Georgia’s solar growth is top U.S. clean energy job creator during Q1

SOLAR:
• Georgia’s growing solar industry ranked it as the top job-creator in U.S. clean energy industries during the first quarter of 2015. (Augusta Business Chronicle)
• Solar advocates and many others are watching carefully as Georgia Power today launches its rooftop solar business beginning in Atlanta. (Greentech Media)

SUPREME COURT RULING:
• Monday’s 5-4 decision that the EPA erred with a mercury and air toxics rule raises far-reaching questions about the legality of limits on carbon emissions in the Clean Power Plan. (Greenwire)
• Critics, led by Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, try to use the Court’s ruling to persuade states to ignore the Clean Power Plan’s proposed limits on carbon emissions. (EnergyWire)
• Why the Court’s ruling won’t matter as much as coal advocates would like to make you think. (Politico)

GASOLINE TAX HIKES: Georgia is among six states raising its gasoline tax starting today. (The Hill)

TRANSMISSION LINES: Dominion Virginia Power stepped up warnings of power outages on the state’s peninsula without a new high-voltage transmission line across the James River. (Daily Press)

CONSERVATION: Facing power costing 70 cents per kilowatt hour, University of Georgia students and staff cut back power usage during a 10-day heat spell in June, saving about $175,000. (Athens Banner-Herald)

COAL ASH: North Carolina residents are clashing with Duke Energy officials over threat of contaminated drinking water near its coal ash ponds. (Greensboro News & Record)

STORAGE: Duke Energy Renewables’ 36 megawatt energy storage system in Texas is proving to be a valuable tool in balancing power flows over the state’s grid. (Charlotte Business Journal)

GRANTS FOR RENEWABLES: Farms and small businesses in West Virginia are tapping U.S. Dept. of Agriculture grants for electricity from wind and solar. (RenewablesBiz)

COAL: A judge sentenced a former employee at an Arch Coal mining complex in West Virginia to six months in federal prison for lying during a kickback probe. (The Charleston Gazette)

TENNESSEE: Hundreds turned out as the Chattanooga City Council voted unanimously to support Tennessee’s compliance with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. (The Chattanoogan)

2010 GULF OIL SPILL: A former BP engineer is entitled to a new trial on obstruction of justice charges due to jury misconduct, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY:
• Utilities are orchestrating a ​“dubious and misleading” attack on solar choice in Florida. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy blog)
• A trucking bill in North Carolina is a ​“trojan horse” for Duke Energy’s coal ash leaks. (Restore NC blog)
• Efforts to mine coal near the endangered Black Warrior River in Alabama should be permanently blocked. (American Rivers’ blog)