Tennessee reassessing VW plant incentives

VOLKSWAGEN EMISSIONS VIOLATIONS: Tennessee lawmakers are planning hearings about $900 million worth of incentives granted for a VW plant in Chattanooga. (Associated Press)

UTILITIES:
• Low natural gas prices are reducing consumer costs and cutting emissions at utilities in the Southeast. (EnergyWire)
• Shareholders of TECO Energy contend in a lawsuit that the Tampa-based utility holding company is worth more than $27.55 a share. (The Tampa Tribune)

SOLAR: Duke Energy plans to build a 6 megawatt solar plant on property it owns for a substation in Rowan, North Carolina. (Charlotte Business Journal)

EFFICIENCY: Duke Energy chooses a Georgia-based supplier of LED street light bulbs over Cree in Raleigh. (Charlotte Business Journal)

POLICY: Aimed at fostering new technologies, Senate Democrats unveil long-awaited legislation with their plan for a clean energy future. (The Hill)

WIND: A Virginia county seeks an engineering consultant to study the viability and safety of what could be the state’s first commercial wind farm. (The Roanoke Times)

RENEWABLES: Walmart is expected to join the latest wave of long-term corporate commitments to run their operations 100% with renewable energy. (The New York Times)

CLIMATE: Sea-level rise along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined with more frequent and violent storms could increase flooding there by several-hundredfold, according to a new study. (CBS News)

PIPELINES: New research based on data gathered in Durham, North Carolina indicates that replacing natural gas pipelines results in 90% fewer leaks. (Platts)

COAL ASH: The coal ash generated by Duke Energy’s Eden power plant which spilled into the Dan River in 2014 is headed for a private landfill in Amelia County, Virginia. (The Roanoke Times)

COAL:
• Blackhawk Mining won the auction for the West Virginia coal mines operated by bankrupt Patriot Coal. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Coal operator Murray Energy sues a union alleging breach of contract over safety issues. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

COMMENTARY:
• What was Volkswagen thinking? (The New York Times)
• Over-building, even redundancies are a real possibility with the frenetic push for new pipelines proposed to transmit fracked natural gas to the Southeast from Appalachia. (Southern Environmental Law Center)