March updates and stories we're following...
North Carolina: New campaign: Energy Justice NC
From: Jim Warren, NCWarn -- Please support this new powerful campaign to slow climate change and shift North Carolina to clean, affordable energy. In doing so, we can break free of Duke Energy's damaging monopoly control over our politicians and vitally important decisions.
Organizations and businesses can sign the petition here:
www.energyjusticenc.org/organization-petition/
Individuals can sign here: www.energyjusticenc.org/petition/
South Carolina - VC Summer COLs terminated, MOX license terminated
New nuclear projects officially dead in S. C.
From SRSWatch -- The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has notified the holders of the Combined Operating Licenses for the VC Summer units 2 & 3 inn South Carolina that the COLs have been terminated. The termination letters were posted in ADAMS on March 13, 2019. This is the official end of the bungled, costly project (a waste of $11+ billion).
Also, March 14 is the last day for intervening parties to appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court the SC PSC's February 12 decision denying a hearing of the approval of the Dominion takeover of SCE&G and the charge of about 3% of the monthly bill for 20 years to pay for the debacle. Though an appeal was considered by Friends of the Earth/Sierra Club, the long odds of success mean that no appeal will be filed and no other parties will appeal.
NRC letter to SCE&G terminating COLs for VC Summer units 2 & 3
https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML18198A299
NRC letter to Santee Cooper (45% partner in the project) terminating COLs, March 7, 2019:
https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML18199A317
And, the other nuclear construction boondoggle in South Carolina - the plutonium fuel MOX project - had its "construction authorization" terminated by the NRC on Feb. 8, 2019. SRS Watch news release www.srswatch.org/uploads/2/7/5/8/27584045/srs_watch_on_license_termination.pdf.
Now, we are fighting conversion of the MOX plant to production of plutonium "pits" for nuclear weapons. We have demanded a Programmatic EIS (PEIS) of DOE on pit production - group news release linked here - but DOE has not responded.
www.srswatch.org
www.facebook.com/SavannahRiverSiteWatch
Join the Mounting Pressure Against Duke's Dirty Energy Plan
From NCWarn -- This keeps getting more interesting. Over 1,700 people - and now Attorney General Josh Stein - have now pressed state regulators to reject Duke's climate-wrecking expansions of fracked "natural" gas.
Key ruling imminent as Attorney General, local and state officials, climate experts and public call for open hearings and rejection of climate-wrecking fracked gas expansion
A ruling is expected any day on a regulatory hearing that could determine if North Carolina will finally join growing global efforts to avert runaway climate chaos or allow Duke Energy to continue driving humanity toward the cliff. The overall case could also determine if Duke can continue raising power rates repeatedly while stifling the growth of renewable energy paired with battery storage and the thousands of jobs the clean path would bring all across this state.
The NC Utilities Commission's pattern over many years has been to rubber-stamp Duke Energy's 15-year Integrated Resource Plan, an always-exaggerated projection of electricity demand and how Duke plans to meet it by building dirty power plants while minimizing the use of renewable energy. However, in last year's rate case some commissioners stood up against the Duke rubber stamp.
And since November, the commission has delayed a ruling on NC WARN's motion for a judicial-type hearing over the long-range plan - which is required in most states - where our attorneys and other parties can put experts on the stand and cross-examine Duke officials under oath. Duke continues to argue that the Commission should not even consider our Clean Path 2025 strategy that, by 2030, would replace all coal- and gas-fired generation with local solar-with-storage and energy-saving programs. http://www.ncwarn.org
Renewable Energy Update
From Phil Lusk --
According to the Sun Day Campaign,
for the first 11 months of 2018, the Energy Information Administration reported that renewables accounted for around 17.6% of the nation's total electrical generation - a bit less than their share of installed generating capacity of almost 21.0%.
This is because capacity factors for nuclear power and fossil fuels tend to be higher than those for most renewables.
Further, the U.S. solar and wind industries now employ some 350,000 workers nationwide - more than four times more than the coal sector, according to the 2019 U.S. Energy and Employment Report released this month.
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