Energy Report

A digest of regional energy news

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Bankrupt Coal Companies Dodge Liabilities and Distribute Bonuses

Three major U.S. coal companies have filed bankruptcy and are grappling with their liabilities to restore sites after mining and their obligations to employees, past and present.

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Controversy Shrouds Coal Ash Cleanup

In March, the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality held hearings across the state to solicit stakeholder comments on the cleanup plans for North Carolina’s 33 Duke Energy coal ash impoundments. The state also lifted do-not-drink warnings from households with contaminated wells near coal ash ponds.

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Don Blankenship Sentenced and other news briefs

A former CEO of a coal mining company receives a historic criminal sentence, Atlantic Ocean spared from drilling, new study shows West Virginia is flatter due to mountaintop removal coal mining and other energy briefs.

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Coal Export Market Evaporates

In 2011, the nation’s three largest coal companies bet billions of dollars on future Chinese demand for steelmaking metallurgical coal, a primarily from Appalachia. When Chinese demand fell, so did the Appalachian coal export market.

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Regional Solar Updates

North Carolina ranked second in solar growth for 2015, and a Virginia solar project is moving forward after an initial roadblock from state regulators.

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