SOLAR:
• Utilities’ campaign cash keeps solar down in Florida. (Florida Center for Investigative Reporting)
• ‘Solarize’ bulk-purchasing solar coop ignites interest in rooftop solar in Georgia. (Savannah Morning News)
• Study for Louisiana’s PSC fuels debate about solar’s benefits and costs and identifies the top 10 parishes for solar in Louisiana. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
COAL ASH: Duke Energy agrees to pay Virginia $2.5 million to help clean up its 2014 coal ash spill along the Dan River; other settlements possible. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
CLEAN ENERGY: Leading national companies in North Carolina want more choice and competition when it comes to energy. (The Energy Collective)
COAL:
• AEP preparing to close three coal-fired power plants in West Virginia, one in Virginia. (Associated Press)
• Five years after the Upper Big Branch mine explosion in West Virginia, significant explosion risks persist, study finds. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES: Duke Energy is seeking a permit to build the largest solar farm in North Carolina to date — the first to break the 80-megawatt mark — in coastal Currituck County. (The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC)
CLIMATE: Bleaching of Florida’s coral reefs occurring faster than expected — report. (WUSF radio, South Florida)
OIL & GAS: Study finds the dispersant most often used during the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill might cause damage to cells in human lungs and in the gills of fish and crabs. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
COMMENTARY: The board chair of the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy opines that climate instability is rising in Virginia. (The Roanoke Times, Roanoke)