PIPELINES: A pandemic-related drop in natural gas prices prompts a developer to withdraw plans for a 625-mile pipeline that would have spanned Texas into Louisiana. (Reuters)
ALSO:
• A federal appeals court says a federal agency’s approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross waterways was likely illegal, citing West Virginia regulators’ flip-flopping on their own state rules. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)
• The Mountain Valley Pipeline’s fate remains in question as its cost escalates amid legal and regulatory delays. (WVTF)
***SPONSORED LINK: Whether you’re aware of it or not, clean energy is working for you right now. Support NCSEA’s efforts to continue building a clean energy future that works for all North Carolinians by giving a tax-deductible donation before December 31. www.energync.org/cleanworks .***
RENEWABLES: The director of a Southwest Virginia economic development group says he wants its new $1 million Renewable Energy Fund to attract businesses and train residents in a burgeoning field. (Energy News Network)
UTILITIES:
• SCANA and its successor Dominion Energy in South Carolina agree to pay a $25 million civil fine in a fraud case related to the defunct utility’s failed $9 billion nuclear plant expansion. (The State)
• The Florida Supreme Court declines to overturn a lower court ruling that the city of Ocala illegally collected more than $81 million in fire service fees through the city-owned electric utility. (Ocala StarBanner)
• South Carolina regulators schedule two public hearings in January on a proposed rate increase for Dominion Energy customers. (Post and Courier)
COAL: The former CEO of coal operator Blackjewel, under investigation for mismanagement, wants to convert its ongoing bankruptcy from a reorganization into a liquidation. (Bloomberg Law)
OIL & GAS: A new study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds that Texans who live near oil refineries have a significantly higher risk for getting cancer. (Houston Chronicle)
STORAGE: Advancement of battery storage technology will play a key role in helping Virginia achieve the clean energy goals set by state lawmakers earlier this year, experts say. (Virginia Mercury)
SOLAR:
• Three historic preservation groups release a report outlining best practices for developing solar energy while protecting Virginia’s historic landscapes. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)
• Ørsted announces a 430 MW solar project outside Houston. (Renewables Now)
CLIMATE: Louisiana’s governor names a state mechanical engineering professor with a record of advocating for solar and renewable energy to lead a new state climate panel. (KTBS)
REGULATION:
• Virginia’s governor appoints a former state deputy commerce official to fill a spot on its utility commission after its chairman was appointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Louisiana’s low electricity rates emerge as an issue in an election Saturday for a spot on the state’s utility regulation commission. (New Orleans Advocate)
BIOFUELS: A federal court affirms a ruling that pork producer Smithfield Foods is liable for violating the property rights of its neighbors, even as it gears up for a massive biogas project with Dominion Energy. (Coastal Review Online)
COMMENTARY:
• South Carolina regulators rip the state-operated Santee Cooper utility for a lack of transparency. (FITSNews)
• As solar energy booms, developers need to better engage communities to address their concerns, write three members of the Sierra Club’s Florida chapter. (Gainesville Sun)