SOLAR: An Appalachian Virginia county considers a proposed 300 MW solar farm, which would be by far the largest in the region and one of the largest in the state. (Roanoke Times)

ALSO: A coastal Virginia county school division partners with Dominion Energy and Sun Tribe Solar to install solar panels on school buildings. (Daily Press)

***SPONSORED LINK: North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association is offering a virtual clean energy continuing legal education (CLE) course on Feb. 2, with a specific focus on the Southeast region. Register today! ***

OIL & GAS:
• The new owner of West Virginia’s largest gas distribution company says it will replace 1,500 miles of pipe and expand service to unserved and underserved areas. (Parkersburg News & Sentinel)
• Residents of Shawnee, Oklahoma, will vote Tuesday whether to renew a 25-year franchise agreement with Oklahoma Natural Gas. (Shawnee News-Star)
• Arkansas marks a century since the discovery of oil in El Dorado created a five-year economic boom. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) 

COAL: Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities request proposals for 300 to 900 MW to fill an anticipated shortfall created by the expected retirements of three coal-fired units. (news release)

PIPELINES:
• Virginia regulators seek comments on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s proposal to build a compressor station named after a Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker. (Danville Register & Bee)
• A county board of supervisors candidate in western Virginia makes opposition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline a focal point of his campaign. (Roanoke Times)

NUCLEAR: Two companies that provide fuel and technical services for nuclear power plants reorganize and invest in new facilities in central Virginia. (News & Advance)

POLITICS: West Virginia’s gas, oil and coal advocacy groups prepare for the upcoming state legislative session, with the latter aiming to preserve coal-fired power plants and access to international markets for steel-making coal. (The State Journal/WV News)

COMMENTARY:
• South Carolina lawmakers’ debate on whether to sell state-owned utility Santee Cooper to NextEra should prompt a substantive discussion on utility lobbying, writes a newspaper editorial board. (Post and Courier)
• Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is running for the office again in 2021, should be held accountable for his past support of interstate natural gas pipelines, writes an anti-pipeline activist. (Washington Post)
• A Louisiana-based environmental journalist compares Republicans’ unfounded accusations of election fraud to their denial of climate change and environmental science. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

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.