COAL: Four mines in West Virginia are delinquent on taxes that make up 40% of one county’s annual budget. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

COAL ASH: Residents in a community where Duke Energy is moving 12 million tons of coal ash worry about long-term effects. (WRAL)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: Efforts by Sen. Mitch McConnell urging states not to comply with federal carbon rules are crumbling. (Greenwire)

UTILITIES:
• Duke Energy is set to double down on pipeline and gas utility acquisitions. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Wall Street questions the price Duke Energy has agreed to pay to buy Piedmont Natural Gas. (SNL)

SOLAR: A recent Virginia utility commission order has solar advocates concerned whether the state will ever see large-scale projects developed any time soon. (Power for the People VA blog)

OIL & GAS: Natural gas is displacing coal as the largest fuel for generating power as Duke Energy and Southern Co. try to jump ahead of the trend. (The Washington Post)

POLITICS: South Carolina’s Lindsay Graham: Accepting climate science doesn’t make me a Democrat. (Think Progress)

NUCLEAR: Georgia Power and its contractors settle a legal dispute over the ongoing nuclear expansion at Plant Vogtle. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

POLLUTION: Arkansas joins four other states suing to block a federal proposal to limit ozone pollution. (The Hill)

POWER LINES: The build-up of salt on power lines in coastal Virginia sparks outages affecting 60,000 Dominion customers. (The Daily Press)

2010 GULF OIL SPILL: Federal court records show all five Gulf of Mexico states have reached a settlement with drilling rig owner Transocean. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY:
• The world is watching how the U.S. deals with alleged crimes by coal baron Don Blankenship which led to its deadliest disasaster in 40 years. (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
• It’s scary how Florida – the “Sunshine State” – doesn’t get the benefits of and do more with solar energy. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy blog)