ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A central Virginia bus company unveils the first of 50 electric school buses scheduled for delivery across the state as part of a Dominion Energy initiative. (Lynchburg News & Advance)

ALSO:
• A Georgia “smart city” issues a request for proposals to build more charging stations and other infrastructure for electric vehicles. (Smart Cities World)
• A new Volkswagen headquarters in Northern Virginia will include 300 electric vehicle chargers. (Virginia Business)

SOLAR:
• Entergy prepares a 20 MW solar plant in eastern New Orleans for launch next month. (Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate)
• A Virginia company announces plans for an $85 million, 100 MW South Carolina solar farm that should be operational by 2023. (Times and Democrat)
• A county in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley approves a permit for a 32-acre solar facility that could be running by 2021. (Northern Virginia Daily)
• Another Shenandoah Valley county delays its decision on a solar farm permit for the second time in as many months. (WHSV)

CLEAN ENERGY: A Florida city becomes the 11th city in the state to pass a resolution committing to 100% clean energy, for city government by 2035 and for the entire community by 2050. (Space Coast Daily)

UTILITIES:
• The city of Austin uses its permitting process to negotiate the future of a planned electrical substation that also sits on a proposed greenway extension. (Austin Monitor)
• Both the Democratic and Republican candidates in a western North Carolina state senate race refer to Duke Energy as a “monopoly” during a debate, and call for it to shift to wind and solar power. (Smoky Mountain Times)

WIND: Southwest Power Pool, which manages the power grid and wholesale markets across 17 states, says it expects wind to be its biggest electricity generator during the coming year. (Arkansas Business)

OIL & GAS:
• A Louisiana ballot measure could exempt oil and gas projects from property taxes forever in return for smaller up-front payments. (Drilled News)
• Texas Republicans focus on Joe Biden’s debate remark about a transition from oil as their closing argument to voters in what has become a presidential and congressional battleground state. (Texas Tribune)
• The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has disrupted offshore oil companies more than any year since 2008, according to a report by an energy research firm. (Beaumont Enterprise)

COMMENTARY: Texas may produce oil and gas, but it has become a global leader in renewables, writes the founder of a social media platform for women in the energy industry. (USA Today)

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.