SOLAR: North Carolina regulators will hold a hearing over whether Duke Energy is violating state and federal law by failing to three of a private developers solar projects to the grid. (Charlotte Business Journal)

ALSO:
• A state court of appeals hears a case over a North Carolina nonprofit’s effort to sell solar power to a church. (Greensboro News & Record)
• A North Carolina county’s solar ban fuels a legal dispute over a proposed project at a former golf course. (Elizabeth City Daily Advance)
• A community college in Virginia is developing a solar/renewable energy curriculum “TCC Solar Ready Veterans” to educate and employ military veterans. (WVEC)

NUCLEAR: 
• Southern Company’s CEO says “we have every reason to believe Toshiba will remain viable” amid growing concerns about the company’s nuclear projects. (Atlanta Journal Constitution) 
• How Toshiba wound up on the hook for cost overruns at two South Carolina reactors. (The Mainichi)

COAL:
• Kentucky coal producer Alpha Natural Resources sold its idled mines to a Georgia company that plans to reopen them. (Associated Press)
• More than 20 Kentucky counties are receiving $2 million grants from the U.S. Department of Labor to help displaced coal workers find employment. (WKMS)
• At a Lousiana conference, a Dynegy executive says subsidies for nuclear and renewables are a threat to coal generation. (Platts)
• West Virginia’s governor proposes a tiered severance tax for the coal and natural gas industries. (WV Metro News)

OIL AND GAS:
• The Georgia House approves a bill that would establish new regulations for fracking. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
• A Texas investment firm is negotiating with the state of Kentucky for incentives to build a $70 million natural gas plant. (Commonwealth Journal)
• South Carolina lawmakers delayed action on the oil and gas industry’s push to overturn legislation that protects property owners from unwanted surveys and other activities on their land. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• The federal government announced $9.5 million in penalties for safety violations and pollution from a 2012 Gulf of Mexico platform fire. (Associated Press)
• A Virginia county passes a fracking ban. (WVIR)

PIPELINES:
• The North Carolina Economic Development Association endorses the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Wilson Times)
• An Army veteran and former state trooper is among landowners fighting the use of eminent domain for the Rover pipeline. (Herald-Star)

EFFICIENCY: Food manufacturer Tate & Lyle plans a $60 million combined heat and power facility at a Tennessee plant. (Energy Business Review)

COMMENTARY:
• “Trump should look to the industry of the future, rather than the past.” (Environmental Defense Fund)
• For clean energy advocates, this year’s Virginia legislative session “could have been worse.” (Power for the People VA)

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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.