COAL: A bill that lessens a water quality restriction for coal mines was approved by the West Virginia House on Friday, moving it back to the Senate with changes from the House. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ALSO:
• Rural Kentucky strives to build a post-coal entrepreneurial economy. (Christian Science Monitor)
• A West Virginia coal miner doesn’t think coal is the future, so he is making farming his back-up plan. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• The opening of this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” skewered President Donald Trump and Kentucky in a skit about reviving the coal industry and bringing back coal jobs. (Courier-Journal)

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NUCLEAR: Savannah residents are already paying higher utility bills for Georgia Power’s Vogtle plant even though they may never produce electricity. (Savannah Now)

PIPELINES:
• A Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia says his campaign pushed officials to conduct more in-depth reviews of a pair of natural gas pipelines he opposes. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A petition from hundreds of citizens was submitted to FERC asking that the Atlanta Coast Pipeline application process be slowed to further assess the project’s pros and cons. (Augusta Free Press)

SOLAR: A new study released by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture says solar isn’t harmful competition for the state’s farmland. (Public News Service)

OIL: A series marking the tricentennial of New Orleans takes a look back at the oil bust of the mid 1980s. (Times-Picayune)

COMMENTARY:
• The downturn in the coal industry is not a result of clean energy initiatives, but rather is a response to market forces that have made coal “not economically a winner.” (Concord Monitor)
• Allowing waste from coal mines to be dumped into West Virginia streams does not bring back jobs. (The Herald-Dispatch)
• A newspaper editorial says Dominion has “gone to extraordinary lengths to assuage concerns and meet objections” and now it’s time to move forward on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• The director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says a U.S. Senator from Tennessee should support wind energy projects in the state. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• Florida lawmakers should pass proposed legislation that makes taxes fairer for solar customers, says a rooftop solar company. (Tallahassee Democrat)
• Florida Power & Light says its facilities “operate in harmony with the environment.” (Florida Today)