OIL & GAS: Mississippi lawmakers advance a bill that threatens up to seven years in prison for damaging or trespassing on oil and gas property, and up to $100,000 in fines for groups supporting those who do. (HuffPost)
ALSO: Texas regulators hear from environmental groups and the oil and gas industry about how to reduce natural gas flaring. (Midland Reporter-Telegram)
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SOLAR:
• A renewable energy company inks a deal to build two new solar projects in Virginia that will total 190 MW. (Renewables Now)
• Kentucky’s governor announces the final sale of 418 acres in western Kentucky to build a solar farm. (WKMS)
COAL: A national coal miners’ union asks a court to force the federal government to take unspecified measures to protect miners from the coronavirus. (Associated Press)
COAL ASH: A Georgia bill that would prohibit coal ash landfills from being built near the high water mark of a river stalls in a House committee. (Brunswick News)
BIOGAS: Dominion Energy is investing in systems that capture methane from manure on dairy farms and turn it into natural gas. (Washington Post)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Officials in Travis County, Texas, are expected to discuss possible incentives to bring a Tesla manufacturing plant to Austin. (Austin American-Statesman)
• A Georgia highway visitor center gets a new solar-powered electric vehicle charging station. (Times-News)
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UTILITIES:
• Union members protest the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to layoff local workers in Tennessee and hire overseas. (WATE)
• Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas say they are expanding efforts to hire local and diverse contractors for major construction projects. (Charlotte Business Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• Solar-plus-storage systems are the ideal choice to help Florida during hurricanes that knock out power, two clean energy advocates write. (Tampa Bay Times)
• The director of Solar United Neighbors says Duke Energy’s new plan to build solar plants in Florida locks customers into paying too much for that power. (Florida Times-Union)
• Louisiana’s attorney general praises a bill that would bar local municipalities from banning natural gas connections. (Daily Advertiser)