GRID: Federal regulators deny a request by two Tennessee municipalities and a power cooperative to use the Tennessee Valley Authority transmission lines to receive electricity from outside power suppliers, limiting their options for leaving TVA. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, Commercial Appeal)

ALSO:
• Texas regulators approve new rules that give power plant and transmission line operators until Dec. 1 to make their “best efforts” to winterize equipment — but they won’t be penalized if they suffer weather-related failures or outages. (Austin American-Statesman)
• Dominion Energy and other Virginia utilities submit comments to federal regulators on how to overhaul transmission systems to better meet the needs of a changing grid increasingly driven by renewables. (Virginia Mercury)

WIND: Offshore wind leaders say they need long-term commitments and support from Congress as they prepare for massive growth, led by Dominion Energy’s plans to install nearly 200 more ocean turbines off Virginia’s shore over the next five years. (States Newsroom/Virginia Mercury)

OIL & GAS:
• West Virginia officials have identified about 4,000 abandoned oil and gas wells to be capped that would benefit from $4.7 billion in funding that’s part of a stalled federal infrastructure bill. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• West Virginia regulators hear mixed reaction from residents during a hearing on a proposed air quality permit for a natural gas-fired power plant. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• An oil and gas producer that emerged from bankruptcy in the spring tries to market nearly 40,000 acres in South Texas’ Eagle Ford shale basin as high oil and gas prices increasingly lead companies to put properties up for sale. (Reuters)

SOLAR: A western Virginia planning commission recommends approval for a 40-60 MW solar facility over the opposition of some neighbors who consider solar panels an eyesore. (Winchester Star)

UTILITIES:
• Florida regulators approve a base rate increase for customers of Tampa Electric Co. that supporters say will boost solar energy and continue the shift from past reliance on coal-fired power plants. (Tampa Bay Times)
• A professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio joins the board of the city-owned electric utility as it navigates pandemic-related financial troubles, the challenge of reducing emissions and fallout from February’s winter storm. (San Antonio Express-News)

CLIMATE: A coalition of investor groups with $60 trillion in assets pressures utilities including Duke Energy, Dominion Energy, the Southern Co. and American Electric Power to decarbonize by 2035, effectively moving up their net-zero goals by 15 years. (S&P Global)

COAL:
• A new report says Congress’ failure to reauthorize collections for a federal fund and pass $11.3 billion in new investments to remediate abandoned mines will cost West Virginia nearly 2,000 jobs. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• An Alabama court grants environmental groups a motion to intervene to stop the exposure of predominantly Black neighborhoods to air pollution from a nearby coal coking plant. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A western Virginia county installs an electric vehicle charging station at its government center. (WFXR)

STORAGE: The Tennessee Valley Authority seeks public input on a proposed battery storage system and electric substation in eastern Tennessee. (WATE)

POLITICS:
• As Democrats try to salvage what’s left of President Joe Biden’s climate policy, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin signals that he’ll only sign on to wind and solar credits if they preserve up to $121 billion in fossil fuel subsidies. (The Intercept)
• A progressive Florida Congress member is criticized for purchasing stock in Duke Energy and Dominion Energy, two of the nation’s top greenhouse gas emitters. (Newsweek)

COMMENTARY: A newly passed North Carolina energy law takes incremental steps in the right direction, but state lawmakers must do more to commit to a carbon neutral future, promote clean energy expansion and assure that consumers are protected and fairly treated, writes a broadcasting company. (WRAL)

Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.