COAL: During a visit to Louisville, Kentucky, President Trump said coal miners “have not been treated well, but they’re going to be treated well now”; though retired coal miners continue to worry about being able to afford health insurance under his new plan. (Louisville Courier Journal, WKU)

ALSO:
• After another missed deadline, a public service commissioner said Monday that if Mississippi Power’s Kemper plant “does not deliver as promised, the utility company bears the cost.” (Mississippi Today)
• A spokesperson for the utility serving Owensboro, Kentucky says moving away from coal is “in the best interest of our customers.” (WKU)
• About 1,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide solution leaked from a storage tank at a closed coal mine in West Virginia after vandals shot two holes in the tank. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Although coal miners played a major part in 2016 presidential election, they represent only a tiny fraction of the U.S. workforce. (Washington Post)

NUCLEAR:
• Westinghouse is seeking more than $500 million in bankruptcy funding to enable it to continue building four nuclear power plants in Georgia and South Carolina. (Reuters)
• A rate study will be performed to determine if customers must pay more money to help fund an over-budget, behind-schedule nuclear plant project in South Carolina. (The Post and Courier)
• Both reactors at Tennessee Valley Authority’s newest nuclear power plant are temporarily shut down, costing TVA more than $1 million a day to replace the lost generation. (Times Free Press)

COAL ASH: Residents in Georgia say the best place for coal ash is in a landfill – just not in their county. (Florida Times-Union)

SOLAR:
• Dominion Resources announces plans for two new solar arrays in South Carolina totaling more than 80 MW, one of which will be the largest in the state. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A Georgia farmer says he abandoned plans for a solar array after facing more than $40,000 in penalties for using conservation land. (McAlester News-Capital)

UTILITIES: A Florida utility backs away from plans to increase its fixed charge for customers to nearly $50, which advocates say would inhibit efficiency and solar adoption. (Pensacola News Journal)

GRID: The U.S. energy storage market is at a major tipping point, and in some cases at a disadvantage with foreign competitors. (E&E News)

PIPELINES: Six Florida county Democratic Executive Committees now oppose the Sabal Trail pipeline project, with one committee asking local governments to refuse to do business with those who would profit from the pipeline. (Orlando Political Observer)

CLIMATE: Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo says he is “concerned” about EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s comments about climate change in a letter asking for “honestly communicating the best scientific understanding we have available today.” (The Hill)

COMMENTARY:
• Virginia has “a golden opportunity” to ensure that dozens of Fortune 500 companies looking to run their facilities on renewable energy come to the state. (Southeast Energy News)
• A Virginia lawmaker and a former state attorney general accuse Dominion of “hucksterism.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• “Coal miners may have captured the political imagination. But it’s coal owners and their political patrons who have captured the reins of policymaking.” (The Hill)

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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.