OIL & GAS: Phillips 66’s move to convert a storm-damaged oil refinery to a storage terminal generates concern in a Louisiana community over the loss of 900 jobs. (WDSU)

ALSO: A subsidiary of Duke Energy announces it has selected a route for a natural gas infrastructure project in North Carolina. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The University of Alabama, Alabama Power and Mercedes-Benz announce a partnership to speed research and development of electric vehicle technology. (AL.com)
• Northern Kentucky University partners with an Ohio company to install more electric vehicle charging stations on campus. (Northern Kentucky Tribune)

SOLAR:
• Entergy Louisiana will buy 475 MW of solar energy from four facilities across the state. (KLPC)
• Duke Energy begins operations at a 74.5 MW Florida solar farm. (Renewables Now)

COAL:
• West Virginia environmental regulators propose a database to track reclamation liabilities on coal mines after federal officials found the state failed to ensure accurate estimates of outstanding obligations on active mining permits. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is helping negotiate a multibillion-dollar expansion of the current tax incentive for carbon capture into Democrats’ federal spending package. (American Prospect)

INFRASTRUCTURE:
• South Carolina will receive $6 billion and Texas $35 billion from the congressional infrastructure bill. (WIS, Texas Tribune)
• The infrastructure bill sets aside money to help coastal Georgians prepare for more severe tropical storms, storm surges, coastal flooding and other disasters exacerbated by climate change. (The Current)
• North Carolina will receive $109 million from the infrastructure bill to expand its network of electric vehicle charging stations. (BPR)
• About $13.8 million in the congressional infrastructure bill will go directly to replacing a Florida city’s transit fleet with zero-emissions vehicles. (Gainesville Times)

UTILITIES: Florida Power & Light asks state regulators to approve $810 million in rate increases next year as high natural gas prices drive up costs for electric utilities. (Miami Herald, WJCT)

GRID: California-based Sempra budgets $15 billion for its Texas electric utility to build out its transmission and distribution network and add storage to meet projected load growth. (Natural Gas Intelligence, subscription)

TRANSITION: Former coal miners in West Virginia turn to beekeeping. (WTVR)

CLIMATE: A Florida county board unanimously approves a resolution to commit to a zero-emissions target for county operations by 2040 and for the entire community by 2050. (WMNF)

COMMENTARY:
• Louisiana Republicans who voted against the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package opposed funding for flood mitigation, coastal resilience, orphan well remediation, carbon capture and more, but will no doubt tout specific projects as they’re completed, writes a columnist. (NOLA.com)
• Tennessee Republicans who voted against the infrastructure package will don ceremonial hardhats, shovels and best photo op smiles as they take credit for projects paid for by the legislation they opposed, predicts an opinion editor. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• A columnist cites a pipeline spill in North Carolina and abandoned oil wells in Louisiana to complain that fossil fuel companies need to clean up their messes. (Esquire)

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.