News – All Regional Issues Articles

2021

• Opinion: It’s not too late to call it quits on the Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Nuclear will be major for Virginia’s electric grid as utilities decarbonize, regulator says

• Port of Virginia Plans to Run on 100-Percent Clean Electricity by 2024

• Predatory residential solar installers could sow mistrust, advocates fear

• Federal solar import investigation slows Virginia projects

• Turning wind into power off the Wilmington coast could be a decade away

• Public comments again sought on Botetourt County wind farm

• Pipeline developer urges replacement of 4th Circuit Panel

• Dominion makes its case to SCC for $9.65 billion from customers to build wind farm

• State panel studies potential impact of gold mining in Virginia

• Shareholders ask Dominion for report on risk of stranded natural gas assets

• Advocates say Duke Energy’s North Carolina climate plan relies too heavily on fossil fuels

• New Comment Period and Public Meeting Announced for Rocky Forge Wind Farm’s Modified Permit

• Not a great time to roll out Dominion’s pricey solar tariff

• Mountain Valley pipeline delayed as costs rise to $6.6B

• Gold mining comes with risks and rewards. But those aren’t equally shared.

• Gas Giants Have Been Ghostwriting Letters Of Support From Elected Officials

• Panel says Virginia should do more to promote solar development on brownfields

• Virginia’s solar output more than doubles in one year

• Is Joe Manchin Worth Compromising With Anymore?

• Federal regulators issue key approval for Mountain Valley Pipeline, but project faces fresh legal scrutiny

• Marshall: Chickahominy Power plant is dead. Is the Mountain Valley Pipeline next?

• Youngkin administration says it aims to speed up environmental permitting

• Billions of dollars at stake as huge gold mine moves ahead with South Carolina expansion

• Youngkin administration sets stricter runoff rules for solar farms

• Virginia SCC staff questions Dominion Energy’s offshore wind cost assumptions

• NC has great potential for offshore wind development, experts say, and a gust of direct benefits could follow

• Gill lice detected for first time in Virginia trout

• In A David Versus Goliath Battle Between NGOs And A Pipeline Company, Goliath Is Losing

• Appeals court won’t revisit decision to reject Mountain Valley Pipeline permit

• Natural gas pipeline expansion would pass through Suffolk

• Virginia Senators push for new National Scenic Area on Shenandoah Mountain

• Dominion agrees to study viability of Wise power plant that’s not producing much power

• Keep an eye on costs, but Virginia needs offshore wind – Virginia Mercury – 4/1/22

• More than 800 solar projects in Bay states stuck waiting for review

• With construction at a standstill, Mountain Valley Pipeline looks for solutions

• Chickahominy Power cancels plans for natural gas plant in Charles City

• Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Requests Moratorium on Land-disturbing Activities in Candy Darter Critical Habitats

• Rocky Forge Wind Project Becomes Can Kicked Down The Road

• Coal country crawfish get critical habitat protections

• Youngkin says RGGI won’t cut emissions. Critics say his own report shows he’s wrong.

• Bill stripping citizen air and water boards of permitting power headed to governor

• Mountain Valley Pipeline lead investor urges patience

• Limpert: Mountain Valley Pipeline will be a health hazard

• Buffalo Creek — 50 years later

• Do opponents of Botetourt County wind farm live too far away to sue?

• Tilting toward windmills

• The ACP was canceled but we still lost our land

• Mountain Valley facing ‘greater uncertainty,’ lead partner in pipeline project says

• The Mountain Valley Pipeline Can Never Be Completed—Time For Everyone to Admit It

• Developers halt Va. natural gas pipeline

• Air and water board bills hurt businesses and communities

• Planned wind farm in Botetourt County again looking for a buyer of its renewable energy

• Dominion Energy Plans to Put New Coal Ash Landfill on Potomac River

• Future of Mountain Valley Pipeline clouded by court decisions

• House panel rejects metals mining study

• Senate panel advances bill to strip citizen boards’ environmental permitting power

• Senate approves ceding site-specific water pollution permit limit oversight, weakening some water quality standards

• Mountain Valley Pipeline loses permit to cross through Jefferson National Forest

• Court may back Mountain Valley pipeline, despite NEPA fight

• Conservation Groups Scrutinize Monongahela Timber-Harvest Proposal

• ‘Make it more environmentally sound’: Citizen group takes on popular Southwest Va. trail network

• GOP senator says Youngkin would sign bill to ban Dominion Energy campaign donations

• The GOP offensive against climate action begins

• Union joins fight against Trump-era EPA boss

• MVP Still Targeting Summer 2022 Start-Up Despite Latest Lawsuit

• Trump EPA head, coal lobbyist tapped as Virginia’s environmental chief

• Top Northam administration officials say state should not forbid new fossil fuel plants

• Restoring Lands Impacted by Scuttled Appalachian Natural Gas Pipelines to Cause Minimal Impacts, FERC Affirms

• SCC throws roadblock at proposed Central Virginia pipeline project

• Gold mining study begins as discoveries continue in Virginia

• How big can the offshore wind industry be in Hampton Roads? Leaders ‘trying to create it from scratch.’

