COAL ASH: Georgia regulators issue a proposed permit allowing Georgia Power to leave more than 1 million tons of coal ash in an unlined pit at a power plant, triggering a public comment period and kicking off a series of decisions for permits at four more plants. (Georgia Recorder)

ALSO: The Tennessee Valley Authority acknowledges it used dirt and the most toxic and radioactive form of coal ash to build a Tennessee sports field that’s been in use for two decades. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)

SOLAR:
• Texas residents organize against solar energy development over wildlife and other concerns. (Washington Post)
• Dominion Energy’s construction of a southern Virginia solar farm to provide power for online retailer Amazon irks its rural neighbors. (Danville Register & Bee)
• A Virginia town council considers permitting a 5.4 MW solar farm after its planning commission unanimously recommended against it. (Gazette-Virginian)

POLITICS: A group of North Carolina businesses says lawmakers should scrap a proposed energy bill in the state legislature that it says limits access to affordable renewable energy and strips authority from utility regulators. (WFAE)

COAL: A coal company begins the shutdown of a longwall mine along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border. (WV MetroNews)

PIPELINES:
• Environmental groups press federal regulators to take a more thorough look at Mountain Valley Pipeline’s climate impacts and its proposal for alternative water crossing methods, which could further prolong work on the already-delayed project. (S&P Global)
• Two protestors locked themselves to drilling equipment at a Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site before they were extracted and arrested. (WSET)

UTILITIES: Tampa Electric Co. reaches an agreement with Florida’s consumer advocate and other groups to raise its base electric rates over the next three years, although by $100 million less than it had first proposed. (Tampa Bay Times)

RENEWABLES:
• A renewables company tells North Carolina county officials it expects a planned wind farm will be generating power by 2023. (Perquimans Weekly)
• Tampa becomes the 12th Florida city to commit to using 100% renewable energy by 2035. (WUSF)

OIL & GAS:
• The president and CEO of pipeline operator Kinder Morgan argues natural gas is part of the clean energy transition. (Houston Chronicle)
• An industry-commissioned study claims oil and natural gas supported more than 82,000 jobs across West Virginia and generated $11.2 billion toward its gross domestic product in 2019. (State Journal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Marine Corps military base partners with Georgia Power to fulfill a presidential executive order to begin a shift toward electric vehicles. (Albany Herald)

TRANSITION: West Virginia residents push state leaders to embrace federal clean energy and environmental justice initiatives. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

COMMENTARY:
• Louisiana should offer more accessible public information about major solar projects and the 10-year tax breaks that often accompany them, writes an editorial board. (The Advocate)
• A southern Virginia city once centered around tobacco and textile sees an economic comeback fueled in part by its investment in utility-scale solar projects, writes the director of Conservatives for Clean Energy. (Roanoke Times)
• The Texas power system still needs additional reform before it can be declared fixed after February’s winter storm, writes an environmentalist and consumer advocate. (Austin American-Statesman)

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.