Energy news in brief

** Louisiana voters approve a ballot measure to adjust property tax rates on oil and gas wells based on whether they’re in production, according to S&P Global.

** E and E News reports the fate of legislators in Pennsylvania who favor more aggressive climate and clean energy action could be unclear for days as votes continue to be counted.

** Voters approve a ballot measure in Columbus, Ohio, enabling the city to negotiate a cleaner energy supply on behalf of residents.

** The Anchorage Daily News reports voters in Alaska are rejecting a citizen-led initiative to increase taxes on North Slope oil producers.

** Shell considers closing a Louisiana oil refinery if it can’t find a buyer, as the company moves forward with a plan to consolidate its refineries from 14 sites to six by 2025 reported The Advocate.

** The Mountain Valley Pipeline’s parent company says the project will now cost $6 billion, significantly higher than the $3.8 billion estimated in 2018, and delays its projected in-service date until the second half of 2021.

** The Dallas Morning News reports Texas’ “advanced energy” sector — which includes wind, solar, storage, energy efficiency and nuclear — was growing at twice the rate of the state labor market before the pandemic, and is holding up better than oil and gas now.

** An insurance company files a lawsuit demanding $128 million in collateral from Peabody Energy, citing the coal company’s “deteriorating” financial condition reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

** A federal appeals court starts a hearing into the yearslong dispute led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe over the Dakota Access pipeline and whether a lower court was justified in shutting it down pending reviews reported E and E News.