WIND: Southwestern Electric Power Company reaches a deal with Louisiana regulators, Walmart and the Alliance for Affordable Energy to add 810 MW of wind energy in Oklahoma. (Arkansas Business)
ALSO:
• A clean energy company buys a 300 MW wind farm in Oklahoma and plans to sell the power to three Fortune 500 customers. (Daily Energy Insider)
• A Canadian energy company will acquire a 100 MW wind farm in Texas. (ReNews)
SOLAR: Solar beat natural gas and wind with 40% of new U.S. electric generating capacity in 2019 as states like Texas and Oklahoma added residential installations. (Greentech Media)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Florida lawmakers pass a bill directing the state transportation department to develop a long-term plan for electric vehicle infrastructure expansion. (Utility Dive)
NUCLEAR: A third worker at Georgia’s Plant Vogtle nuclear plant is tested for COVID-19, which could throw off the project’s timeline. (E&E News, subscription)
UTILITIES:
• Alabama regulators heard arguments last week for and against Alabama Power’s $1.1 billion expansion request to make up for closed coal-fired power plants. (AL.com)
• Jacksonville city officials delay a vote on the appointment of a new seven-member JEA board due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Florida Times-Union)
• North Carolina regulators delay a hearing about Duke Energy’s proposed 6% rate hike amid COVID-19 concerns. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)
• Virginia’s Clean Economy Act could be part of a bigger wave of change from lawmakers challenging Dominion Energy, experts say. (E&E News, subscription)
• Dominion Energy’s charitable foundation commits $1 million to help with COVID-19 relief efforts. (Times WV)
PIPELINES:
• Property rights advocates and environmentalists are working together to push Congress and the courts to overhaul the federal permitting process for natural gas pipelines. (Virginia Mercury)
• Pipeline company Enbridge issues a work from home order due to COVID-19 concerns that affects 1,100 employees in the Houston area. (Houston Chronicle)
COAL:
• Bankrupt coal company Revelation Energy is polluting water and ignoring orders to stop, according to West Virginia environmental regulators. (E&E News, subscription)
• Federal mine safety regulators issue a report about a mining-related death earlier this year in West Virginia. (WV Metro News)
COAL ASH:
• Some groundwater tests near the TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant in Tennessee reportedly show levels of certain chemicals above federal standards, causing residents to raise concerns with officials. (Columbia Daily Herald)
• Water testing for Georgia residents concerned about coal ash pollution is cancelled after county officials back out of an agreement with Duke University researchers. (WGXA)
OVERSIGHT: The Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit close to the public, though the latter is expected to hear a case March 31 about federal regulators blocking landowners from challenging pipelines. (E&E News, subscription)