SOLAR: South Carolina’s state-owned utility approves new charges for solar customers. (The State)
ALSO:
• Why the industry thinks a solar boom is coming to Georgia. (Creative Loafing Atlanta)
• A proposed 50 MW solar farm in Mississippi is a step closer to reality. (Hattiesburg American)
• Advocates say Mississippi’s recent net metering decision is “historic.” (Mississippi Public Broadcasting)
• Energy savings from a solar array could help expand services at an Alabama veterans hospital. (Tuscaloosa News)
• A retired Florida surgeon wants to donate his family’s land for a 20-40 MW solar array. (Leesburg Daily Commercial)
• Florida State University researchers are working to make solar cells more efficient. (Solar Daily)
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EFFICIENCY: Florida regulators deny a request from large power users to be exempted from utility energy efficiency fees. (Palm Beach Post)
CLIMATE: A North Carolina executive at the Paris climate talks says her state is missing out on clean energy opportunities. (Charlotte Business Journal)
ALSO: How Google and other major companies are moving to 100% renewable energy. (Fast Company)
WIND: A West Virginia utility plans to add 150 MW of wind power to its portfolio. (Associated Press)
COAL:
• Kentucky’s newly elected governor appoints a former coal executive to head up the state’s Energy and Environment Cabinet. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• Advocates deliver petitions calling for the shutdown of a Florida coal plant. (Lakeland Ledger)
• Decades of unregulated mining waste is still impacting Virginia waterways. (WCYB)
• “Toys for Miners” is collecting toy and food donations for laid off Alabama coal miners. (Birmingham News)
COAL ASH:
• Environmentalists fight a Virginia utility’s plan to dump water from coal ash ponds into the James River. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A North Carolina judge questions permits issued for Duke Energy coal ash dumps. (WRAL)
OIL AND GAS:
• Federal regulators seek an alternative route for a proposed pipeline through the Monongahela National Forest. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Two new natural gas export facilities are proposed near New Orleans. (Associated Press)
• A former West Virginia steel plant is converted into a pipe inspection facility for the gas industry. (Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register)
BIOENERGY: A Louisiana plant will convert sugar cane waste into biomass pellets that can be substituted for coal. (Business Report)
TECHNOLOGY: Philips is closing another North Carolina plant in response to a more competitive light bulb market. (Triangle Business Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• South Carolina’s state-owned utility should be leading on clean energy. (The State)
• The Don Blankenship trial “clearly showed the need for tougher government regulation and inspection of Big Coal.” (New York Times)