COAL: The federal government has given more than $31 million in loans meant to help small businesses to coal companies, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. (Bloomberg)

ALSO: Murray Energy entered bankruptcy with about $300 million in liquidity and in two months has burned through about $180 million, a veteran coal journalist covering the case explains. (WVPB)

***SPONSORED LINK: Register by May 13 for the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster’s upcoming webinar on innovations in energy resilience, featuring industry leaders across verticals speaking about how digital twins, DERs, intelligent controls, and grid efficiency will protect us from post-pandemic power failures. Learn more at researchtrianglecleantech.org/events.*** 

PIPELINES:
• Dominion Energy says the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will cost $8 billion and be completed by 2022, pending several legal cases. (Reuters)
• Pipeline company MPLX says it is no longer pursuing a Permian Basin to Gulf Coast natural gas pipeline due to the collapse in oil prices. (Reuters)
• A gas pipeline explodes in the woods near a Kentucky compressor station, but there were no injuries. (WKYT)

OIL & GAS:
• Texas oil and gas regulators reject production cuts but relax fees for some management and cleanup processes. (Austin American Statesman)
• About half of Louisiana Oil and Gas Association members expect to file for bankruptcy because of the market collapse, according to a survey. (The Advocate)
• The coronavirus pandemic could drive a mass abandonment of oil and gas wells in Appalachia, Louisiana and elsewhere. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR:
• A citizens group in Culpeper County, Virginia, asks officials to delay consideration of a solar project proposed near a Civil War battlefield until they finish a historical study of the area. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)
• A Spanish renewable company signs a power purchase agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority for a 90 MW solar project in Kentucky. (Renewables Now)
• Construction begins on an 86 MW solar project in Georgia, which will help supply power to electric cooperatives. (Solar Power World)

NUCLEAR: Despite cutting 2,000 jobs, Georgia Power still expects Plant Vogtle to be in service in 2021. (Engineering News-Record) 

UTILITIES: Low-income families in Louisville, Kentucky, can apply for help with home energy bills during the pandemic through a city program. (WDRB)

COMMENTARY: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline could become a stranded asset for Dominion and cost shareholders, an energy investor says. (Virginia Mercury)