UTILITIES: Southern Co. and its Mississippi Power unit are being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over how they are disclosing the “estimated costs and expected in-service date” of the Kemper coal gasification plant. (WLOX, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
ALSO:
• Appalachian Power in Virginia asks the state to approve a new rate for 100% electricity from renewable sources. (WDBJ)
• Protestors at Duke Energy’s shareholders meeting conduct a mock wedding of CEO Lynn Good and North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory to protest his allegedly close ties with his former employer. (Charlotte Observer)
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RENEWABLES: Some of the most dramatic growth in wind and solar energy is coming in states represented by lawmakers who deny the need to mitigate risks of climate change. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• Tea Party conservatives and climate advocates join to fight a utility-backed amendment to Florida’s constitution on the November ballot. (The American Prospect)
• The North Carolina non-profit that installed a solar system on a church’s rooftop is prepared to donate it if its appeal of a state ruling barring third-party power sales does not succeed. (Charlotte Business Journal)
COAL ASH: A non-profit challenges a study allegedly aimed at dismissing cancer fears near Duke Energy’s ash sites. (The Institute for Southern Studies)
COAL: Miners’ compliance with reclamation rules remains well below a level achieved nearly a decade ago, a new federal report says. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
PIPELINES:
• At a tree-planting ceremony, opponents in southwest Virginia protest the Governor’s support for two proposed pipelines citing all the trees that would be removed if both were approved. (WSLS)
• Federal regulators set a June 2 deadline for additional public comments about a revised route proposed for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Staunton News Leader)
NUCLEAR:
• The TVA Board decides to auction the unfinished Bellefonte plant in northeast Alabama and its two reactors. (Alabama Media Group)
• A contractor on the TVA’s Watts Bar 2 reactor agrees to pay a $2.8 million settlement for violating the False Claims Act. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE: A high-profile environmental group blasts Dominion Virginia Power’s latest integrated resource plan as a bid to stick ratepayers with costly and risky investments, including a new nuclear reactor. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
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TECHNOLOGY: The Alternative Energy Innovation Center at Kennesaw State University in Georgia focuses work on solar cells within panels that can track the sun’s path. (Assembly)
COMMENTARY:
• A revenue-neutral carbon tax could underpin a conservative plan to mitigate climate change. (Ocala StarBanner)
• A proposed amendment to Florida’s Constitution exempting property owners from paying taxes on solar systems deserves to be approved in August. (Tallahassee Democrat)
• Lawmakers need to heed voters who support renewable energy. (Fayetteville Observer)
• Coastal Florida, like coastal Louisiana, faces the prospect of “climate refugees.” (Herald-Tribune)