POLITICS: North Carolina is among the states where today’s election for state legislative seats could have ramifications for zero-carbon energy plans. (E&E News)

ALSO:
• Two races for seats on the board that regulates Georgia utilities are on the ballot today and are considered toss ups. (Athens Banner-Herald)
• A Libertarian and Republican contest one of three seats on Oklahoma’s utility regulation board. (Daily Oklahoman)
• Louisiana’s governor considers a bill to suspend severance taxes on all new or restorative oil wells. (KLFY)

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PIPELINES: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stands by its opinion that the Mountain Valley Pipeline won’t jeopardize endangered or threatened species, prompting legal action by environmental groups in a federal appeals court. (Roanoke Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:  A Canadian electric-car marker has narrowed its consideration for a new factory to Arizona and Tennessee. (Thomas Insights)

UTILITIES:
• FirstEnergy reorganizes its transmission businesses in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia into a new shell company that will allow it to raise rates more quickly. (Tribune-Review)
• Some Kentucky utilities that are exempt from the governor’s moratorium on cutting off customers for non-payment begin to resume their disconnect procedures. (Marshall County Tribune-Courier)

SOLAR:
• Dominion Energy proposes three new solar farms in central and eastern Virginia, as well as six power purchase agreements. (Chatham Star-Tribune)
• A bicycle shop in southwestern Virginia’s coalfields installs solar panels on its roof. (Kingsport Times-News)
• Solar energy is growing, but industry advocates worry that a tariff on panels and parts pose a threat to its future. (Jacksonville Free Press)
• Orsted Onshore North America LLC plans a 200 MW solar farm in Texas with construction on track to begin in 2022. (Corsicana Daily Sun)

OIL & GAS:
• Dominion Energy closes on the sale of most of its natural gas transmission and storage assets to Berkshire Hathaway. (Virginia Business)
• A Texas lawyer and oil developer calls for the oil and gas industry to reevaluate its business and drilling models. (Oilman Magazine)
• A Houston man faces federal charges over a scheme to bilk 21 oil and gas investors out of $1.2 million. (San Antonio Express-News)

COAL:
• A 27-year-old nonprofit founded to promote coal announces that it is shifting its focus to economic development, a sign of the industry’s demise. (Appalachian News-Express)
• A coalition of environmental groups files a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of a rule for discharges from coal-fired power plants. (news release, Southern Environmental Law Center)

Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.