ELECTRIC VEHICLES: After years of battling over control of North Carolina’s share of the Volkswagen settlement, Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor quietly approve a $31 million plan for electric vehicle infrastructure. (Energy News Network)
POLLUTION: More than 350 facilities, including fossil fuel companies in the Southeast, have taken advantage of an EPA rule that lets them stop monitoring water pollution during the pandemic. (The Hill)
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SOLAR:
• Duke Energy is considering ways to alter its solar rebate project in North Carolina to make it more effective during its final two years. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)
• Ørsted acquires a 227 MW solar project in Alabama, which will supply power to the Tennessee Valley Authority. (Renews Biz)
• An Arkansas community asks Entergy to consider it for solar power projects, along with 165 to 170 other localities, according to the utility. (Daily Citizen)
• Kentucky Power gives $75,000 to Ashland Community and Technical College for students to learn about solar energy installations. (WTVQ)
• A program to help Decatur, Georgia, residents afford to go solar returns for a second round because of its popularity. (Decaturish)
WIND: A federal judge refuses to dismiss criminal charges against two men accused of scamming investors in a proposed wind farm project in Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
BIOMASS: West Virginia University researchers get a $10 million federal grant to develop a biomass production system on agricultural land. (news release)
OIL & GAS: Texas residents raise concerns about a law that allows oil and gas drilling to take place in backyards, vacant lots and other urban areas. (Houston Chronicle)
COAL: Environmental groups sue West Virginia environmental regulators, alleging they failed to adhere to federal reporting requirements for a coal mine reclamation fund. (Associated Press)
COAL ASH:
• Alabama environmental advocates and residents peacefully protest outside a public meeting about an Alabama Power’s coal ash pond. (Shelby County Reporter)
• Arguments will take place in August on whether customers or utilities should pay the costs of cleaning up Duke Energy’s coal ash. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)
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UTILITIES:
• Cash from the sale of natural gas assets to Berkshire Hathaway is expected to help accelerate a transition to renewable energy for Virginia’s Dominion Energy. (Forbes)
• A federal judge approves a $192.5 million settlement between former shareholders of South Carolina utility SCANA and its new owner Dominion Energy. (Post and Courier)
COMMENTARY:
• A clean energy group examines the future of solar in North Carolina and Florida. (SACE)
• As Texas and the U.S. transitions slowly to renewable energy, pipelines carrying oil and natural gas are still necessary, writes a columnist. (Houston Chronicle)