Google and private equity firm KKR are investing $400 million, including equity and debt financing, in six solar power plants being built by a subsidiary of Japan’s Sharp Corp. The projects have a combined capacity of 106 megawatts and should begin operating by January. [Reuters]

The Tennessee Valley Authority is retiring eight units at three coal plants with combined capacity of more than 3,000 MW. The company is building a gas-fired plant at an estimated $1 billion cost to replace the two shut-down coal units at the Paradise Plant. [Tennessee Valley Authority]

The ongoing tight oil boom is redirecting energy investors’ funds from refining to exploration and production company stocks. Oil company profits will remain robust because prices remain above production costs, while refiners are producing more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel than the market demands, analysts told Bloomberg. [Bloomberg]