RENEWABLES: Houston will begin a five-year contract in July with NRG Energy to power all city-owned properties with renewable energy. (Bloomberg)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Oklahoma’s network of supercharger stations positions it to become a leader in electric vehicles, an advocate says. (Tulsa World)

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SOLAR:
• The chair of a South Carolina solar group says installers are having a hard time finding customers during the economic downturn. (Post and Courier)
• A recent petition could prompt federal regulators to take control of how solar customers are compensated, which could boost distributed generation in states like Tennessee and Alabama that have resisted net metering. (Greentech Media)

STORAGE: A public health group pressures nine states, including Florida, to speed the replacement of peaker generating units with storage. (PV Magazine)

WIND: An agreement between the military and a Virginia wind farm developer confirms the project will not affect training flights in the area. (Roanoke Times)

POLLUTANTS: Smog-producing pollution from cars has declined in Virginia during the pandemic, but not particulate pollution, more of which comes from diesel trucks that are still on the road. (Virginia Mercury)  

CLIMATE: All of Louisiana’s remaining 5,800 square miles of coastal wetlands will disappear due to rising sea levels, and the only question is how quickly it will happen, according to a new peer-reviewed study. (NOLA.com)

UTILITIES:
• A former U.S. energy secretary who now serves on Southern Company’s board of directors uses his nonprofit group to advocate for fracking, “clean coal” and other technologies that critics say prop up fossil fuels. (DeSmog)
• A petition in Charleston, South Carolina, urges city leaders to stop Dominion Energy from “butchering” tree limbs around wires. (Post and Courier) 

NUCLEAR:
• A proposed mine next to Georgia’s Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge would produce zirconium for use by the nuclear power industry. (Audubon)
• Georgia Power says the final module on its Plant Vogtle Unit 3 is in place, a major milestone toward its expected November 2021 in-service date. (Augusta Chronicle)

OIL & GAS: A U.S. ban on new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses, an oil industry group says. (Reuters)

COMMENTARY:
• A columnist writes that oil companies facing coastal erosion lawsuits can’t win in court, but they can win in the Louisiana legislature. (NOLA.com)
• Florida politicians should support solar to create jobs and save money, writes the co-founder of Solar United Neighbors of Florida. (Florida Today)

Dan has two decades' experience working in print, digital and broadcast media. Prior to joining the Energy News Network as managing editor in December 2017, he oversaw watchdog reporting at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, part of the USA Today Network, and before that spent several years as a freelance journalist covering energy, business and technology. Dan is a former Midwest Energy News journalism fellow and a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and mass communications from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.