SOLAR:
• A North Carolina sustainable energy group says the state has built one gigawatt of solar power capacity accounting for $1.6 billion in revenue. (United Press International)
• Arkansas regulators have approved a request by Entergy Arkansas to buy power from an 81-megawatt solar system to be built by Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources. (Arkansas News)
• A  job training and affordable housing non-profit in West Virginia is bringing community solar to low-income families. (WSAZ-TV, Huntington)
• Here’s one impact of a new Virginia law that limits how homeowners can earn credits for generating more electricity than their homes use. (Staunton News-Leader)

UTILITIES: Ten municipal utilities began meeting in their bid to source electricity at a cost lower than what’s being supplied by Kentucky Utilities. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

POLLUTION:
• Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and other parties are asking a federal court to toss out the Obama administration’s landmark standards for reducing mercury pollution at coal-fired power plants. (Greenwire)
• The EPA is expected soon to release a contentious new rule limiting surface-level ozone pollution. (The Hill)

POWER LINES: How society measures a “view” may decide the fate of a proposed transmission line over the James River in Virginia. (The Virginian-Pilot)

BLANKENSHIP TRIAL:
• As he awaits his trial to begin Thursday on counts of conspiracy and lying to federal financial regulators, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship casts a long shadow over West Virginia politics. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Here is a timeline of major events in Massey Energy’s 2010 Upper Big Branch disaster which killed 29 miners. (Associated Press)
• What a verdict in the Blankenship trial could mean. (West Virginia Public Radio)

LNG EXPORTS: Cheniere Energy plans to start liquefied natural gas production this December at its Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. (Bloomberg News)

VOLKSWAGEN EMISSIONS VIOLATIONS:
• Plaintiffs attorneys envision VW owners making three claims against the automaker. (The New York Times)
• The EPA offers answers to questions being asked by VW and Audi owners. (The Chattanoogan)
• The EPA says it will add on-road tests to its vehicle emissions evaluations. (Associated Press)
• VW’s board appointed the head of its Porsche unit as CEO and said it was suspending some employees and would reorganize its North American operations. (Associated Press)
• German media are reporting that Volkswagen was warned years ago about the use of illegal tricks to defeat emissions tests. (Associated Press)

OIL TRAINS: Two environmental groups say they plan to sue over a Yorktown, Virginia terminal that accepts crude oil via rail. (Associated Press)

HOG WASTE: Duke Energy is stirring controversy in North Carolina’s hog industry with plans to burn biogas from out-of-state swine waste at two power plants. (Greensboro News & Record)

COMMENTARY:
• Miami needs to stop ignoring the threats posed by rising sea levels. (Miami Herald)
• Offshore wind is a viable source of power for South Carolina. (Myrtle Beach Sun News)