COAL: As West Virginia regulators consider rate increases to keep three coal-fired power plants open until 2040, a new report says that none of the three will be economical to operate within five years. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

ALSO:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority demolishes its oldest coal-fired power plant, one of six it has retired since 2012. (Tennessean, Associated Press)
• Arch Resources plans to open a new longwall mine in West Virginia for steel-making coal amid growing global demand. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

PIPELINES: Environmentalists complain the carbon offsets Mountain Valley plans to purchase will only make up for the emissions it creates by transporting natural gas and not from drilling or burning it. (Roanoke Times)

SOLAR: A Florida entrepreneur launches a solar-powered food truck after deciding he needed additional power for an ice-cream machine. (WFTX)

OIL & GAS:
• Abandoned oil and gas wells in the Permian Basin leak chemicals that signal a growing national problem for the oil industry and the communities and governments left to clean up the mess. (Associated Press)
• Dominion Energy proposes converting a 415 MW coal and natural gas plant in South Carolina completely to gas beginning in 2030. (Times and Democrat)
• Poland’s state-run energy firm cites construction delays as it decides to withdraw its contract to buy from a proposed Gulf Coast natural gas facility in favor of other projects. (Beaumont Enterprise)

UTILITIES:
• A Florida city-owned utility moves to raise its rates annually through 2027, even though they’re already among the highest in the state. (Gainesville Sun)
• Dominion Energy warns of a phone scam in which callers are told their electricity will be cut off within hours if they don’t pay. (WTVR)

EMISSIONS: A new study shows 20 industrial facilities are responsible for more than half of Louisiana’s carbon emissions and that the industrial sector’s share is nearly three times the national average. (Louisiana Illuminator)

COAL ASH: North Carolina regulators approve a permit for Duke Energy to expand a power plant landfill to take more coal ash. (Waste Today)

GRID: Mississippi regulators launch an audit of Entergy’s membership in a regional transmission organization after outages related to February’s winter storm. (Northside Sun)

COMMENTARY:
• The passage of legislation to allow Tennessee to assume oversight of coal won’t spur production but will put the state on the hook for cleaning up after the mining industry, writes a water quality advocate. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)
• Entergy’s plans to build a 1,125 MW natural gas and hydrogen plant in Texas represent a welcome step toward cleaner energy from oil refineries, writes an editorial board. (Beaumont Enterprise)
• Georgia’s congressional delegation should press for investments in electric vehicles to achieve cleaner air and more environmental justice, writes a state lawmaker. (Georgia Recorder)

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Mason Adams

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.