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FLORENCE FLOODING COULD SPILL COAL ASH INTO CAPE FEAR RIVER: Flooding caused by Hurricane Florence has caused breaches to a dam at a closed coal plant, raising the possibility that coal ash stored in an adjacent pit could leak into the Cape Fear River.

Floodwaters on Thursday had overtopped an earthen dike at Duke Energy’s retired coal plant, the L.V. Sutton Plant in Wilmington, N.C.

The water spilled into the Sutton Lake, a man-made reservoir that supplies cooling water to the Sutton coal plant. The cooling lake does not store coal ash. But the reservoir is located next to two pits that do store coal ash.

Duke said Friday that floodwaters were continuing to overtop the dike at the north side of Sutton Lake. That overflowing water has caused breaches in the dam on the south end of the lake, which is flowing back into the Cape Fear River. It also forced Duke to shut down the 625-megawatt natural gas plant that now operates at Sutton after the coal plant retired in 2013.

Coal ash might be escaping from a storage site and flowing into the river — Duke can’t say for sure.

“We can’t say definitively what’s in the water at this moment in time,” Shannon Brushe, a Duke spokeswoman told Josh Friday. Brushe said the utility is in the process of collecting water samples from the river.

So far, Duke has found cenospheres, lightweight, hollow beads comprised of alumni and silica that are a byproduct of coal combustion, in the river, a sign that coal waste has entered the river.

Coal ash is the toxic waste left over from burning coal for electricity production.

Environmentalists have criticized the Trump administration for reconsidering an Obama-era rule that imposed new standards on coal ash disposal sites by increasing inspection and monitoring levels, and requiring power plants to install liners in new waste pits to prevent leaking that could threaten nearby drinking water supplies.

MEANWHILE, DUKE BEGINS RESTORING POWER TO NUCLEAR PLANT SHUT DOWN DURING FLORENCE: Duke is restoring power at the Brunswick nuclear plant, 40 miles away from the L.V. Sutton Plant, with one reactor in service and the other set to restart soon.

Brushe confirmed to Josh that the company returned power Thursday to one of two units at the 1,978-megawatt Brunswick nuclear plant near Wilmington.

Duke had shut down the two reactors as a precaution before Florence hit. It was the only nuclear plant to close in either North or South Carolina because of the storm.

Flooding had forced an emergency notice: Over the weekend, Duke workers had limited access to the Brunswick plant because of flooding.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that the plant was completely surrounded by water, with no way in or out of the facility, but on Thursday told John that it could be reached.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, compiled by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers John Siciliano (@JohnDSiciliano) and Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list.  

FERC AND TRANSPORTATION MOVE FORWARD WITH PLAN TO BOOST ENERGY DOMINANCE: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Transportation are moving forward with a plan to speed licenses for a growing queue of liquefied natural gas export terminals, and in doing so giving a boost to Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda.

U.S. LNG exports “will benefit the balance of trade, strengthen this country’s ties to its trading partners, and allow them to displace other energy sources with American LNG,” said FERC General Counsel James Danly in briefing commissioners on the plan Thursday. “It will also create jobs in the LNG industry and supporting industries.”

Officials with both agencies addressed staff and commissioners on the significance of moving forward with a landmark memorandum of understanding that FERC and Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration signed on Aug. 31 to speed up approvals.

Danly said that the agreement will allow accelerated reviews of a dozen pending applications, potentially allowing for projects capable of exporting more than 8 trillion cubic feet of gas per year by 2020.

A growing workload: For eight years, FERC has seen the number of LNG license applications grow, placing enormous strain on its resources due to the technical complexity of the projects, Danly said. FERC staff have had to confer with Transportation’s pipeline staff more often, resulting in more back-and-forth between the license applicant, FERC, and Transportation, which slowed the process. That is now changing.

The MOU means much for the U.S.’ global status as an energy leader: “Working together, PHMSA and FERC will bolster America’s status of a net exporter of liquefied natural gas which holds exciting potential for our nation and the world,” said Howard Elliot, the administrator of Transportation’s pipeline safety agency, speaking at FERC headquarters on Thursday.

