OIL AND GAS: While the Standing Rock Sioux have been strong opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline project crossing their land, a Colorado tribe has promoted oil and gas drilling to expand financial opportunities for members. (Bloomberg)
WIND: The developer behind a proposed 82.8-megawatt wind project in Vermont offers to pay local voters $14.1 million over 25 years in exchange for their support. (New York Times)
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CLEAN TECH:
• Stakeholders are closely watching New York’s attempt to make data about ratepayers’ energy use more accessible to outside parties. (EnergyWire)
• New York will invest $10 million to help boost clean energy startup companies. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• Shareholders will vote next month on Elon Musk’s controversial proposal to merge Tesla and SolarCity. (Associated Press)
• A California company wants to build the world’s largest solar array in the Nevada desert, about 225 miles northwest of Las Vegas. (Associated Press)
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a “non-public, fact-finding investigation” into bankrupt SunEdison. (St. Louis Business Journal)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: If elected, Hillary Clinton “would take any action up to and including a veto” to counter Republican attempts of thwarting the Clean Power Plan, a top advisor says. (Grist)
NUCLEAR: A consumer advocacy group is challenging the sale of a nuclear power plant in New York as well as the state’s broader plan to subsidize struggling plants there. (RTO Insider)
TRANSPORTATION: A new report says cities could see billions of dollars in benefits from the transition to electric, shared and autonomous cars. (Greentech Media)
COAL:
• The long-delayed and over-budget Kemper “clean coal” plant in Mississippi generates electricity for the first time. (Associated Press)
• Minnesota regulators appear set to approve a utility’s 15-year plan that will close two of the state’s biggest coal-burning units and develop a large portfolio of renewable energy. (Midwest Energy News)
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and presidential candidate Donald Trump remain hesitant to support a bill to protect retired coal miners’ health benefits. (Associated Press)
EMISSIONS:
• Due to mild weather, declining coal use and increased use of wind, solar and hydropower, energy-related carbon emissions hit their lowest point in the U.S. since 1991. (Climate Central)
• State across the U.S. have slashed the staffs of their environmental agencies, complicating their compliance with federal air pollution rules. (Center for Public Integrity)
PIPELINES: The venting of a natural gas pipeline compressor station in Northern Virginia reveals a lack of guidance for alerting the public. (Southeast Energy News)
RENEWABLES: An Ohio conference explores a future without fossil fuels with opposing views on what it would mean for the global economy. (Midwest Energy News)
COMMENTARY: The announcement of new oil reserves found in Alaska should be met with a “certain caution.” (Alaska Dispatch News)