COAL: The closure of Tennessee Valley Authority’s Paradise Fossil Plant in Kentucky may mark a turning point in coal plant closures as remaining coal plants across the country tend to be newer, cleaner and less expensive to run. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Volkswagen’s new electric SUV should begin rolling out of its eastern Tennessee plant in 2022, according to company officials. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

***SPONSORED LINK: Whether you’re aware of it or not, clean energy is working for you right now.  Support NCSEA’s efforts to continue building a clean energy future that works for all North Carolinians  by giving a tax-deductible donation before December 31. www.energync.org/cleanworks .***

BIOGAS:
• North Carolina regulators request Align RNG, a partnership between Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods, to identify 15 of the 19 hog farms involved in its biogas project. (NC Policy Watch)
• Align RNG completes its first biogas project in Utah as it gears up for projects in Virginia and North Carolina, closer to its home companies. (Virginia Business)

NUCLEAR: Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle receives its first shipment of nuclear fuel for one of two new units currently under construction. (Augusta Chronicle)

PIPELINES: Virginia’s State Water Control Board hears concerns from citizen monitors, environmentalists and state regulators about erosion from construction along the Mountain Valley Pipeline. (Roanoke Times)

SOLAR: 7X Energy wraps up construction on a 250 MW solar farm in Texas for use by Nestlé beginning in 2021. (Solar Power World)

WIND:
• Nearby residents weigh in on a central Texas wind farm as it prepares to begin operations. (KXXV)
• A 74-turbine, 350 MW wind farm nears completion in northern Oklahoma. (news release, Newkirk Herald Journal)

GRID:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority seeks public comment on a 34-mile transmission line in Mississippi. (news release)
• Dominion Energy wraps a grid improvement project for 840 customers in eastern Virginia. (Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal)

COAL ASH:
• The EPA proposes a partial permit program to give Texas more control over regulating coal ash. (Utility Dive)
• With a popular boat launch on the James River closed, possibly for good, by Dominion Energy’s coal-ash excavation, outdoor enthusiasts push for a Virginia county to buy and open another access point. (Chesterfield Observer)

***SPONSORED LINK: Looking to understand how bias affects energy policy? What role does environmental justice play in utility ratemaking? Join Renew Missouri on Dec. 18 from 12-1 p.m. CST for a critical, engaging webinar. Tickets are only $75. Sign up today! ***

CLIMATE:
• A bipartisan coalition of Texas lawmakers who passed a 2009 law encouraging underground carbon storage has collapsed amid sharp partisan divides over climate change. (Houston Chronicle)
• The mayor of Tampa, Florida, convenes an advisory group to find ways for the city to adapt to the effects of climate change. (Tampa Bay Times)

COMMENTARY: Despite the extension of a 10-year ban on drilling off the coast of Florida, oil and gas companies still apply for federal seismic testing permits, leading an environmental advocacy group to call for a permanent ban. (Natural Resources Defense Council)

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.