“The United States already exports LNG to over 25 countries internationally,” he said. “As ever, PHMSA is committed to ensuring that this effort is conducted with safety not just in mind, but paramount.”  

FERC REJECTS UTAH’S MASSIVE WATER PIPELINE PROPOSAL: FERC on Thursday also put a damper on Utah Gov. Gary Herbert’s plan to move billions of gallons of water from Lake Powell to more drought-stricken counties in the state.

The federal commission rejected a petition by the state’s water board, which had asked the energy agency to site and permit the Lake Powell Pipeline, which crosses FERC’s jurisdiction with the hydroelectric power dams in the state.

FERC has a jurisdiction issue: But here’s where it gets interesting: FERC said it doesn’t have the jurisdiction to site and license the massive pipeline project to deliver 28 billion gallons of water to Utah’s Washington and Kane counties. FERC’s jurisdiction resides with the dams only, not the pipeline that would cross them.

Conservationists take victory lap: The group Western Resource Advocates, which has opposed the pipeline for years, took the decision as a major victory in pressing the state to examine alternatives to the massive and expensive pipe.

The  water conservation group said the pipeline was too risky and endeavor, especially after a study the group did five years ago found that the state’s plan was based on “flawed” assumptions.  

“The expense, risk, and impacts to our treasured public lands posed by the pipeline aren’t worth it — and it makes no sense to pursue the pipeline further, especially with taxpayer funds,” said Bart Miller, the group’s program director for river conservation.

The group wants Gov. Herbert to address Utah’s water needs through more rigorous use of conservation programs, which other states in the West have adopted to great success, it says.

“Abnormal dryness or drought are currently affecting approximately 2,764,000 people in Utah, which is about 100% of the state’s population,” according to the federal drought information system.

EPA STEERS CLEAR OF CLIMATE CHANGE AS G7 WRAPS UP: Environmental Protection Agency acting chief Andrew Wheeler on Thursday exited the Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations “pleased” to have made progress on a variety of pressing environmental issues, while skirting the issue of climate change.

In a bilateral meeting with Germany, Wheeler reiterated “how there is no shortage of important environmental issues to continue to work on with Germany and the rest of the G7 countries,” EPA said in a readout from the meeting with Germany. He made that comment after discussing President Trump’s decision to exit from the Paris climate accord, EPA said.

EPA said the U.S.’ goal at the meeting was aimed at international initiatives that address “tangible environmental issues with practical solutions,” including “minimizing food waste, reducing marine litter, and improving air quality.” Prompting governmental action related to climate change was not on the list.

On Wednesday, Wheeler told the Canadian Press in an interview that the administration continues to believe the Paris accord was not fair to the United States. Nevertheless, he insisted that the administration is taking a “serious look” at the country’s own carbon dioxide emissions outside of a global accord.

U.S. carbon emissions, the leading cause of global warming, were at at 25-year low in 2017 due to a switch from coal to natural gas-fired electricity and other cleaner sources of energy, according to the Energy Department. Carbon emissions are expected to rise this year, however.

EPA MOVES TO HEAL RIFT WITH ETHANOL INDUSTRY OVER WAIVERS FOR THE OIL INDUSTRY: The Environmental Protection Agency took a big first step on Thursday toward rectifying a major rift with the ethanol industry over the agency’s approval of dozens of waivers freeing oil refiners from a federal mandate to blend the corn-based fuel.

The step announced by EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler would reveal to the public, for the first time, how and when it granted special waivers to over two dozen refiners to help them bear the cost of meeting its Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, regulations. Critics of the waivers say that they harm the ethanol program and the nation’s agriculture sector and farmers.

“For the first time, EPA is providing new information to the public on small refinery exemptions and [ethanol credit] trading,” said Wheeler in a statement. “Increasing transparency will improve implementation of the RFS and provide stakeholders and the regulated community the certainty and clarity they need to make important business and compliance decisions.”

Read the full story here.

PUSH TO SCRAP LARGEST COAL PLANT IN WEST GETS NEW BOOST: So, the largest coal plant in the West that the federal government owns a 25-percent stake in suffered a new setback this week in an effort to keep the plant running until 2040.

