COAL: The coronavirus pandemic is speeding the coal industry’s collapse as mines shut down, lay off workers, and slow production. (Allegheny Front)

ALSO:
• As the coal industry continues to decline, West Virginia is grappling with how to handle mine lands abandoned by coal companies. (Quartz)
• Coal communities in east Tennessee and Kentucky are trying to protect high-risk black lung disease patients while groups pressure Congress for more financial support in Appalachia. (Southerly) 

***YOUR AD HERE: Webinar? Job posting? Virtual event? Every day, Energy News Network email digests reach thousands of highly engaged professionals. Click here for more information on how to get your promotion to our audience.***

UTILITIES:
• Environmental groups call on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to require utilities to keep power on for customers during the pandemic, while a group of utilities say they will lower bills. (Tampa Bay Times, News4Jax)
• A NextEra executive says the company still wants to buy South Carolina utility Santee Cooper, despite opposition from some lawmakers. (Utility Dive)

NUCLEAR: A Georgia court rejects a challenge to the Plant Vogtle nuclear power expansion for a second time, saying it can’t consider it until the project is complete. (WABE)

OIL & GAS: In a 10-day span of the oil market crash, 2,500 oil and gas workers in Texas have lost their jobs. (Houston Chronicle)

PIPELINES:
• Pipeline operator Energy Transfer is looking to use two Texas pipelines to store oil during the pandemic. (Bloomberg)
• A Republican-sponsored ratepayer protection measure in Virginia could spell trouble for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (E&E News, subscription)

COMMENTARY:
• Louisiana’s economy will suffer if the coronavirus pandemic continues, causing the oil and gas industry to struggle even more, a professor writes. (The Advocate)
• The coalfields of southwest Virginia could gain significantly more solar energy because of the state’s new laws, an advocacy group writes. (Appalachian Voices)

Lyndsey Gilpin is a freelance journalist based in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. She compiles the Southeast Energy News daily email digest. Lyndsey is the publisher of Southerly, a weekly newsletter about ecology, justice, and culture in the American South. She is on the board of directors for the Society of Environmental Journalists.