A bimonthly digest of regional energy news
A federal court halted work at nearly 1,000 stream crossings in Virginia and West Virginia one week after federal regulators allowed construction to resume on most of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
If approved, the rate increase could disproportionately impact low-income households in North Carolina.
As more coal companies file for bankruptcy, it remains unclear what will happen to hundreds of thousands of acres of unreclaimed mine land in eastern Kentucky and the rest of Appalachia.
"It is the best of both worlds. We can save money and care for the environment,” said Father Jonathan Goertz, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Danville, one of the churches joining the effort.
The last of North Carolina's moratoriums on utility shutoffs expired in August. While Gov. Roy Cooper allocated $175 million in rent and utility bill assistance, consumer advocates say that it won't be nearly enough.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule allows utilities to dump coal ash into unlined pits through April 2021, and some companies may be able to do so for longer.
Critics say a plan developed by Kentucky Utilities to address groundwater pollution from an unlined coal-ash pond seeping into Herrington Lake is inadequate.
Environmental groups in Alabama are asking power companies and legislators to move coal ash into lined landfills or recycle it.
Years after mining ends, selenium pollution from mountaintop removal coal mining operations still accumulates in insects downstream.
Since March, three states have passed bills that increase punishments against people who protest oil and gas development and designate oil and gas facilities as critical infrastructure.
In recent months, federal regulators have weakened two national air pollution standards and opted not to upgrade a third.
Sick and dying workers who helped clean up the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill rejected a settlement in April, and are now looking to sue for damages.
Bankrupt coal company Murray Energy has filed several notices warning of impending mass layoffs.
Virginia regulators initiated bond forfeiture at two coal mines owned by the family of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. The regulators cited failure to pay penalties and chronic environmental and public safety violations.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed the protection of 445 stream miles in Central Appalachia in January that serves as habitat for two at-risk aquatic species.
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