POLLUTION:
• The Senate is expected to vote today on whether to repeal a federal stream protection rules. (Associated Press)
• How Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act to undo the regulation. (Quartz)

OIL AND GAS: The House also voted yesterday to repeal an SEC rule requiring oil and gas companies to disclose payments to foreign governments. (Wall Street Journal)

COAL ASH:
• A trial alleging a TVA coal ash facility polluted a nearby river is expected to wrap up today. (Associated Press)
• Environmental groups in North Carolina seek tougher measures to recycle coal ash and prevent water pollution. (WRAL)

COAL:
• The president of the TVA explains how coal could play a larger role in the utility’s energy mix. (E&E News)
• An Alabama nonprofit receives a federal grant to study strategies on developing an advanced energy economy in coal communities. (AL.com)

SOLAR: Virginia regulators approve a 20 MW solar project that uses a mix of state and private funding. (Fauquier Times)

UTILITIES:
• Virginia lawmakers advance a bill that would make it easier for utilities to recover costs from burying power lines. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Environmental groups are suing to prevent the TVA from tapping an aquifer to cool a gas-fired power plant. (Memphis Commercial Appeal)

PIPELINES:
• A proposal to repurpose a Tennessee pipeline is delayed because of a lack of a quorum at FERC. (Advocate-Messenger)
• A protest movement against the Sabal Trail pipeline is growing in Florida. (Public News Service)
• Georgia lawmakers say they’re “not in a hurry” as they develop tougher eminent domain rules for pipelines. (WABE)

EFFICIENCY: The first of four net-zero homes is completed in a development near Chattanooga. (Times Free Press)

COMMENTARY:
• A North Carolina Republican says a wind farm targeted by his legislative colleagues has been a “windfall of economic development.” (Outer Banks Voice)
• Three reasons why coal will never be “great again.” (Motley Fool)
• A Virginia bill to promote pumped hydro development is “one ray of sunshine for the coalfields.” (Roanoke Times)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.