ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Georgia convenience store owners are hesitant to install electric vehicle charging stations for fear Georgia Power will build its own stations and have an unfair pricing advantage. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

ALSO: An Australian company plans to produce synthetic graphite in Tennessee for the growing electric vehicle battery market. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

SOLAR:
• Florida lawmakers advance utility-backed legislation to lower rooftop solar rates as opposition grows and its sponsor suggests a longer phase-in period. (WLRN)
• Kentucky lawmakers consider legislation to require solar facilities to set aside bonds for decommissioning and cleanup. (WFPL) 
• A solar company appeals a Kentucky county board’s permit denial. (News-Enterprise)

RENEWABLES: A new study finds North Carolina could cut electricity costs by more than half and create more than 200,000 long-term jobs if it shifts to renewable energy by 2050. (Winston-Salem Journal)

COAL ASH: Dominion Energy plans to build a new, lined landfill on the Potomac River to dispose of coal ash from a Virginia power plant that closed in 2002. (Chesapeake Bay Magazine)

UTILITIES: Two Tennessee power companies sue federal regulators over their denial of a request to use the Tennessee Valley Authority’s transmission lines to buy power from other sources. (E&E News, subscription)

GRID:
• An energy expert warns the spiking tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine could trigger cyberattacks on the Texas power grid and other energy infrastructure. (KXAN)
• Louisiana-based Entergy marks a milestone by installing more than 3 million smart meters. (Smart Energy International)

OIL & GAS:
• An explosion rocks a Marathon oil refinery in Louisiana, injuring six workers. (Associated Press)
• West Virginia lawmakers advance legislation to boost funding for oil and gas well inspection. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

TRANSITION: Three Virginia agencies move to purchase a former coal tipple to turn it into a grain storage and shipping facility to link farmers with craft breweries and distilleries. (Kingsport Times News)

OVERSIGHT: The chairperson of a newly reconstituted West Virginia energy board says he doesn’t expect it will assert its potentially expansive powers to manage, finance or even use eminent domain to advance energy projects. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

CRYPTOCURRENCY: Cryptocurrency companies pitch their high energy usage as a benefit for surging renewable energy projects, natural gas flaring and Texas’ independent power grid. (KWES)

POLITICS:
• A Virginia Senate panel moves to reject a Republican proposal to repeal a landmark 2020 law that commits to decarbonizing the state’s electric grid by 2050. (Virginia Mercury)
• Five Republicans run in a heated Texas primary for a seat on the state board that regulates fossil fuel production and pipelines. (KBTX)

COMMENTARY:
• A Kentucky county should revisit the outcome of a disastrous 2000 coal slurry spill as it raises water rates on low-income residents, writes a columnist. (Appalachian News-Express)
• Memphis should consider how its municipal utility was created to avoid the pursuit of profit when considering whether to split with the Tennessee Valley Authority or sell to a private company, writes a professor. (Commercial Appeal)

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.