Energy & Environment

Duke Energy is asking North Carolina regulators for permission to take solar rebate applications twice a year, instead of once. That's after a surge of applications on Jan. 2 overwhelmed the company's servers and led to confusion over who should get the first-come, first-served rebates.

About 45 residents showed up for a public hearing Thursday night in Belmont. They asked questions about Duke's plans to transfer coal ash from the Allen Steam Station to new, lined landfills.

Joe Madison, hands in his pockets, eyes the fresh tracks in the sand with keen interest. “They may have been here since this morning,” he says.

Duke Energy turned a profit of $660 million for the last three months of 2019, up 42% from a year ago. Duke attributed the growth in part to new investments in electric and gas plants and new renewable energy projects that came online.

A judge in Wake County has approved a settlement between state environmental officials, environmental groups and Duke Energy that requires Duke to dig up nearly 80 million tons of coal ash at six plants around the state.  

Updated 5:34 p.m.
The town of Davidson is restricting access to a town park after tests found asbestos in several locations. Town officials say the asbestos at Roosevelt Wilson Park off Griffith Street is from the former Carolina Asbestos mill nearby. 

Like hundreds of other cities, Louisville, Kentucky, is searching for a path to address climate change. Mayor Greg Fischer has declared a climate emergency, proposed a climate action plan and set a goal of reducing citywide carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. 

North Carolina is on track to experience the most significant changes to its climate ever by the end of this century, according to a new report.

HATTERAS — More than 100 sea turtles stunned by recent cold temperatures have washed up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the National Park Service said.

A group of state lawmakers from North and South Carolina want to deregulate the states' electricity markets by allowing competition for power production. At a press conference Thursday in Charlotte, the lawmakers said they want the two states to study the issue together and suggest reforms.  

State environmental regulators will hold a series of public hearings in February on plans to excavate coal ash at six Duke Energy plants around the state, including plants on Lake Norman and Lake Wylie, and to recycle ash at four other sites. 

Smithfield Foods says it's now producing natural gas from hog waste at a plant in Bladen County, in eastern North Carolina.  The $14 million project is a partnership between Smithfield, Duke Energy and Raleigh-based OptimaBio. 

RICHMOND, Va. — A permit needed to build a natural gas compressor station for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Virginia was thrown out Tuesday by a federal court that found the state failed to adequately consider the potential health effects on a historic African American community.

Duke Energy says 2020 rebates for new residential and commercial solar installations in North Carolina were taken up quickly after applications opened on Jan. 2. But there's still money left for nonprofits and local governments.

The N.C. Division of Waste Management will hold a public meeting Monday night in Davidson to talk about how a former asbestos mill could be cleaned up and redeveloped.