WIND: Federal officials slate two pre-lease meetings in North Carolina in September for industry and stakeholders ahead of a proposed offshore wind auction. (ReNews)

UTILITIES: Florida Power & Light’s CEO says customers will suffer unless it gets its large rate hike to fund a “culture of innovation.” (POLITICO Florida)

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EFFICIENCY:
• A Miami company aims to help big electricity users upgrade their lighting fixtures and pay for them through energy savings. (Miami Herald)
• The board of directors of lighting innovator Cree in North Carolina approves a share buyback program to boost the company’s stock price. (Triangle Business Journal)

SOLAR:
• A three-month-old North Carolina company outlines ambitious plans to own a gigawatt’s worth of utility-scale solar projects over the next five years. (Charlotte Business Journal)
Furman University in South Carolina plans a large solar farm to speed its march toward carbon neutrality. (Associated Press)

COAL:
• The parent company of Appalachian Power bought 750,000 tons of coal from the company owned by a candidate for governor in West Virginia without soliciting competitive bids. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Retired miners from Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia and elsewhere plan a September 8 march on Washington to preserve their pension and health care benefits. (The Militant)
Coal communities remain skeptical of government pledges to help revive their economies. (New York Times)

NUCLEAR:
• Inspectors of a fuel factory in South Carolina uncover fresh problems tied to a buildup of radioactive material in a pollution mitigation system. (The State)
• Louisiana regulators are to decide Wednesday on whether Entergy ratepayers should pay for a $140 million mistake at its Waterford 3 plant. (Baton Rouge Advocate)

POLLUTION: Regulators in West Virginia stick by a reduced water quality standard for pollutants discharged by mining and other operations into state rivers and streams. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

INNOVATION: Early stage, clean energy companies are encouraged to apply to a program in Charlotte to help them raise investment capital. (Charlotte Business Journal)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: As highly-anticipated oral arguments before a federal appeals court about the Clean Power Plan approach, many experts say killing it won’t save the coal industry. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

COAL ASH: Questions linger about the safety of well water near a Dominion coal ash pit in Northern Virginia. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

OFFSHORE DRILLING: The film “Sonic Sea” becomes a rallying cry for banning seismic testing off South Carolina’s coast. (Ground Report)

GRID: Appalachian Power’s plan for a high-voltage transmission line to serve Southwest Virginia comes under fire. (Bristol Herald Courier)

PIPELINES: Studies differ on the projected value to West Virginia of multiple pipelines planned throughout the state.  (Beckley Register-Herald)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Boosters plot how best to leverage National Drive Electric Week September 10-18. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)

COMMENTARY:
• Floods in Louisiana this month, in West Virginia in June and in South Carolina in October underscore the risks of our changing climate. (New York Times)
West Virginia needs to deploy its share of funds the Obama administration is dispersing to help displaced coal workers. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
Florida Power & Light’s CEO supports the state’s solar Amendment 1 but also the utility-backed solar Amendment 4. (Florida Politics)
• Yay, Dominion is building solar, just not for you. (Power for the People VA blog)

Jim Pierobon, a policy, marketing and social media strategist, was a founding contributor to Southeast Energy News. He passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

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