COAL: The operator of one of the country’s newest coal-fired power plants in West Virginia files for bankruptcy, citing weak demand for electricity, cheap natural gas and the coronavirus pandemic. (Ohio Valley Resource)
ALSO: Georgia regulators stop the permitting process for the last proposed coal plant in the U.S. after denying project developers more time to start construction. (E&E News, subscription)
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SOLAR:
• Mississippi regulators approve a 100 MW solar project that will generate power for utility Entergy. (Power Technology)
• A North Carolina solar installation company is opening a Raleigh office that it says will bring up to 100 jobs to the area. (Triangle Business Journal, subscription)
• A Texas junior college adds rooftop solar panels as part of a power plant technology program that trains students how to maintain them. (Longview News-Journal)
WIND: A wind turbine manufacturing plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, is closing because of declining demand for specific blades, affecting about 470 workers. (E&E News, subscription)
UTILITIES: The CEO of Southern Company was paid $28 million in 2019. (Atlanta Business Chronicle, subscription)
NUCLEAR: More Plant Vogtle workers test positive for COVID-19 while work on the nuclear plant continues for essential employees. (Augusta Chronicle)
OIL & GAS: During a 10-hour virtual Texas oil and gas regulator meeting, more than 55 energy executives, analysts and critics weigh in on a request to cut the state’s oil production but regulators aren’t ready to do so yet. (Texas Tribune)
OFFSHORE DRILLING: There have been 29 confirmed COVID-19 cases on offshore oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, and oil rig workers are fighting to contain them. (E&E News, subscription)
PIPELINES: A North Carolina farmer living along the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline route asks officials to stop appraisers from entering his property during the pandemic. (Spring Hope Enterprise)
COMMENTARY:
• Florida Power & Light’s program that allows businesses to buy small amounts of solar energy is just a start, and the state needs to do more to encourage the solar industry, a business group director says. (Sun-Sentinel)
• An energy think tank says Congress needs to set uniform rules on utility disconnections during the pandemic, as some rural customers in North Carolina and Tennessee are still at risk of losing service. (Energy and Policy Institute)