UTILITIES: A company that offers 100% renewable electricity to customers has a case before Virginia regulators seeking to enter that state’s market. (Southeast Energy News)

OVERSIGHT:
• President Trump appoints a former utility lobbyist to oversee environmental enforcement. (The Intercept)
• The head of West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection, a longtime coal industry consultant, fires the state’s environmental advocate. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• The new chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority hopes the utility continues its path toward carbon reduction even after Trump appoints a new board. (Associated Press)

CLIMATE: While the Trump Administration downplays climate change, states like Louisiana still have to deal with the impact. (Bloomberg)

PIPELINES:
• A shakeup at FERC could mean delays for major pipeline projects. (WLRN)
• A West Virginia couple is at the center of a lawsuit over whether companies can survey for pipelines without landowner permission. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

SOLAR:
• A Florida solar installer plans to expand into South Carolina. (WMBF)
• Virginia’s governor says solar development is “building both the new Virginia economy and a better future for our children.” (Augusta Free Press)
• A Mississippi utility will have 105 MW of solar online by this spring. (Hattiesburg American)

VIRGINIA: A summary of renewable energy bills under consideration in the Virginia legislature. (Power for the People VA)

OIL AND GAS: A trade publication predicts a rebound in oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico this year. (The Advocate)

COAL:
• An updated tally finds West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice owes $4.6 million in unpaid safety fines and penalties. (Associated Press)
• In West Virginia, more than $4.5 billion worth of cleanup work remains at sites abandoned by coal companies. (Associated Press)
• Why a Mississippi “clean coal” plant could be the last of its kind if President Trump follows through with plans to gut climate policy. (Bloomberg)
• Kentucky sees its first mining fatality of 2017. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• Utility officials in Arkansas say it’s unlikely coal will make a comeback. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

COAL ASH: A trial begins today over claims ash from a Tennessee coal plant polluted the Cumberland River. (Associated Press)

HYDRO: A Virginia lawmaker is optimistic about the chances for his bill that would encourage development of pumped hydro storage for clean energy. (Kingsport Times-News)

NUCLEAR: The University of Arkansas offers a glimpse inside its long-shuttered experimental reactor before it’s demolished. (KASU)

COMMENTARY:
• A report on solar industry jobs shows how hard it will be for Donald Trump to keep his promise to revive coal country. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
• A Florida advocate says the Sabal Trail pipeline is already damaging the land. (Tallahassee Democrat)
• An opponent says FERC’s impact statement on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline “whitewashes all of the negative impacts” of the project. (News Virginian)
• An oil industry group says the oil industry is doing its part to preserve Louisiana’s coastline. (Houma Today)
• Why “perpetual energy” is a better term for offshore wind. (Morganton News Herald)
• Virginia lawmakers should reject bills seeking to keep fracking information from the public. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy, and has led the project from its inception as Midwest Energy News in 2009. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he held a variety of editing, production, and leadership roles, and played a key role in the newspaper's transition to digital-first publishing. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon.