UTILITIES: North Carolina clean energy advocates say they’re open to Duke Energy’s request for upfront, multi-year rate increases, but not in a proposed bill that would remove discretion from utility regulators and benefit Duke at ratepayers’ expense. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• Virginia regulators approve costs for Dominion Energy’s planned purchase of carbon allowances in a regional cap-and-invest program for power plant emissions. (Virginia Mercury)
• The new president and CEO of Tampa Electric pledges to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and invest more in solar energy. (Tampa Bay Times)

COAL:
• West Virginia regulators approve cost recovery for three American Electric Power subsidiaries to keep three coal-fired power plants operating through 2040, although Kentucky regulators rejected the request and Virginia’s have yet to decide. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• About 2,000 people attended a United Mine Workers of America rally for Alabama miners who are in their fifth month of a strike against Warrior Met Coal for better pay and benefits. (AL.com)

SOLAR:
• Oil giant BP looks to begin construction on a 345 MW solar project in Louisiana by October and sell power to companies such as McDonalds and eBay. (The Advocate)
• Solar Holler helps grow a solar cooperative in two West Virginia counties by providing assessments, financing and discounts on installation. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

OIL & GAS:
• The Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and environmental groups sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for awarding a permit to an oil-export marine terminal without adequately studying its environmental impacts. (Reuters)
• Equitrans says it is making progress on the long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline while also considering market requests to further build out natural gas transmission between Appalachia and the Midwest and Gulf Coast. (Natural Gas Intelligence) 

GRID: “It would be the equivalent of going back to the Stone Age”: Former Texas regulators contemplate what would happen if the state’s standalone grid goes down and needs to perform a “black start.” (KUT)

PIPELINES: Virginia landowners want Dominion Energy to rescind and restore land easements claimed for the now-canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (WVTF)

INFRASTRUCTURE: Advocates of a U.S. Senate-negotiated infrastructure investment package make their case for how the bill would benefit Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WKRN, Oklahoman, Spectrum News 1)

NUCLEAR: An official at Oak Ridge National Laboratory advocates for nuclear power as a cheap, efficient and reliable producer of electricity when compared to clean energy such as solar and wind. (Oak Ridger)

COMMENTARY:
• A Texas regulator calls for the state to award economic incentives to natural gas producers and pipelines for adding carbon capture technology and storage to boost grid reliability. (Houston Chronicle)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority could win back public trust lost with the Kingston coal ash spill by shifting completely from fossil fuels, writes a state resident. (Oak Ridger)
• West Virginia should invest in rare earth mineral mining to build on its coal infrastructure and fill spiking demand in the semiconductor chip industry, writes a state lawmaker. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

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.