SUPREME COURT: A leading prospect to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia has ties to fossil fuel industries, raising concern among some climate activists. (Politico)
POLITICS: North Carolina conservative activist Jay Faison has launched a $5 million super PAC to back congressional Republicans who support clean energy. (Wall Street Journal)
***SPONSORED LINK: Join more than 600 innovators and decision-makers February 24-26 in Chicago for the Midwest Energy Solutions Conference. With live demonstrations, insightful panels and unparalleled networking, MES 2016 is a can’t-miss conference. Register today!***
SOLAR:
• A newly formed PAC challenges an effort to restore Nevada’s net metering rates. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• Customer applications for solar connections with a Nevada utility fell 93 percent from December to January. (Vegas Inc)
• A Hawaii utility cancels contracts with SunEdison over delayed solar projects. (Bloomberg)
• A “rather conservative” suburb of Portland, Oregon wants to triple the number of solar installations on homes and businesses. (Oregonian)
• Community solar is becoming a big business, where states enable it. (GreenBiz)
WIND:
• Analysts say wind energy will continue to grow in the U.S. despite the Supreme Court’s delay of the Clean Power Plan. (Utility Dive)
• At 8.6 gigawatts, wind energy was the top source of new generation capacity in 2015, surpassing solar and natural gas. (Transmission & Distribution World)
PIPELINES:
• Federal regulators say corrosion is to blame for a major pipeline spill off the Santa Barbara coast last year. (Associated Press)
• Enbridge delays plans for new and expanded pipelines to bring oil from North Dakota and Alberta into Wisconsin. (Houston Chronicle)
OIL AND GAS:
• A California utility pleads not guilty to criminal charges stemming from a weekslong leak from a natural gas storage facility. (Associated Press)
• The Sierra Club sues three energy companies over earthquakes in Oklahoma and Kansas. (Bloomberg)
• After climate activists disrupt an oil-and-gas lease auction in Utah, industry officials say they’ll push to hold the auctions online. (Associated Press)
• Opponents pack a metro Detroit auditorium to speak out against a church’s plan to drill for oil on its property. (CBS Detroit)
COAL:
• Wyoming officials acknowledge to federal regulators that the state’s “self bonding” program for coal mine cleanup is flawed. (Reuters)
• Washington state lawmakers advance a bill creating a “retirement account” for a local utility’s stake in Montana coal plants. (Associated Press)
• A report says global coal markets are now so weak that two proposed West Coast export terminals are no longer needed. (Seattle Times)
• The EPA flags pollution violations at coal plants in Texas, Illinois and elsewhere. (Dallas Morning News, Alton Telegraph)
NUCLEAR: Duke Energy says its nuclear plant in South Carolina produced electricity a record 98% of the time in 2015. (Charlotte Business Journal)
GRID: How demand-side management can eliminate the need for major infrastructure investments. (Greentech Media)
EFFICIENCY: Two North Carolina businessmen raise the bar for how commercial buildings can save energy. (Business North Carolina)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A former General Motors executive says widespread adoption of electric vehicles will happen in the coming years as it becomes easier and cheaper to build them. (Forbes)
• A utility seeks permission from Washington state regulators to install 265 charging stations in the eastern part of the state. (Spokane Spokesman-Review)
COMMENTARY: Why it’s hard for humans to care about climate change impacts hundreds of years in the future. (Vox)