CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• An EIA outlook projects 40,000 megawatts of coal power would stay online if the federal rules are rejected in court. (Columbus Business First)
• The EIA also says electricity prices would be modestly impacted by the rules, growing by roughly 3 percent in the later years than without it. (ClimateWire)
• Pennsylvania continues work on Clean Power Plan compliance, but won’t submit anything to the EPA until court challenges are resolved. (NPR)
CLIMATE: Researchers say atmospheric CO2 levels may have topped 400 ppm for good. (InsideClimate News)
BIOFUELS: The EPA proposes a modest increase in the Renewable Fuel Standard, disappointing both the oil and ethanol industries. (Reuters)
CLEAN ECONOMY: A report finds Vermont has the most clean-energy jobs per capita in the U.S., with roughly 6 percent of the state’s workforce involved in the industry. (VTDigger)
SOLAR:
• A Department of Energy study says solar power could deliver $400 billion in health and environmental benefits across the U.S. by 2050. (Phys.org)
A Nevada proposal would allow existing solar customers to be grandfathered in to the state’s earlier net metering rules. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
After rejecting freestanding solar projects, a Massachusetts town moves instead to install solar on municipal rooftops. (Salem News)
OIL AND GAS:
• Texas regulators raise doubts about a study linking decades of earthquakes to oil and gas activity. (Reuters)
• An Indiana study finds local economic benefits tend to ease opposition to fracking. (Indiana Daily Student)
• American Energy Partners, the oil and gas company founded by the late Aubrey McClendon, is shutting down. (Associated Press)
• A landowner challenges a federal agency’s moratorium on drilling in a Pennsylvania watershed. (EnergyWire)
COAL:
• Declining federal funding raises doubts about the future of “clean” coal projects in the U.S. (Houston Chronicle)
• Peabody Energy is granted $800 million in financing to continue operations during bankruptcy proceedings. A Missouri court also approved Peabody’s selling its interest in the Prairie State Energy Campus. (St. Louis Business Journal)
• Nationwide, self-bonding in the coal industry tops $3.3 billion, as federal regulators look to curtail the practice. (Associated Press, Reuters)
COAL ASH: In a long-awaited step, North Carolina regulators rank eight ash ponds managed by Duke Energy as “high risk” for closure by 2019 and 25 “intermediate risk” ponds for closure by 2024. (Fayetteville Observer)
WIND: Sen. Lamar Alexander urges constituents to oppose a large wind farm proposed in his home state of Tennessee. (The Chattanoogan)
NUCLEAR: A U.S. Senate hearing on new nuclear reactors turns into a debate over the extent to which expensive plants should be subsidized. (E&E Daily)
EFFICIENCY: A state program in Iowa helps communities save money by making energy efficiency upgrades. (Midwest Energy News)
COMMENTARY: How wireless charging could be the solution to “range anxiety” for a wind range of electric devices. (Vox)