• Solar boosters pool money and know-how to put panels on neighbors’ homes

• Mountain Valley Pipeline stream-crossing permit approved by Virginia regulators

• Virginia regulatory board denies Mountain Valley Pipeline compressor station permit

• Exploratory drilling for copper, zinc underway in Pittsylvania County as new environmental coalition forms

• Resident group opposed to gold mining

• Chickahominy Pipeline: Should we trust them?

• Virginia’s flood woes: It’s time for some consistency

• Meet a clean water activist fighting to protect Virginia streams from the Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Army Corps of Engineers again pushes back deadline for DEP decision on key water permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Ghazala F. Hashmi column: Mountain Valley Pipeline is unjust and our state board must deny new permits

• Chatham residents and others to speak against Lambert Compressor Station at air board hearing

• Stark Choice for Va. Regulators on Shared-solar ‘Minimum Bill’

• Green energy may flourish even with Republicans dominating Richmond

• SCC approves settlement in review of Dominion Energy Virginia rates

• A coal plant fights to stay open. It could enrich Manchin

• State should have oversight over proposed Chickahominy Pipeline, regulator says

• Mountain Valley Pipeline has a terrible record. Why would regulators let it go forward?

• Black Appalachian Coalition aims to shift narrative on energy, other issues

• Second lawsuit filed by opponents of proposed wind farm in Botetourt County

• Big gold mine fined again, this time for toxic discharge violations near SC town

• Giant Virginia Offshore Wind Project Makes Five Key Construction Awards

• Head of WV transportation says federal infrastructure bill would go a long way on highway projects

• Will property owners who lost land to scuttled Atlantic Coast Pipeline get it back?

• Mountain Valley Pipeline nears completion, but hurdles remain

• Environmental concerns dominate Army Corps public comment hearing on key permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Court hears arguments in latest legal attack on Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Water Board should reject Mountain Valley Pipeline permit this time around

• At issue in Chickahominy Pipeline hearing: Just what is a public utility?

• Underground mine safety test center near Snowshoe gets green light

• Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Plans Virginia Beach, Virginia, Offshore Wind Turbine Facility

• The common wealth of water

• Dominion, attorney general and SCC staff reach deal in contentious rate case

• In Virginia, momentum grows for grassroots group mobilized against now-canceled gas plant

• Gubernatorial candidates comment, or choose not to, on Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Major U.S. offshore wind plan hits obstacles

• Landmark EJ ruling sparks legislative reckoning in Va.

• Uranium mining ban upheld as Supreme Court of Va. declines to reopen lower court ruling

• Mountain Valley Pipeline water permit arguments tread familiar ground

• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Steals Citizen Board Authority, Falsely Claims Board Made a “Preliminary Decision” to Issue Mountain Valley Pipeline Permit

• ‘Completely out of the norm’: Central Virginia counties protest Chickahominy Pipeline plan

• U.S. Interior Department Orders WV To Bolster Coal Mine Cleanup Program

• West Virginia’s coal powered the nation for years. Now, many look to a cleaner future.

• Editorial: A cleaner future won’t happen without developing a new generation of talent

• A historically Black town stood in the way of a pipeline – so developers claimed it was mostly white

• EPA, New River Gorge, others express concerns to FERC about potential Mountain Valley Pipeline impacts

• Southwest Virginia landowners still fighting pipeline’s use of eminent domain

• Can Southwest Virginia remake itself as a laboratory for renewables?

• Dominion Virginia customers should get $312 million refund, plus rate cut, SCC staff says

• Mountain Valley Pipeline seeks the identity of its anonymous critics

• DEQ taking public comments on Mountain Valley Pipeline stream crossings

• Virginia environmental regulators make preliminary decision to issue key water permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline

• On Shenandoah River, algae and bacteria continue to plague recreation — and human health

• Virginia county fends off natural gas plant, but battles continue

• Lawsuit against wind farm in Botetourt County allowed to move forward

• Federal environmental assessment green-lights change in Mountain Valley Pipeline construction method

• Fight brewing over alleged aquifer damage by Mountain Valley Pipeline

• National Academies to study potential impacts of gold mining in Virginia

• Dominion should return property to owners

• A close look at what’s next now that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline has been canceled

• The South’s Clean Energy Disruption

• Federal review recommends leaving cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline pipe, felled trees in place

• Pipeline’s plan to offset greenhouse gas emissions questioned by environmentalists

• Lawmakers ask SCC to analyze Dominion rates with an eye on refunds for customers

• Stop whining about solar panels — we need more now

• When Herring was in midst of primary, Dominion Energy gave $200K to association helping his campaign

• Coal fuels less and less Virginia electricity. But when should utilities pull the plug on plants?

