Energy in America

More than 700,000 South Carolina power customers are unfairly "holding the bag," the state's top attorney told regulators Tuesday, obligated to pay over $2 billion in interest debt for a failed nuclear reactor construction project that has never generated any electricity and likely never will.

The agency that regulates utilities in Maine is opening an inquiry into the preparedness and response of electric companies following a powerful October windstorm that left more than half the state's population in the dark.

Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Tuesday as investors stepped back after several days of advances, erasing early gains.

The Latest on the climate summit taking place in Paris (all times local): 9:50 a.m.

More than 50 world leaders are gathering in Paris for a summit that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will give new momentum to the fight against global warming, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's rejection of the Paris climate accord.

U.S. stock indexes edged higher in early trading Monday as gains in technology and energy companies outweighed losses among makers of packaged foods and other consumer goods.

A government safety panel on Monday urged the temporary shutdown of twin oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac until their operator can finish inspections and repair coating gaps, after some members expressed concerns over a recent deal between the state and Enbridge Inc.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, consumer advocates and others have reached a settlement with Xcel Energy over the utility's plans to add more wind power for customers in New Mexico and parts of Texas.

___ Bitcoin futures soar amid frenzy over virtual currency NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street got its first taste of bitcoin on Monday, with the price of the first-ever futures contract for the digital currency jumping 20 percent.

The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local): 9:35 a.m.

More than a dozen oil companies failed to meet North Dakota's natural gas flaring goals three months ago.

The parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. is offering the site of a failed nuclear reactor project to the state-owned utility Santee Cooper.

Share prices were higher in Asia on Monday, lifted by encouraging employment data from the U.S. that took the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its third straight weekly gain on Friday despite weakness earlier in the week.

Germany's Siemens says it has signed contracts worth some 700 million euros ($824 million) to build two gas-powered electricity plants in Libya.

Share prices were higher in Asia on Monday, lifted by encouraging employment data from the U.S. that took the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its third straight weekly gain on Friday despite weakness earlier in the week.

Even as it clashes with American Indians over reductions to national monuments in the Southwest, the Trump administration is engaging with a Montana tribe over the creation of a new monument next to its reservation.

Stocks climbed around the world on Friday following a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report and a breakthrough in talks for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

___ A stronger global economy is helping boost the US job market WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a robust 228,000 jobs in November, a sign of the job market's enduring strength in its ninth year of economic recovery.

Minnesota officials need to do more work on the environmental review of Enbridge Energy's proposed replacement for its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline, which has drawn strong opposition from environmental and tribal groups.

The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by 2 this week, to 751, Baker Hughes, a GE company, reported.