COAL: The coronavirus pandemic has hammered healthcare systems for rural populations in Appalachia already struggling with the loss of coal jobs and health coverage. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• As the coal industry hemorrhages jobs, states and environmental groups are seeking ways to transition to a lower-carbon economy without leaving coal workers behind. (E&E News)
• West Virginia lawmakers urge federal regulators to expedite the approval of a filing that would allow a 700 MW coal-fired power plant to continue operating. (Utility Dive)

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EFFICIENCY: For the second year in a row, the North Carolina Senate is sidelining a bill to require hundreds of state-run buildings to conserve electricity and water and keep the lights off at night. (Energy News Network)

SOLAR: A clean energy group’s report says Chattanooga has only 99 watts of solar generation installed per capita — compared the average of 325 across the Southeast — and says TVA is largely to blame. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

OIL & GAS:
Amid oil and gas layoffs in Texas, younger workers are rethinking their careers in the industry. (Houston Chronicle)
One in six energy companies say the oil and gas industry will never recover from this economic downturn, according to a new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. (E&E News, subscription)
• Oklahoma regulators deny a request to limit the amount of oil that can be produced from wells in the state. (Oklahoman)

PIPELINES:
Despite a Supreme Court win for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Virginia activists vow to keep fighting the project. (C-Ville)
ANR Pipeline asks federal regulators to authorize an expansion that would help deliver natural gas from Manitoba to markets in the Gulf Coast region. (S&P Global)

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UTILITIES: Duke Energy says it must impose temporary rate increases during the pandemic or risk losing months of revenue. (Charlotte Business Journal, subscription)

COMMENTARY:
• An editorial board says South Carolinians should be wary of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which could eventually extend into the state. (Post and Courier)
• Environmental justice activists encourage Virginians “who care about our air, land and water, about the climate crisis and public health” to apply for a seat on the state’s environmental board. (Virginia Mercury)

Lyndsey Gilpin is a freelance journalist based in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. She compiles the Southeast Energy News daily email digest. Lyndsey is the publisher of Southerly, a weekly newsletter about ecology, justice, and culture in the American South. She is on the board of directors for the Society of Environmental Journalists.