Another poll finds strong support for Florida solar amendment

SOLAR: Another poll shows Florida voters support the utility-backed solar Amendment 1, this time with 84% backing, despite a lack of public awareness about what it will actually do. (Saint Leo University)

ALSO:
• Led by Strata Solar, several installers based in North Carolina make an industry’s list of the most influential solar companies in the U.S. (Charlotte Business Journal / Solar Power World)
• For the 10th year, the public is invited to tour solar homes in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region. (WVEC)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is to lead a field hearing in southern West Virginia next Wednesday to scrutinize how the plan would affect the coal industry. (Associated Press)

COAL: How the head of one of the largest coal miners in West Virginia – Murray Energy – plans to keep the company out of bankruptcy court. (S&P Global)

BP OIL SPILL: Damage to marshes along the Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf coasts could be ​“irreversible,” according to a new study. (Washington Post)

UTILITIES: North Carolina regulators approve Duke Energy’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas, clearing the way for the deal to close Monday. (Charlotte Observer)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators say there was ​“substantial potential” for an accident at a Westinghouse nuclear fuel plant in South Carolina. (Insurance Journal)

OIL & GAS: A Louisiana State University professor says the Lafayette region could lose another 5,000 jobs in 2017 and 2018 due to low oil prices. (The Advertiser)

PIPELINES:
• Federal regulators are slated to hold a public meeting Nov. 1 in Virginia about the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline and a report projecting its ​“minimal” environmental impact. (Danville Register & Bee)
• A review of federal records shows technology designed to detect leaks such as this month’s break in a gasoline line in Alabama are about as successful as a random member of the public finding it. (Reuters)

COMMENTARY:
• Another Florida newspaper recommends rejecting solar Amendment 1. (Bradenton Herald)
• The Clean Power Plan would move utilities in the same direction that the marketplace and technology already are driving them: toward cleaner power generation. (New York Times)
• The latest attacks on the Clean Power Plan make no sense and federal judges should affirm it. (Washington Post)