• Wind farm planned for Botetourt missed deadline for approval, county says

• Developer Abandons Virginia Gas-Fired Power Project

• How Va. pipeline ruling may reshape environmental justice

• EPA challenge muddles future of Mountain Valley pipeline

• Hadwin: MVP: The whole story

• Company exploring new gas pipeline in five central and eastern Va. Counties

• For many Nelson County residents, victory over pipeline remains sweet one year later

• What sank the Atlantic Coast Pipeline? It wasn’t just environmentalism.

• Mountain Valley Pipeline follows familiar playbook: Push pollution into poor and minority communities

• Limpert: DEQ ignores health threats

• Air Board pushes decision on Lambert compressor station permit to September following complaints

• Virginia Gold Rush: Residents fear dangerous open pit mine will open in Buckingham County before General Assembly acts

• Researchers eye coal ash as a possible source of critical minerals — and Southwest Virginia jobs

• DEQ inspectors believe a proposed gas plant broke the rules. But the agency reversed a plan to revoke the permit.

• VIRGINIA & NORTH CAROLINA: Commercial Offshore Wind Parks on Deck

• The fracking boom is over. Where did all the jobs go?

• Nelson officials recognize anniversary of pipeline’s demise as day of celebration

• Biden must stop methane pipelines to deliver on climate change and environmental justice

• Randy Kesling: Protecting trout relies on rigorous pipeline oversight

• Va. pipeline tests landmark environmental justice ruling

• Wind farm in Botetourt County missed deadline for approval, opponents say

• New mapping tool aims to clarify Virginia environmental justice debates

• Governor tells lawmakers to ‘go back to the drawing board’ on major energy bill

• Dominion Energy’s wind turbines have been more efficient than expected

• Companies Behind Mountain Valley Pipeline Fail to Protect Shareholders From This Economically and Environmentally Nonsensical Project

• Water quality impact to be key consideration as Mountain Valley Pipeline hangs in limbo

• Mountain Valley Pipeline resumes work on steep slopes in Roanoke area

• Botetourt wind project hits resistance

• Dominion Slow-walks Efficiency & Keeps Their Rates High

• Virginia advocates seek path forward for electric school buses despite lack of state funds

• New N.C. State study finds socially vulnerable communities bear brunt of pipelines

• Comment period for key Mountain Valley Pipeline water permits is here

• Enviro Groups Argue: Mountain Valley Pipeline Drilling Proposal Requires Virginia Clean Water Act Review

• May 19 Endangered Species Day: Mountain Valley Pipeline Continues To Harm Their Habitats

• Virginia Activists Highlight Environmental Injustices in Fracked Gas Plant Permitting Process

• New mapping project brings 3 million acres of West Virginia wetlands into focus

• Dominion’s exit from regional capacity market raises some eyebrows — and questions

• Virginia should note Colorado’s approach to coal

• FERC urged to restore property rights in ACP’s path

• North Carolina regulators again reject proposed MVP extension

• MVP delayed again as project cost keeps rising

• Private land taken for MVP: At what price?

• West Virginia water quality in crosshairs again

• Charles City gas plant enters limbo with state certification in doubt

• Virginia DEQ announces new Environmental Justice Office

• Virginia landowners urge FERC to require cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline to relinquish easements

• Pipeline Run; MVP Opponents Continue the Protests

• 62 groups urge Biden admin to scrap Mountain Valley permits

• Protester who blocked pipeline work in Giles County is charged, jailed

• Hileman: DEQ should reject MVP’s water-crossing application

• As it takes up another contentious permit, air board wrestles with public engagement

• New superintendent named for Blue Ridge Parkway

• Council on Environmental Justice asks Northam to institute fossil fuel infrastructure ban

• ‘It’s time to retire’: With six-year struggle now behind them, some opponents of ACP moving on

• Pipeline opponents urge State Water Control Board to increase oversight

• Candy darter fish gets critical habitat designation, but remains in the path of a pipeline

• Funds from Mountain Valley Pipeline awarded for Carvins Cove land, other projects

• Editorial: Offshore wind represent prime opportunity for Virginia

• As Dominion’s rate review gears up, a broader fight about regulatory balance resurges

• Opinion: Competition will build a reliable, affordable energy future for Virginia

• Tom Farrell dies at 66, the day after stepping down as leader of Dominion Energy

• WV House approves Senate resolution supporting canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline project

• Stream crossings for Mountain Valley Pipeline become more complicated

• City, County Support Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area Designation

• Lawmakers must protect Virginians from the harms of gold mining

• Bondurant: Why was press blocked from tree-sitter removal?

