In the news today…
Coal:
- NPR reports some lawmakers are stepping in to try and slow the shift away from coal with new legislation to aid in the selling of power plants instead of decommissioning them.
- Engadget reports, while renewable energy is on the rise, demand for natural gas and coal has grown; natural gas and coal accounted for nearly 70 percent of additional growth for the second year running in 2018.
- E&E Energywire reports the Indiana House utilities committee approved a bill that would establish a moratorium on regulatory approval of a power plant or power contracts greater than 250 megawatts until January 2021 in an attempt to boost coal.
- E&E Daily reports a bill banning mountaintop-removal coal mining re-emerged Wednesday ahead of a House hearing next week on the method’s connections to cancer and other illnesses in surrounding communities.
- WVNews reports Gov. Jim Justice signed three bills intended to benefit the state’s coal industry by reducing the state’s severance tax on thermal and steam coal, creating a tax rebate for mining investments and addressing various safety regulations and abandoned mines.
- Bloomberg reports at least one mining company, Contura Energy Inc., hasn’t been swayed by tax incentives to open new mining operations in West Virginia.
- Utility Dive reports a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to force state water agency Central Arizona Project to buy the Navajo Generating Station.
- The Billings Gazette reports Montana’s Rep. Greg Gianforte accused Washing Gov. Jay Inslee of killing the Colstrip power plant at a House Energy Committee hearing among other damages done to the coal industry of Montana.
Energy:
- Greentech Media reports Idaho Power’s intentions to transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2045, accompanied by low prices in the solar industry and declining stakes in coal.
EPA:
- The Hill carries an opinion piece which argues the Trump administration’s EPA proposal to weaken MATS distorts the cost-benefit analysis in order to make MATS look too expensive and to skew the cost-benefit analysis used for setting many regulatory standards.
World News:
- Reuters reports Germany will provide 20 million euros in assistance to four states affected by government plan to phase out coal-powered energy and transition to renewables.