UTILITIES: Orlando’s municipal utility announces that it will stop burning coal by 2027 and switch to solar and natural gas as it charts a course toward eliminating carbon emissions by 2050. (Orlando Sentinel)

TRANSPORTATION:
• As leaders from a dozen states, including Virginia, discuss equity issues around a regional transportation emissions pact, environmental justice advocates say they need to involve more people of color in the process. (Energy News Network)
• Kentucky announces $8.5 million in funding from its Volkswagen settlement fund to replace about 170 buses with cleaner, more efficient vehicles. (WMKY)

PIPELINES:
• A malicious prosecution lawsuit claims that a security firm conspired to have three Mountain Valley Pipeline opponents arrested based in part on a false accusation that they were “affiliated with Antifa.” (Roanoke Times)
• Three environmental groups file a motion with a federal appeals court supporting North Carolina regulators’ denial of a key water permit for the MVP Southgate pipeline. (news release)
• South Carolina residents are concerned about the impact on property values and the environment from a planned Duke Energy gas pipeline. (WYFF)

SOLAR:
• In rural central Virginia, solar-powered internet hotspots help families navigate remote schooling during the pandemic. (Daily Yonder)
• An Oklahoma utility announces the completion of two 5 MW solar farms for the Chickasaw Nation and Choctaw Nation. (news release/Solar Power World)
• An Arkansas school district holds a “flip the switch” event for its new 1,140-panel solar array before a school board meeting. (KARK)

COAL:
• Kentucky went a year with no coal mining deaths but now has two in less than a week after a miner was killed Tuesday at an underground mine. (Lexington Herald Leader)
• As Kentucky’s once-powerful coal industry buckles, its political prominence has also tumbled to a back-burner issue. (Courier Journal, subscription)
• A Kentucky community reacts to Vistra Energy’s plan to close its coal-fired power plants. (Metropolis Planet)

COAL ASH: Duke Energy will host a virtual town hall tonight on its plan to clean up a coal ash landfill in Crystal River, Florida. (Bay News 9)

STORAGE: A battery energy storage system is expected to reduce a Virginia city’s peak demand by about 9 MW and save $1 million per year in transmission and capacity costs. (PV Magazine)

OFFSHORE WIND: Dominion Energy says its two-turbine offshore wind pilot has completed final testing and is ready to enter into commercial operation soon. (WAVY)

COMMENTARY: Florida regulators rely on outdated analyses in setting energy efficiency goals that ignore the savings they produce for customers, a clean energy advocate writes. (Charlotte Sun)

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.