NUCLEAR: Toshiba is considering selling its Westinghouse nuclear division after receiving an extension to files its earnings. Meanwhile, the CEO of the Charlotte-based Toshiba America Energy Systems has been replaced. (Reuters, Charlotte Business Journal)
ALSO: Despite President Donald Trump’s promises of revival, Kentucky’s lawmakers are acknowledging a need for alternatives to the state’s coal industry as they move closer to lifting a moratorium on nuclear energy. (Associated Press)
PIPELINES:
• “The game has changed” for oil pipeline construction in Georgia and South Carolina as Republican-backed bills introduce tighter regulations for construction. (Southeast Energy News)
• All three Democratic candidates for Lieutenant Governor in Virginia now oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Blue Virginia)
• Alabama manufacturers support President Donald Trump’s call for pipelines to use U.S. steel. (AL.com)
OIL & GAS: West Virginia lawmakers scale back a proposal to exempt tanks used by the oil and gas industry from a recent safety law. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
COAL ASH:
• An environmental group said Monday that it will sue Duke Energy for allegedly polluting a lake and two river basins with coal ash from a North Carolina power plant. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• Residents were able to review and respond to a plan for excavating what remains of a Duke Energy coal ash site in North Carolina at a public hearing on Monday. (WLOS)
GRID: Duke Energy is updating a South Carolina dam with an eye toward using it for energy storage. (WFAE)
SOLAR: A Georgia utility’s $39/month charge for solar customers helped prompt a Republican-backed bill to require more transparency in how such fees are set. (PV Magazine)
UTILITIES: Public meetings are planned to discuss rate-increase requests for two Kentucky utilities to install smart meters. (Kentucky Press News Service)
COMMENTARY:
• A former Virginia lawmaker says with a new presidential administration, now is the time to revisit the state’s offshore oil exploration options. (Roanoke Times)
• A North Carolina nonprofit says ending fracking’s methane releases is crucial to averting a climate crisis. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• Solar power represents a “new source of prosperity” for West Virginia. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)