• FERC rejects bid to halt Mountain Valley construction

• Defense League lobbies for landowner easements

• Appalachian Fracking Faces Financial Risks, Report Warns. Hopes for Petrochemical Plastics Boom ‘Unlikely.’

• W.Va. joins 21-state coalition in suit against Keystone XL cancellation

• Death of 600-mile pipeline leaves ‘zombie easements’

• Friends of Nelson fighting for pipeline easements to be released

• Mountain Valley Pipeline’s extension opposed by existing Transco pipeline

• Federal court rules that DEQ acted legally in denying MVP Southgate permit, but must explain itself

• IEEFA U.S.: Financial rationale for Mountain Valley Pipeline has evaporated in changing market

• Kevin Campbell: Manchin should chart new course for WV (Opinion)

• Water utilities, state environmental regulators wary of bill that would relax oil and gas tank oversight

• On environmental justice, Democrats split over the best path forward

• New Report Strongly Implies That the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s 2045/2050 Timeframe Is At Least a Decade Too Slow

• Virginia looks to gain ground in states’ slow race on electric vehicle policy

• The Atlantic Coast Pipeline Is a Bust, but Property Owners Along the Route Are Stuck in Limbo

• Mountain Valley Pipeline still on target for completion this year, developers say

• Investors Managing $250 Billion in Assets Call on Big Banks to Stop Funding Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Editorial: Bold investment needed to modernize electric grid

• ATC Rejects Mountain Valley Pipeline Opponents’ Request to See $19.5 Million Agreement

• Blackjewel’s bankruptcy is a harbinger of trouble ahead for the plummeting coal industry

• Dominion Cleaning by Greening, but Natural Gas Not a Goner

• Dominion plans to build nearly 200 giant wind turbines off Virginia. But getting that energy into the grid won’t be easy.

• ABRA members file comments with FERC about ACP restoration issues

• Press Release: Gold mining legislation approved by Virginia Senate

• Conservationists Urge Higher Fines for Mountain Valley Pipeline Project

• Mountain Valley Pipeline still facing concerns over Lewis County erosion issues

• ATC Reveals Further Details of $19.5M Pipeline Agreement

• Appalachia’s top natural gas-producing counties falling further behind economically, report says

• Va. Senate committee kills bills aimed at Dominion Energy over-earnings

• Will the House put the brakes on the electric school bus bill again?

• Appalachian Trail Conservancy Refuses to Make Public $19.5 Million Pipeline Agreement

• Mountain Valley Pipeline cited again for erosion and sedimentation violations

• Concerns over erosion impact of Mountain Valley Pipeline continue with project in limbo

• Mountain Valley to seek new water quality certifications from Virginia

• Christopulos: Another misleading poll from Mountain Valley Pipeline supporters

• Lawsuit seeks to stop proposed wind farm in Botetourt County

• Regulators say Dominion’s long-range plan doesn’t meet statutory standards

• Attorney general pushes for legislation aimed at Dominion Energy’s excess profits

• Dominion Energy nearly quadruples Virginia political contributions from 2018 to 2020

• Living with natural gas pipelines: Appalachian landowners describe fear, anxiety and loss

• The Biden administration promises to clean up mine land and create jobs in Appalachia. Here are some steps it can take.

• In a rare rebuke, FERC fails to approve Mountain Valley Pipeline’s proposal

• Forest Service approves MVP crossing through Jefferson National Forest, triggering lawsuit and frustration from environmentalists

• Bipartisan coalition looks to reform Virginia’s system of electric utility regulation

• AG Mark Herring Part of Lawsuit That Just Blocked Trump’s “Dirty Power” Rule That Violated the Clean Air Act

• Virginia groups sue U.S. Forest Service over new environmental review standards

• Electric resource plans suggest hotly contested path to WV’s energy future

• Manchin on fracking, climate and a clean energy standard

• Appalachian coal mine reclamation bonding issues highlighted in new report

• Atlantic Coast Pipeline restoration planned to start later in WV than other states

• Dominion files plans with federal regulators for 2.6 GW offshore wind project, largest in US to date

• Virginia’s legacy coal country looks to solar for economic growth

• Virginia Natural Gas planning $205 million pipeline project in ‘rural crescent’

Two major article categories were combined in 2021, reflecting changes affecting projects of interest and ABRA’s focus, more generally.

Prior to January 2021:

Local & ACP:

focused on stories about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, Dominion Energy and Virginia Energy and Environmental Policy.

Regional & MVP:

focused on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, regional pipeline issues, gas production and environmental concerns.