WIND: Both offshore wind turbines are now in place at Dominion Energy’s pilot project off the coast of Virginia Beach, and will undergo testing before starting up later this summer. (Greentech Media)
COAL:
• Coal’s decline — and the resulting lack of jobs and tax revenues — has forced staunchly anti-Obamacare politicians to reconsider Medicaid expansion, while rural communities depend on telehealth. (Energy News Network)
• Kentucky is now home to the largest elk population east of the Mississippi, most of them living and feeding on on abandoned strip mines. (New York Times)
• Eighty local, regional and national organizations roll out a National Economic Transition Platform to support struggling coal mining towns in Appalachia and beyond. (InsideClimate News)
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PIPELINES: Virginia regulators delay a proposed gas pipeline project that would run through Chesapeake, saying Virginia Natural Gas needs to secure financing and research environmental justice issues. (Virginian-Pilot)
EMISSIONS: A major spirits company is building a bourbon distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky, that it says will be carbon neutral, powered by 100% renewables. (Associated Press)
SOLAR:
• Bank of America announces it is partnering with Duke Energy to build a 180-acre solar farm that will generate enough power to offset about 45% of the bank’s North Carolina electricity needs. (Greensboro News & Record)
• A team of researchers at Clemson University are developing next-generation solar cells, which they say are safer and more efficient. (news release)
• A 57.5 MW solar project in Georgia that will supply energy to Georgia Power is now in operation. (Renewables Now)
• A Virginia school district will install solar panels on eight schools to produce about half of their electricity needs. (CleanTechnica)
COAL ASH: This week, Alabama Power will begin a series of public meetings on coal ash ponds, but the utility is being criticized for holding in-person meetings during the pandemic. (AL.com)
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OIL & GAS: Air pollutants like sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide exceed limits in several West Texas towns, according to a new survey by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. (HPPR)
UTILITIES: Tennessee regulators order private-investor owned natural gas, electric, water and wastewater utilities to continue to suspend disconnections until Aug. 10. (Chattanoogan)