HYDRO: While a bill to push pumped hydro storage in eastern Virginia passed with strong support, experts say the technology has yet to be proven in former coal mines. (Southeast Energy News)

UTILITIES: A Florida senate committee will consider on Tuesday two recently filed bills that address court rulings that dealt significant blows to Florida Power & Light. (Miami Herald)

POLITICS: A Florida congressman is among a growing number of Republicans – now 14 – on the House Climate Solutions Caucus. (E&E News)

SOLAR:
• A Georgia bill would exempt property owners from penalties if they allow solar arrays on land covered by agricultural covenants. (Macon Telegram)
• A spokesperson for a Florida utility defends the state’s slow adoption of solar power. (WGCU)
• A Virginia county’s requirement for a tree buffer could significantly alter plans for a solar farm there. (Central Virginian)

NATURAL GAS: Environmental and community groups oppose a proposed, but stalled, Duke Energy natural gas plant at Duke University; more background on the project here. (Raleigh News & Observer, Southeast Energy News archive)

COAL ASH:
• A public hearing tonight will discuss closure of  a Duke Energy coal ash impoundment in North Carolina. (Asheville Citizen-Times)
• Samples of water near Dominion Virginia Power’s coal ash ponds at the Chesterfield Power Station show iron and arsenic. (Roanoke Times)
• Louisiana is resuming the testing of mercury levels in fish, which are thought to be contaminated by coal ash. (The Advocate)

COAL: Owners of a shuttered Virginia coal plant seek a buyer for the facility. (Roanoke Valley Daily Herald)

OIL AND GAS: A new West Virginia facility to supply components for the gas industry is expected to employ about 100 people. (The Intelligencer)

PIPELINES:
• An environmental group wants the Dominion Carolina Gas Transmission project be reconsidered, saying the federal approval was “rushed” and an existing gas pipeline route could be used instead. (Spartanburg Herald-Journal)
• West Virginia residents were divided during the last public hearing on Thursday on the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. (Associated Press)

POLLUTION: Residents of a county in Kentucky hope President Trump’s infrastructure plan will fix their water system that has been contaminated by coal and gas extraction. (NPR)

COMMENTARY:
• Environmentalists say fracked gas may be low cost for the world, but it comes at a high cost for West Virginia. (The Herald-Dispatch)
• “The Department of Energy’s decision to partner with Clean Line Energy is a perfect example of everything wrong with the federal government,” says an Arkansas senator. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• A Tennessee environmentalist makes the case for the federal government to keep rules that cut natural gas waste. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• A county’s solar proposal “would potentially unravel Virginia’s electric utility regulatory structure.” (Bacon’s Rebellion)
• A newspaper editorial says Kentucky’s lawmakers “owe it” to the state to rescind a moratorium on construction of nuclear power plants. (The Paducah Sun)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.