SOLAR:
• Federal and state tax credits due to expire after 2016 are fueling growth of rooftop solar systems in South Carolina’s low country. (WBCD-TV, Charleston)
• Two planned solar projects in South Carolina could become a model for locally-sourced energy on under-utilized land. (Area Development magazine)
• Utility-scale solar output in the U.S. is 31 times higher than 10 years ago and is set to grow even faster. (Greentech Media)
• Duke Energy’s interest in commercial solar projects is going international as it proposes a 47-megawatt solar project in Chile. (Charlotte Business Journal)
HYBRID VEHICLES: Three new container shuttle carriers at the Portsmouth, Virginia shipping port are the first battery-hybrid vehicles at any U.S. port, able to achieve 40 percent fuel savings and substantially reduced emissions. (The Virginian-Pilot)
POLICY: Five takeaways from last week’s Gulf Coast Energy Forum. (Alabama Media Group)
WATER:
• The U.S. EPA has begun enforcing a new Clean Water Rule in all states except 13 involved in litigation, including Arkansas. (The Hill)
• Two federal district courts hearing challenges to the EPA’s new water rule — in Georgia and West Virginia — concluded they did not have jurisdiction and declined to block the rule on this basis. (Southern Environmental Law Center)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A $250,000 state grant is helping build a new biomass gasification plant in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee capable of converting more than 30 tons of organics daily. (Waste Dive)
PIPELINES:
• Officials estimate 1,200 barrels of oil have leaked from a West Virginia pipeline into a nearby creek. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)
• Securing approval of the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines is key to natural gas produced from the Marcellus shale natural gas fields. (Wheeling News-Register)
• Southern Company’s proposed purchase of AGL Resources would make it a partner in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline with Dominion Resources and Duke Energy. (Charlotte Business Journal)
COAL ASH: The TVA is asking for public input about the environmental impact of its plans to dispose of coal ash. (Southern Environmental Law Center)
COAL:
• Equipment suppliers serving coal miners in Kentucky, West Virginia and other states are scrambling to find new customers. (The Wall Street Journal)
• A coal-mining environmentalist? A Virginia executive says he can be both. (InsideClimate News)
NUCLEAR: Plant Vogtle in Georgia is the latest proof of how utilities and nuclear contractors are struggling to build new reactors without cost increases. (Associated Press)
OFFSHORE DRILLING: Obama may back Louisiana’s use of offshore oil revenue for coastal restoration, a state official said. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
COMMENTARY:
• Give consumers in Florida the opportunity to chose solar energy to supply their electricity. (Miami Herald)
• Solar can help Virginia meet its Clean Power Plan targets. (Fredericksburg Free Lance- Star)