GRID: A San Antonio committee blames February’s winter storm outages on the Texas power market’s regulatory structure, while another study finds natural gas was responsible for two-thirds of the energy deficit and solar outperformed projections. (San Antonio Report, Vice)

ALSO:
• Texas regulators order the state grid manager to more quickly release information about power plant outages. (Texas Tribune)
• Texas’ grid operator projects it has plenty of reserve capacity to meet summer demand, but experts say that calculation assumes conditions that were already proved untrue last week. (Dallas Morning News)

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NUCLEAR: Georgia regulators complain mismanagement of Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project is creating more setbacks. (Georgia Recorder)

WIND: Dominion Energy says the two turbines it’s testing off Virginia’s coast in preparation for a larger wind farm are producing more power than expected. (Virginian Pilot)

SOLAR:
• Amazon’s solar plans for Arkansas include a new 135 MW plant and the purchase of power from a 180 MW plant that’s already been announced. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• A renewable energy company proposes a 200 MW solar farm in Kentucky. (The Messenger)
• A company begins work on a 317 MW solar plant in Texas, its first in the U.S. (Renews)
• Duke Energy begins construction on a 23 MW solar plant in North Carolina. (news release)

EMISSIONS: A new study finds the combination of air pollution and poverty triggers higher rates of cancer in Louisiana communities. (NOLA.com)

OIL & GAS:
• The federal bipartisan infrastructure deal announced this week calls for a $6 billion sale from the U.S. emergency oil reserve held on the Texas and Louisiana coasts. (Reuters)
• The owners of a Louisiana refinery say they need a big tax break to attract investment or face possible closure. (NOLA.com)
• An exploration and production company in Appalachia says it will certify its natural gas is responsibly produced from all of its wells across the region. (Natural Gas Intelligence)

COAL:
• West Virginia lawmakers pass a resolution asking the federal government to send $8 billion to reclaim forfeited mine sites and support struggling coal communities. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Appalachian Power asks Virginia regulators to approve a rate increase to pay for environmental improvements at two coal-fired power plants in West Virginia. (Roanoke Times)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority begins removing coal ash from a retired power plant in Memphis. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

OVERSIGHT: After lawmakers rejected his first choice, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper names a longtime lobbyist and environmental policy adviser as his next secretary for the environment. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY:
• West Virginia should not let itself be defined by a coal industry that’s a relatively recent aspect of Appalachia compared to its epic scenery and pioneering spirit, writes a Mountain State resident. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)
• Dominion Energy’s political campaign contributions to Virginia lawmakers should be illegal, writes a political science instructor. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)
• Alabama’s ban on direct-to-consumer sales and the disproportionate licensing fee for electric and hybrid vehicles are a major hurdle for the electric vehicle boom, writes a consumer analyst. (AL.com)

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.