UTILITIES: Mississippi Power Co. has 90 days to come up with a settlement switching the Kemper “clean coal” plant to natural gas; the company has already made proposals. (Atlanta Business Chronicle, Associated Press)

ALSO: Florida regulators may decide later this month to expedite a utility’s plan to convert a power plant to natural gas. (South Florida Business Journal)

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RENEWABLES: Many worry North Carolina’s proposed wind moratorium is a threat to the state’s solar energy efforts, as the two are tied together in a bill awaiting the governor’s signature. (Utility Drive)

NUCLEAR:
• Georgia state law says customers must keep paying for the Vogtle nuclear project and Georgia Power cannot voluntarily suspend surcharges. (Atlanta Constitution-Journal)
• South Carolina regulators have delayed a hearing on a request by environmental groups to stop spending money on the problem-plagued Summer nuclear project. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• As nuclear power hits roadblocks, renewable energy sources have overtaken nuclear power as U.S. suppliers of electricity. (Bloomberg)

COAL:
• Energy Secretary Rick Perry toured a coal plant in West Virginia on Thursday, saying they’re important for the country’s future while also misstating how supply and demand work. (Associated Press)
• Whether a coal bill has removed language that could increase toxic chemicals discharged into West Virginia’s rivers now sits with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, but may go to court. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

GRID: Researchers from North Carolina State University are developing a way to route renewable energy from homes and businesses into the power grid. (R&D)

TRANSMISSION: The Army Corps of Engineers issued a final permit allowing Dominion Energy to build a high voltage transmission line in Virginia that is opposed by historic preservation groups. (Daily Press)

OIL & GAS:
• The nonprofit organization Progress Florida has joined those opposing the use of seismic airgun testing for oil and gas exploration off the state’s Atlantic coast. (SaintPetersBlog)
• The Sabal Trail pipeline went into service earlier this week. (WUSF)

COMMENTARY: A columnist says the Kemper plant’s move to natural gas and an interview with a coal CEO on carbon capture and sequestration support that “clean coal is a fiction.” (Think Progress)