COAL ASH: The chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says it will advocate for residents living near ash disposal sites in North Carolina and elsewhere. (Winston-Salem Journal)

ALSO: An investigation turns up more questions than answers about the health impacts of water contamination near coal ash ponds. (Carolina Public Press)

***SPONSORED LINK: Register now for WINDPOWER 2016 – the wind energy industry’s largest annual conference, May 23-26 in New Orleans. Register here. ***

SOLAR:
• Jacksonville’s utility weighs how to revamp its solar program including reducing how it compensates customers for excess power their systems send back to the grid. (Florida Times-Union)
• Advocates of a proposed tax break for businesses gear up to educate voters before Florida’s state primary election in August. (Florida Politics)
• Duke Energy opens its largest solar farm to date. (WITN-TV)

BLANKENSHIP TRIAL: Ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship appeals his sentence as the judge signals it will not release him on a $1 million bond. (Associated Press)

UTILITIES:
Federal auditors cite Duke Energy for overstating costs of merging with Progress Energy and projected a still-to-be-determined refund to ratepayers. (Winston Salem-Journal)
• A consumer group asks Louisiana regulators to revisit their approval Cleco’s sale to an asset management firm. (Baton Rouge Advocate)

WIND: A second round of bids appears to be lowering the price for two turbines off Virginia’s coast but Dominion isn’t committing yet to build them. (The Virginian-Pilot / Daily Press)

NUCLEAR: Natural gas and renewable sources increasingly are beating out reactors for competitively priced power. (National Public Radio)

COAL:
• A bill introduced by a West Virginia congressman to help displaced coal miners  earmarks $100 million for retraining over the next five years. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)
• Citing mining impacts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services places crayfish found in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia on the endangered species list. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

POLICY: Another wealthy Republican North Carolina native – Julian Robertson – joins Jay Faison in pressing for cleaner energy policies in Congress. (Bloomberg)

PIPELINES: Environmentalists in Florida step up their opposition to the proposed Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline citing risks to wetlands. (WMNF Public Radio)

OIL & GAS: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards intervenes in 39 wetlands damage lawsuits filed by local governments. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A $250,000 grant from Tennessee is helping a company develop and supply renewable energy to a municipal wastewater treatment plant there. (Electric Light & Power)

***SPONSORED LINK: Register today for Solar Power Southeast, May 25-26 in Atlanta. This year’s event will include educational sessions as well as a completely sold out exhibit floor. Get a 15% discount with code SPSE16SACE. ***

TECHNOLOGY: An controversial Italian inventor is suing two North Carolina investors and their companies over licensing a cold-fusion technology. (Triangle Business Journal)

COMMENTARY:
• Coal country could benefit from a prudently-designed carbon fee. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Be skeptical of utilities’ plans to brand utility-owned solar as “community solar for all.” (Southern Environmental Law Center)
• This is how we’re making clean energy a bipartisan issue in North Carolina. (Huffington Post)
• Parsing Georgia Power’s recently released coal ash data shows it plans to leave most of it in place, threatening existing ground and surface water. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
Why you should care about a multimillionaire ex-CEO of a coal company getting a year in prison. (Public Broadcasting Service)
Florida voters should pay very close attention to the utility-backed, “smart solar,” Constitutional amendment. (Gainesville Sun)

Jim Pierobon, a policy, marketing and social media strategist, was a founding contributor to Southeast Energy News. He passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

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