CHARLOTTE -- On Friday evening, Duke Energy Carolinas filed a notice of intent to temporarily raise rates after state regulators denied the utility a request to defer potential losses due to the pandemic.
Duke intends to offset the rate hike by accelerating refunds of excess taxes to customers, but cannot guarantee that ratepayers will not see bigger bills as the summer progresses. Tomorrow, Duke can resume utility disconnections for delinquent accounts.
Charleston, WV -- Yesterday, the federal district court for the Southern District of West Virginia ruled that the Justice Group’s Red Fox coal mine was liable for more than 3,000 Clean Water Act violations. The lawsuit brought by the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), Appalachian Voices, and the Sierra Club contends that the mine was liable for exceeding its required discharge limits. The groups were represented by attorneys with Appalachian Mountain Advocates and Public Justice.
his morning, the Sierra Club hosted a webinar with Congressman Jason Crow, Mayor Laura Weinberg of Golden, and CEOs of three local clean energy companies. The telepresser was an opportunity for the panelists to express their support for the federal Coronavirus Relief Package. Panelists discussed the benefits of passing a coronavirus relief bill that bolsters Colorado’s clean energy industry and supports clean energy workers.
WASHINGTON DC.--Today the Sierra Club and Conservation Law Foundation filed an appeal of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) water pollution permit for the Merrimack Station coal-fired power plant. The updated permit, which was finalized in May, failed to include critical water pollution protections that the agency had previously proposed. Unlike EPA’s prior proposal, the updated permit did not require the plant to install a modern cooling-water system.
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission voted today to extend the utility disconnection moratorium for residential customers until September 1, 2020. The commission decided 2-1 to extend the moratorium in order to safeguard the public health of Wisconsin residents during the COVID-19 health crisis. The PSC had previously voted on June 11 to end the moratorium on utility disconnections.
A new criminal complaint followed the FBI arrest of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder for corruption charges linked to the passage of Ohio’s House Bill 6 (HB 6); the coal and nuclear bailout tax legislation.
n July 10, the D.C. Circuit court ruled in favor of the Sierra Club’s lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its decision to omit Ottawa County from the agency’s list of areas across the country that are out of attainment with health-based federal ozone (smog pollution) standards. A nonattainment designation triggers stricter rules for permitting new sources of pollution, and requires that the state come up with a plan to bring the area back into attainment. The Clean Air Act makes clear that any county with pollution contributing to monitored violations of an air standard should be designated nonattainment.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has failed in its obligation to protect the water quality and health of families living near the Cross, Winyah and Wateree coal plants, all of which are located in predominantly Black and low-income communities. At all three sites, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits—which monitor and limit industrial discharge into waterways—expired almost a decade ago.
Today, Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, through its lawyers at the Department of Justice, formally objected to an agreement between DTE Energy and the Sierra Club that would bring air quality improvements to communities of color burdened by decades of coal plant pollution in River Rouge, Ecorse, and the 48217 zip code.
Harrisburgh, P.A. - The Pennsylvania House approved House Bill 2025 today, which would remove the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) legal ability to regulate climate-disrupting carbon dioxide pollution from any source within the Commonwealth. This would include preventing the implementation of the "cap-and-invest" program that allows participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) which is currently being developed. The bill now advances to the Senate.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Thursday, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a Trump administration attempt to allow polluters to illegally sidestep clean air regulations -- and protected the public’s right to seek legal relief.
Sierra Club staff, volunteers, and members began submitting comments and testifying before the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on the agency’s supplement to its draft Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Vineyard Wind project, which is planned to be built off the coast of Massachusetts.