OIL & GAS: Despite recent political and regulatory setbacks for the natural gas industry, North Carolina has largely resisted a national push toward phasing out gas and other fossil fuel appliances in favor of building electrification. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• An energy company says it’s considering building a $550 million blue methanol production plant with carbon capture in Louisiana. (Shreveport Times)
• The U.S. is poised to become the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in 2022, as companies like Venture Global secure deals and build out facilities in Louisiana. (Reuters, Bloomberg) 

POLITICS:
• Documents show Florida Power & Light wrote and asked state lawmakers to introduce legislation to hamper rooftop solar by restricting net metering to prevent homeowners and businesses from selling excess power back to the company. (Miami Herald)
• The United Mine Workers of America calls on U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin to reconsider his opposition to Democrats’ spending plan because it includes multiple provisions to aid coal workers, including an extension of the black lung fund. (Bloomberg)

EMISSIONS:
• Residents of one of West Virginia’s only majority-Black communities say they’ve complained for years about air pollution from a Union Carbide plant only to have their concerns fall “on deaf ears.” (Mountain State Spotlight/ProPublica)
• A new study finds odors emanating from a landfill in Bristol, Virginia, contain elevated levels of benzene but are otherwise more unpleasant than toxic. (Bristol Herald-Courier)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Georgia landed a new factory by electric vehicle maker Rivian even though the state has no emissions reduction targets and charges EV owners an annual fee to cover gas taxes that drivers aren’t paying. (Georgia Recorder)

WIND: Dominion Energy reaches a deal with Siemens for 176 wind turbines at an offshore wind farm under construction near Virginia. (Virginia Business)

UTILITIES:
• Customer, business and sustainable energy advocates line up against Duke Energy in an argument over multi-year rates in North Carolina’s new energy law. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Gulf Power shifts to ownership by Florida Power & Light after its 2019 sale from Southern Co. to NextEra. (NorthEscambia.com)
• A consumer analytics company ranks Chattanooga, Tennessee’s EPB as the nation’s best mid-sized electric utility for customer service. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

MINING: Scientists and engineers study the potential impacts of gold mining as Virginia lawmakers consider how and whether to regulate the activity. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY: Developers of a Virginia gas plant and pipeline in a majority-minority area are using the prospect of making hydrogen fuel to greenwash the project, but the process may result in a higher carbon footprint than either natural gas or coal, writes a professor. (Virginia Mercury)

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.