OIL & GAS: The Texas Railroad Commission was expected to vote today on a plan to cut oil production in response to falling demand and prices, but now members say they still are not ready to act on the proposal. (NPR)
ALSO:
• A Louisiana legislative committee approves a bill to reduce the severance tax on oil production, despite the state’s loss of revenue during the pandemic. (The Advocate)
• Sempra Energy is delaying plans for a large liquefied natural gas export project in Texas until 2021 because of the pandemic’s effects on the energy market. (Reuters)
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RENEWABLES: Dominion’s new long-term resource plan calls for adding 16 GW of solar, over 5 GW of offshore wind, and 2.7 GW of energy storage over the next 15 years in Virginia, but critics say that might not be enough to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. (Greentech Media, E&E News, subscription)
WIND: A 600 MW offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Mexico would add 4,470 jobs and $445 million during construction, according to a study released by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (Offshorewind.biz)
GRID: Solar capacity has the potential to reach 5.8 GW this year, Texas grid managers said in an annual report. (PV Magazine)
UTILITIES: Orlando, Florida’s utility is being criticized by clean energy groups for not giving low-income customers the ability to conserve electricity and reduce bills during the pandemic. (Orlando Sentinel)
OVERSIGHT: Two Democrats vying for a seat on Georgia’s Public Service Commission criticize current regulators over their approval of coal and natural gas. (Capitol Beat News Service)
PIPELINES:
• Southeast attorneys general join others in urging a court to keep the Dakota Access Pipeline running during a federal environmental analysis. (E&E News, subscription)
• A federal appeals court will reconsider a dispute over a South Carolina pipeline leak due to the Supreme Court’s new test for federal water permitting. (E&E News, subscription)
COAL:
• State and federal agencies are not tracking coronavirus transmissions or regulating sanitation to keep coal miners safe. (Ohio Valley Resource)
• A Kentucky coal company received approval for a $10 million loan through the personal paycheck protection program last month. (Lexington Herald Leader)
COAL ASH: The Tennessee Valley Authority and Jacobs Engineering, a contractor on the utility’s 2008 coal ash spill, are ranked by a labor coalition as one of the nation’s worst workplace safety companies. (Knoxville News Sentinel)