Moniz: solar growth will continue without tax credit

SOLAR: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz says the U.S. solar industry would continue to grow without the current 30% investment tax credit that companies want extended beyond 2016. (PV Magazine)

VIRGINIA: Gov. Terry McAuliffe launched a state program Wednesday to help local governments and businesses lower financing costs of clean energy projects. (WRIC-TV, Richmond)

ENERGY STORAGE: Spurred by innovators like Tesla, the energy storage business is growing fast. (The Washington Post)

NUCLEAR: A new study says a sweeping retirement of nuclear power reactors would make it ​“extremely difficult if not impossible” for the Clean Power Plan to succeed. (Greentech Media)

COAL: As the decline of the coal industry accelerated, executive salaries and bonuses at the top 10 publicly traded U.S. coal companies increased an average of 8% from 2010 to 2014. (Mother Jones)

COAL ASH:
• Radioactive contaminants have been found in coal ash, according to a new Duke University study. (WFDD Public Radio)
• Residents in Lee County, North Carolina say they aren’t comforted by tests that Duke Energy officials say show no hazardous levels of toxic material in a nearby coal ash site. (Fayetteville Observer)

OIL TRAINS:
• A survey by the Associated Press indicates New Orleans and many other big cities are ill-prepared for a major oil train derailment.
• Nearly 300 Fayette County, West Virginia residents have sued CSX for exposing them to chemicals after one of its trains carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in February. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Federal regulators are soliciting grant applications to improve highway-rail grade crossings and tracks along routes that transport crude oil. (The Hill)
• Federal regulators have extended a deadline until year’s end for railroad oil train operators to fix defective valves. (McClatchy Newspapers)

POLITICS: In a preview of his energy platform, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said he wants to end the ​“massive regulation” of the oil and gas industry and halt the Clean Power Plan. (Saint Peters Blog, Climate Progress)

COMMENTARY: Virginia’s monopoly utility model does not serve 21^st century needs nor capitalize on now-proven technologies. (Power for the People VA)