NOTE TO READERS: Southeast Energy News is taking a break for Independence Day. The email digest will return on Tuesday, July 5.

COAL ASH:
• North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is set to sign a compromise bill giving Duke Energy lower-cost options for disposing coal ash. (Associated Press)
• A new map shows drinking water sources for 2.3 million Tennesseans is at risk from ash sites run by the TVA. (Southern Environmental Law Center)

UTILITIES:
• The TVA asks 3,500 employees to quit or retire as part of a cost-cutting move. (Chattanooga Times Free-Press)
• The New Orleans City Council calls on Entergy to better justify the need for a new natural gas-fired power plant compared to investments in efficiency and renewables. (The New Orleans Times-Picayune)

POLICY:
• Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s bid to step up reductions in power plant emissions is a product of partisan gridlock. (Virginia Public Radio)
• Some Virginia lawmakers question the governor’s executive order to reduce power plant emissions. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

POLITICS:
• Is North Carolina’s Jay Faison Republicans’ answer to Tom Steyer? (Saint Peters Blog)
• Faison’s Clear Path nonprofit selects its first three federal candidates to back, including one in Florida. (The New York Times)

HYDRO: The TVA and other stakeholders agree on a program to modernize hydroelectric dams in Tennessee. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

WIND: Stakeholders in a proposed interstate transmission line to import wind-generated power from Texas hear about Mississippi’s projected $700 million stake in the project. (WTVA)

FRACKING: A citizens group in Kentucky calls on the state to disclose its talks with a company trying to dispose of radioactive fracking waste there. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

COAL: Georgia Power finds contaminants that exceed permitted levels near three of its coal-fired power plants. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

SOLAR: Regulators approve three solar projects sought by Dominion Virginia Power. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

NUCLEAR:
• Santee Cooper in South Carolina says it will use proceeds from a $831 million bond sale to help pay for its share of escalating nuclear construction costs. (The Post and Courier)
• Environmental advocates support both sides of a dispute between South Carolina and the federal government over converting plutonium into commercial nuclear fuel. (The Post and Courier)

ALTERNATIVE FUELS: The 150 alternative fueling stations in the Jacksonville, Florida area draw praise from the U.S. Deptartment of Energy. (The Florida Times-Union)

RENEWABLES: The head of the Florida Solar Energy Center envisions paths towards U.S. energy independence. (Florida Today)

OFFSHORE DRILLING: Louisiana and other Gulf states are making progress towards a vote to secure a larger share of oil and gas drilling revenue off their coasts. (Houma Today)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The federal government is probing a deadly collision in Florida of a Tesla S on autopilot with a truck. (Orlando Sentinel)

2010 BP OIL SPILL: Louisiana and Mississippi today are to receive their first payments from settlements associated with the spill. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY:
• Capturing uranium from seawater can make nuclear power renewable. (Forbes)
• The push for fewer power plant emissions by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is what environmental leadership looks like. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Plaudits for Gulf Power’s commitment to 272 MW of wind energy. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)