is at the forefront” of the U.S. wind industry. (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)