The firm Middle River Power recently announced it is not moving forward with the purchase of the plant. Coal giant Peabody has been desperately looking for buyers to take ownership of the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona after most of its original owners opted to sell the plant last year. The plant was becoming too costly to operate in a market dominated by low-cost natural gas.

The recent news of the buyer bailing caused the Navajo community near where the giant coal plant resides to begin calling for the plant to be replaced with renewable energy.

“Based on economics alone, this plant was never going to make it past 2019,” said Nadine Narindrankura of Tó Nizhóni Ání, representing the community that leased the land when the plant was built in the 1970s.

“The time and money spent over the last year to find someone to buy the costly coal plant distracted from a clean energy transition that our people desperately need,” Narindrankura said in a statement from community leaders. “Navajo leadership needs to seize this moment.”

“The future is in renewables, not in a dead coal market,” she said.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL LIMITING USE OF PLASTIC STRAWS IN RESTAURANTS: California will become the first state to limit restaurants from providing plastic straws unless customers specifically ask for them.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill restricting the use of plastic straws at dine-in restaurants Thursday, citing plastic pollution in the oceans that kills marine animals.

“It is a very small step to make a customer who wants a plastic straw ask for it,” he said in a statement. “And it might make them pause and think again about an alternative. But one thing is clear, we must find ways to reduce and eventually eliminate single-use products.”

There’s an anti-plastic movement happening: California’s law is just one part of it. Starbucks has vowed to stop using plastic straws by 2020, and Seattle has banned plastic utensils and straws from bars and businesses.

ZINKE TO TOUR GRAND CANYON TO BOOST SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL PARK REPAIR BILL: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is planning to visit the Grand Canyon on Saturday to witness the national park’s need for repairs, as he seeks to build support for legislation in Congress to fix the problem.

The Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona alone has a maintenance backlog of more than $329 million, out of a $12 billion total backlog for the nation’s 417 national park sites.

Bipartisan legislation could fix the problem: Zinke hopes to marshal support for a bipartisan bill passed by the House Natural Resources Committee this month that pays for billions of dollars’ worth of repairs and maintenance in the country’s national parks with money the government collects from energy development on public lands.

The Trump administration supports the bill, which is expected to head to the House floor soon.

Zinke plans to continue his lobbying for its passage on Monday, when he will tour the Zion National Park in Utah with Rep. Rob Bishop, the Republican chairman of the Natural Resources Committee who co-sponsored the repair bill.

KOCH-BACKED STUDY SAYS EXTENDING EV TAX CREDIT WOULD COST CONSUMERS: A study backed by billionaire oil and gas investors Charles and David Koch concludes that expanding a tax credit for electric vehicles would cost consumers billions.

A study this month done by NERA Economic Consulting, commissioned by Flint Hills Resources, a Koch Company, found eliminating a cap on electric vehicle sales that can qualify for a federal tax credit would cause the collective personal income of U.S. households to fall by $7 billion in 2020 and $12 billion in 2035, or about $50 to $70 per household.

“Although consumers benefit from lower gasoline bills and EV infrastructure investment stimulus, consumers ultimately pay for the tax credit and investment in EV infrastructure both directly and indirectly,” the study says. “As a result, consumers have less money to spend and reduce their consumption of other goods and services.”

The study aims to combat a GOP-backed bill: Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., engaged in a tough re-election fight, is lobbying support for legislation he wrote that would extend the $7,500 per vehicle tax credit for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Under the rules of the current tax credit, manufacturers no longer qualify for it after they sell 200,000 vehicles. Heller’s bill would remove that limit, in a boon to Tesla, which has already reached the limit. Tesla manufacturers batteries in Heller’s home state.

Electric vehicles, which are now less than 1 percent of global car sales, are expected grow to nearly 20 percent of the market by 2030, as battery costs come down and governments incentivize their purchase.

RUNDOWN

Washington Post A ‘massive’ spike in oil smuggling has eased the economic pressure on North Korea

Houston Chronicle Lopez Obrador moves ahead on refinery overhaul, threatening U.S. gasoline exports

Politico Democrats promise to investigate Zinke if House flips

Wall Street Journal Growing opposition threatens completion of last U.S. nuclear plant

Bloomberg Russia’s biggest oil producers have never had it so good