CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• A Virginia utility executive says “I would not hang my hat” on legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan being successful. (SNL Energy)
• Environmentalists criticize an African-American business organization critical of the EPA as a “front group” with ties to fossil fuel industries. (InsideClimate News)
• Some states may look to energy storage and demand response to integrate wind and solar power into their Clean Power Plan compliance efforts. (Greentech Media)
• Under standards developed after the first draft of the plan was released, coal states say they are being unfairly burdened with stricter goals. (EnergyWire)
CLIMATE:
• Islamic scholars are preparing to issue a global call to action to fight climate change. (Bloomberg)
• Is President Obama trying to have it both ways by trying to reduce emissions while working to allow offshore drilling along the Atlantic coast? (Miami Herald)
UTILITIES: A report finds that Texans have generally paid higher bills under deregulation, but their options may be improving. (Texas Tribune)
WIND: Under a new contract, Washington D.C. is expected to get one-third of its energy from wind. (Washington Post)
SOLAR: How California’s new interconnection maps will help accelerate clean energy development. (Greentech Media)
PIPELINES:
• A federal judge approved a $5 million settlement between Exxon Mobil, Arkansas and the federal government after the 2013 rupture of its Pegasus pipeline spilled heavy crude oil into a residential area of Mayflower, Arkansas. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• The Keystone XL review has taken five times longer than similar projects. (Associated Press)
• After a delay characterized as “extremely weird” by one legal expert, a Koch Industries affiliate will pay a fine for a pipeline spill that released 24,700 gallons of crude oil into a Texas creek – 17 years ago. (Texas Tribune)
EMISSIONS: Seventeen states sue the EPA over a recent rule that changes the way states are required to address air pollution during plant startups and shutdowns. (Greenwire)
COAL:
• A bad gamble on metallurgical coal at the peak of the market, rather than environmental rules, is to blame for pushing some coal companies into bankruptcy. (SNL Energy)
• The stakes are high for Wyoming coal producers ahead of a hearing today on the government’s play to overhaul royalty rates for leases on public lands; an earlier hearing in Montana saw an overflow crowd. (Casper Star-Tribune, Billings Gazette)
TECHNOLOGY:
• Constellation Energy is doubling its bet on Bloom fuel cells. (Bloomberg)
• After struggling to find its footing a few years ago, Michigan has emerged as a leader in advanced battery storage systems. (Midwest Energy News)
TRANSPORTATION: Work on a Florida high-speed rail project may be conflicting with an archaeological site. (Reuters)
OPEN RECORDS: An Indiana judge has thrown out an environmental group’s lawsuit that sought correspondence between a top-ranking legislator and utilities in connection with a proposed net-metering bill. (Indiana Public Media)
MEDIA: New Mexico regulators will drop out of a lawsuit seeking to prevent a newspaper from publishing information inadvertently released to a reporter: “we didn’t have a case.” (Albuquerque Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• New York “will desperately require substantial new transmission in the near future.” (Breaking Energy)
• How wind and solar could blow up power markets, and how to prevent it. (Greentech Media)
• Tips for journalists on fact-checking misinformation about the Clean Power Plan. (The Equation)