SOLAR:
• Virginia’s governor launched several recommendations of his climate resiliency task force, including supplying 8% of the state government’s power with solar by the end of 2018. (The Washington Post)
• Plans for large solar farms in small North Carolina towns are progressing, despite resistance in some communities. (The Times-News)
• At least two companies are inquiring about building solar farms in rural Pamlico County, North Carolina. (New Bern Sun Journal)
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WIND:
• Salesforce backs a new wind farm in West Virginia with a 12-year power purchase agreement. (Computerworld)
• The federal government prepares a proposed sale notice for leases off North Carolina’s coast. (WHQR Public Radio)
• Transmission bottlenecks in Arkansas and elsewhere complicate efforts to get wind-generated power to the Southeast. (Associated Press)
NUCLEAR: The Dept. of Energy launches a new bid to establish a waste disposal site and facility for spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants. (The Hill)
COAL ASH: Duke Energy is shipping coal ash that North and South Carolina don’t want to a dump about 75 miles northeast of Atlanta. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
CLIMATE: A Duke University climate expert likens the Paris climate agreement only to a down payment on mitigating global warming. (Raleigh News & Observer)
OFFSHORE DRILLING: Despite votes against offshore drilling along the Southeast Atlantic coast, the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce says it wants to keep studying the facts. (The Virginian-Pilot)
UTILITIES:
• Santee Cooper reaches an agreement to continue supplying power to an aluminum smelter in South Carolina. (The Berkeley Independent)
• A Duke Energy executive chief talks about how it is fending off cyber attacks. (Associated Press)
• National park advocates challenge Dominion Virginia Power’s demand projection at the heart of a debate over proposed transmission line over the James River. (Daily Press)
COAL: Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources won’t speculate about lost mining jobs ever coming back. (The Register-Herald)
ALTERNATIVE FUELS: UPS is moving to supply its vehicles in Mississippi and Tennessee with natural gas produced from landfills. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
BIOMASS: A Florida biomass plant files for arbitration claiming Gainesville Regional Utilities owes it more than $200,000 from a power purchase agreement. (The Gainesville Sun)
PETCOKE: Amid tighter restrictions in Chicago, petroleum coke from a BP refinery is being shipped to Kentucky and Virginia. (The Times of Northwest Indiana)
POLITICS:
• An ex-coal industry executive who is the new Energy and Environment Secretary in the Bluegrass State vows to “protect the people that live in Kentucky.” (Glasgow Daily Times)
• After two terms in Congress, Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr is the fifth-leading recipient of campaign contributions from coal industry executives and their PACs. (McClatchy)
COMMENTARY:
• Here are the risks of drilling offshore Virginia that oil lobbyists don’t want you to know. (Daily Press)
• The South Carolina economy is improving, and solar energy is a big reason why. (The State)
• Seven years after the tragic coal ash spill at the TVA’s Kingston power plant, utilities need to act more aggressively to store it in lined, dry storage facilities away from waterways. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
• A reliable power supply to Virginia’s historic James River region needs the transmission line proposed by Dominion Virginia Power. (Daily Press)