GRID: Virginia utility regulators again reject parts of Dominion Energy’s grid modernization plan — including a proposal to spend $752 million deploying smart meters — saying the company didn’t justify customer benefit. (Greentech Media)
UTILITIES:
• Florida Power & Light plans to offer customers a one-time 25% bill reduction in May because of low natural gas costs. (News Service of Florida)
• Duke Energy and North Carolina’s consumer advocate reach a settlement over a rate-hike request, but it makes only a small difference in the utility’s request. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Virginia regulators plan to study the impacts of electric vehicle charging infrastructure on the state’s grid. (Utility Dive)
• Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature passes the state’s first-ever bill including the words “climate change” by adding measures to boost electric vehicles. (E&E News, subscription)
EFFICIENCY: A Texas utility lays out ways people can save energy while at home more during the coronavirus pandemic. (Caller-Times)
NUCLEAR: Concerns over coronavirus could disrupt the refueling process at nuclear sites in the Southeast. (Utility Dive)
PIPELINES: Residents in Virginia and West Virginia raise concerns about Mountain Valley Pipeline construction resuming this spring, saying crews from other states should not be coming during the coronavirus pandemic. (WDBJ)
OIL & GAS:
• Dominion Energy acquires a liquefied natural gas company that is a subsidiary of Southern Company. (Kallanish Energy)
• Energy Transfer will take over development of a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana after Shell pulled out of the venture. (Dallas Morning News)
• Some oil and gas experts say capping oil production won’t help the industry and will put some companies at a greater risk. (Houston Public Media)
• The oil price drop and the coronavirus pandemic are hitting the Louisiana economy hard, causing many layoffs. (The Advocate)
• An Alabama industry association and citizens’ groups say regulators should reject Alabama Power’s request to build more natural gas capacity because it is not needed and solar-plus-storage would cost less. (PV Magazine)
COAL: The CEO of the Australian coal company that owns a financially troubled coal mine in western Kentucky resigns. (WKU Public Radio)
COMMENTARY:
• Coal mining is an essential job in West Virginia in the long-term, but mines could be hotbeds for the spread of the coronavirus, a union leader writes. (Times West Virginian)
• A lawyer and longtime volunteer for the Sierra Club lays out what Virginia’s energy transition will look like since major renewable legislation was passed. (Virginia Mercury)