WIND: Developers of a North Carolina wind farm plan to build more projects in the state. (Charlotte Business Journal)
COAL: Companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice still owe $3 million in back taxes as his administration cuts public services. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
ALSO:
• Lawyers for Don Blankenship seek a rehearing of an appeal that upheld his criminal conviction for mine safety violations. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• President Trump’s push for natural gas infrastructure makes it all the more unlikely his promise to revive coal mines will be realized. (NBC)
COAL ASH: Kentucky lawmakers delay a vote on a plan to reduce oversight of coal ash facilities. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
OIL AND GAS:
• The proposed Bayou Bridge pipeline elevates growing tensions between the oil industry and environmental interests. (New Orleans Times Picayune)
• West Virginia regulators eliminate restrictions on light and noise from fracking operations. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Opponents pack an informational meeting on a proposed pipeline connecting West Virginia and Pennsylvania beneath the Potomac River. (Associated Press)
POLICY: Virginia lawmakers’ push for pumped hydro storage is inconsistent with their “small steps” approach to clean energy. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES:
• Southern Company faces financial uncertainty, and not just because of cost overruns at the Kemper and Vogtle plants. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• A Florida utility’s proposed rate increase includes $19 million for its share of a Georgia power plant that sells electricity on the wholesale market. (Pensacola News Journal)
NUCLEAR:
• A Louisiana company is at the center of nuclear plant delays in the Southeast as well as Toshiba’s massive write-down on the projects. (Bloomberg)
• The effects of Toshiba’s financial troubles on a South Carolina nuclear plant expansion will become more clear this week. (Post and Courier)
• Operators of the Vogtle plant in Georgia are issued a warning from federal regulators over the plant’s emergency preparedness plan. (Augusta Chronicle)
SOLAR:
• A North Carolina solar technology firm announces it has raised $875,000 in private equity. (WRAL)
• A rooftop array helps offset energy costs for a Georgia beer and wine distribution warehouse. (Savannah Morning News)
TRANSMISSION: Developers of a clean energy transmission seek to expedite a court challenge over eminent domain in Arkansas. (Russellville Courier)
OVERSIGHT: In a Q&A, Florida’s Public Counsel says the state is over-reliant on natural gas and expresses concerns about cutting down trees for solar farms. (Tampa Bay Times)
COMMENTARY:
• “Republican elders are offering their party an opening to change the conversation” on climate change. (New York Times)
• A Kentucky attorney tells coal miners “they got you mad at the wrong people.” (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• “If generating electricity employs a lot of people, not generating it employs even more.” (Blue Virginia)