UTILITIES: Campaign contributions by Duke Energy’s political action committee in North Carolina closely aligned with lawmakers’ votes on a controversial bill that would have allowed the utility to collect upfront, multi-year rate increases. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Consumer advocates pressure Texas regulators to suspend electricity shutoffs during the coronavirus pandemic due to layoffs and furloughs. (Dallas Morning News)
• Pensacola, Florida’s mayor says he will not take a paycheck during the coronavirus pandemic and instead donate it to help residents pay utility bills. (CNN)
COAL: Coal miners in West Virginia are told to keep working during the coronavirus pandemic despite the fact they’re in close quarters and many have damaged lungs. (Washington Post)
OIL & GAS:
• Louisiana’s oil and gas industry profits off of work release programs that put prisoners to work servicing offshore drilling companies. (Southerly, Scalawag)
• Eleven energy companies say they will cut a combined $18.6 billion dollars from their budgets, setting the stage for tens of thousands of layoffs. (Houston Chronicle)
• A bipartisan group of lawmakers urge congressional leadership to provide assistance for oil and gas industry workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. (The Hill)
• EQT asks a court to dismiss West Virginia landowners’ claims that the company shorted them natural gas royalties. (Law 360, subscription)
SOLAR: A West Virginia bill that allows utilities to install up to 200 MW of solar could exponentially increase renewable energy in the state, experts say. (WVPB)
WIND: The deputy director of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management tells offshore wind executives that the industry is advancing rapidly and will be important to the country’s energy supply. (Offshore)
NUCLEAR: South Carolina’s legal battle to get millions of dollars in fines against the Energy Department for failing to remove plutonium from a nuclear fuel facility will be reviewed by an appeals court in early May. (Aiken Standard)