POLITICS: A compromise energy bill moves through the North Carolina legislature, but environmental groups express concern that it fails poor people who have often borne the brunt of pollution from coal and gas plants. (Associated Press, WUNC)

ALSO: As congressional infrastructure negotiations drag on, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia wants to be fully in control of any new mandates or regulations of the coal and energy industry. (Washington Post)

UTILITIES:
• The Memphis City Council clashes with the Tennessee Valley Authority over plans to relocate coal ash to a local landfill and its potential effects on the aquifer that provides the city’s drinking water. (Tennessee Lookout)
• A coalition of municipalities and power cooperatives ask Congress to alter its infrastructure plan so they are not penalized if the Tennessee Valley Authority doesn’t do enough to decarbonize its energy production. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• The Salvation Army begins accepting applications to provide extra money for gas, water and electric utility bills for West Virginia residents. (WVNS)

OIL & GAS:
• The retired general who was commander of the joint task force for Hurricane Katrina calls for corporations to clean up 4,000 abandoned oil wells in Louisiana. (KLFY)
• The Sierra Club urges Memphis, Tennessee’s electric utility not to turn to natural gas for power generation as it explores leaving the Tennessee Valley Authority. (Commercial Appeal)

OVERSIGHT: Nashville hires a chief sustainability and resource officer who will help lead the city in its transition to cleaner energy. (Tennessean)

AGRICULTURE: AppHarvest’s high-tech greenhouse operation in Kentucky uses artificial intelligence to grow up to 45 million pounds of tomatoes per year, and hopes it could be a model for climate-friendly agriculture. (CNN)

GRID: Texas prepares for the coming winter after lawmakers passed loophole-laden legislation after February’s storm to require winterization and reform the grid. (Marketplace)

EMISSIONS: North Carolina environmental groups call on state leaders to address air pollution after a new report shows more than 70% of the U.S. was exposed last year to more than a month of elevated levels of ozone, fine particulate pollution or both. (WRAL)

PIPELINES:
• Dominion Energy agrees to sell an interstate pipeline business to a Nevada business for $1.9 billion. (Virginia Business)
• A Texas firm will buy a natural gas pipeline in Oklahoma. (Journal Record) 

SOLAR: A North Carolina middle school adds a 5 kV solar array. (Franklin Press)

COAL: A U.S. coal company with a mine on the Kentucky-West Virginia border tests London, England’s commitment to environmental, social and governance guidelines after sharing plans to join the city’s stock exchange later this month. (The Times)

COMMENTARY: Tennessee’s cluster of auto manufacturers and suppliers is well positioned for the future as the industry shifts toward electric vehicles, writes a former governor and U.S. senator. (Commercial Appeal)

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.