Environment
Environmental groups sue Tennessee Valley Authority over proposed new power plant
A trio of environmental groups has filed suit against the Tennessee Valley Authority, claiming the utility violated federal law by failing to properly evaluate climate, environmental and financial impacts of a proposed new gas-fired plant in Cumberland City, Tenn. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Nashville federal court, also claims that TVA quietly inked a […]
Jacobs Engineering settles Kingston coal ash case
After 10 years of litigation, workers who were forced to work without personal protection to clean up the Tennessee Valley Authority’s massive coal ash spill at its Kingston Fossil Plant in 2008 have reached a settlement in the case. TVA’s disaster clean-up contractor Jacobs Engineering posted a one-line notice Monday on its website affirming that […]
Overhaul federal permitting as part of the debt limit deal? Not as easy as it sounds.
Congressional leaders negotiating a deal to avoid a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt are talking about including an overhaul of how the federal government reviews projects for their environmental impact. There is bipartisan support for changes to the lengthy environmental approval process among climate-minded Democrats eager to speed construction of renewable energy projects, as […]
EPA again proposes power plant carbon rules
The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan — intended to cut carbon emissions from power plants — was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump administration’s much-criticized replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, derided as a “tortured series of misreadings” of the U.S. Clean Air Act, was also tossed by a federal court. […]
Rural electric co-ops to get $10.7B in USDA funds for clean energy grants, loans
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin to administer two loan and grant programs worth nearly $11 billion to boost clean energy systems in rural areas, administration officials said Tuesday. Congress approved the federal spending — $9.7 billion for a grant and loan program the department is calling the New Empowering Rural America program, or […]
Environmental groups pan TVA proposal to replace Kingston coal plant with natural gas facility
The Tennessee Valley Authority released a draft proposal on Friday that calls for replacing its Kingston coal-fired plant with a natural-gas facility, a move to swap one fossil fuel for another that disappointed but did not surprise critics who have long pressed the nation’s largest utility to make the transition to clean energy. The utility’s […]
Landfill developer sues Marshall/Maury County over denial of project on Monsanto site
A months-long battle over plans to establish a regional trash disposal facility on a federal Superfund site in Maury County that sits alongside the Duck River has now landed in court. Remedial Holdings filed suit Wednesday against the Marshall/Maury Municipal Solid Waste Planning Region Board, which in April rejected the company’s application to expand a […]
In the Southeast, where big utilities rule, calls for a real power market persist
A report prepared for the South Carolina state legislature and released on April 28 determined that a range of electric market and transmission reforms — including creating a new independent organization to run the electric grid or joining an existing one — would bring “substantial benefits” for customers, potentially as much as $362 million a […]
Murfreesboro takes steps to divert trash from landfills into new energy-producing venture
In the midst of prolonged legal disputes with owners of a regional landfill in Rutherford County, Murfreesboro is moving forward with plans to divert its household waste to a new venture that promises to turn trash into energy. The Murfreesboro City Council on Thursday approved the latest step in its partnership with WasteAway, which has […]
After shootings, regulator doesn’t recommend additional substation security standards
The organization in charge of setting and enforcing reliability standards for the U.S. electric grid isn’t recommending new physical security requirements for thousands of electric substations following a rash of shooting attacks that have knocked out power in parts of several states. Jim Robb, CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, told the Federal […]
EPA sued over failure to set, update pollution limits
More than a dozen environmental groups are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to set water pollution limits for some industrial contaminants as well as its reluctance to update decades-old standards for others, arguing that the agency’s inaction amounts to a “free pass to pollute” for hundreds of chemical and fertilizer plants, […]
Federal judge temporarily blocks new Biden WOTUS rule in two dozen states
A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday blocked in 24 states the Biden administration’s newly effective definition of waters that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, a George W. Bush appointee on retired status in the North Dakota District, issued a preliminary injunction in a case two […]