TRANSMISSION:
• The Department of Energy signs off on a partnership to develop a 705-mile transmission line to carry wind-generated electricity to the Southeast. (New York Times)
• Lawmakers from Arkansas, a state that has opposed the project, call the decision “unprecedented executive overreach.” (The Hill)
Construction of the project is set to begin in 2017, creating hundreds of jobs in Arkansas and Tennessee. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• Check out these photos of large-scale systems at airports serving Chattanooga and Tampa. (Solar Power World)
Tallahassee, Florida is poised to sign off on a 20 megawatt solar farm near its airport. (WFSU Public Radio)

***SPONSORED LINK: It’s time to register for WINDPOWER 2016 – the wind energy industry’s largest annual conference. This year, the conference will be held from May 23-26 in New Orleans. Register here. ***

CLEAN POWER PLAN: West Virginia’s Attorney General personifies the fight against the plan by states and coal-dependent utilities. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

EFFICIENCY:
• A new apartment building for seniors is the first net-zero energy certified facility in Virginia. (The Roanoke Times)
• A utility wants to charge a Florida community about four times the private rate to switch its streetlights to LED bulbs. (Sun Sentinel)

COAL ASH: A Virginia town is not giving up in pressing for a criminal investigation of how Dominion Virginia Power disposes of untreated wastewater. (Bacon’s Rebellion blog)

FRACKING: A West Virginia county allows temporary – but not permanent – storage of drilling chemicals. (The Register-Herald)

COAL:
• Convicted coal mine boss Don Blankenship refuses to turn over financial documents and invokes his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Despite a decline in West Virginia’s unemployment rate, counties dependent on coal mining see their jobless rates going up. (The Intelligencer / Wheeling News Register)
• State officials are investigating the death of worker at a coal mine in eastern Kentucky. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• Why a Virginia coal plant is expected to survive the industry’s downturn. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

COMMENTARY:
• Continuing to comply with the Clean Power Plan will better serve North Carolina’s interests than waiting for the courts to resolve legal issues. (Asheville Citizen-Times)
• Whom will the public side with in south Florida’s growing debate over mitigating rising sea levels? (The Weekly Standard)
• The Virginia governor is right to push continued for work on the state’s compliance with the Clean Power Plan. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)
• North Carolina officials who favored drilling off the state’s coast were no match for activists and communities, although the Obama administration certainly helped. (Greensboro News & Record / Wilmington StarNews )

Jim Pierobon, a policy, marketing and social media strategist, was a founding contributor to Southeast Energy News. He passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

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