SOLAR: A 16 kilowatt solar array on the roof of a bike shop represents the first success in a southwestern Virginia’s group’s efforts to seed solar projects across seven coalfield counties. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• A city council in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley votes unanimously to lease nine acres for development of solar energy while also adopting a resolution that commits to 100% renewable energy by 2035. (WHSV)
• A West Virginia county zoning board approves a permit for a new solar farm. (WOAY)
• Texas county commissioners delay consideration of tax abatements for a $190 million, 1,700-acre solar farm amid opposition by residents and the lack of a draft agreement. (Austin American-Statesman)

***SPONSORED LINK: What Virginia legislative and regulatory issues will affect solar and storage deployment in 2021? Join legislators, utilities, and solar practitioners to unpack these issues at MDV-SEIA’s annual Solar Focus Conference, held virtually Nov. 17- 18. Register by Nov. 6 to receive a fantastic welcome gift!*** 

COAL:
• Gulf Power notifies Florida regulators it intends to accelerate its plans to convert a power plant from coal to natural gas because of damage from Hurricane Sally. (WEAR)
• Xcel Energy will switch from coal to natural gas at a Texas power plant to reduce excess emissions of sulfur dioxide. (KFDA)

REGULATION:
• Piedmont North Carolina groups join a lawsuit against a Trump administration regulatory rollback allowing coal plants to dump more pollutants into lakes and rivers. (Greensboro News & Record)
• Virginia lawmakers request state regulators revise their rules to more aggressively implement a sweeping clean-energy law passed earlier this year. (Utility Dive)

PIPELINES: A southwestern Virginia fire chief suspends the permit for a burn pit on a Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site after nearby residents say the fire is often unmonitored and not always extinguished at the end of the day. (WDBJ7)

COAL ASH: Residents express concerns about a capped Alabama Power coal ash pond located less than a mile from Gadsden’s water treatment plant. (WIAT)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Turkish electric vehicle parts supplier announces it will open its first North American manufacturing plant in Calhoun, Georgia. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

EFFICIENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority partners with Urban League chapters across Tennessee to offer energy efficiency training for contractors. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

OIL & GAS: Oklahoma oil and gas workers develop an award-winning plug to protect well workers from exposure to fumes while working on production tanks. (The Oklahoman)

WIND: Dominion Energy says it doesn’t anticipate that its planned wind farm off the coast of Virginia will encounter the same conflicts with fishermen that have troubled projects in New England. (Recharge News, subscription)

***SPONSORED LINK: The New England Energy Summit, Nov. 16, 23 and 30 will bring together industry leaders, end users and policymakers to address emerging issues and engage in impactful discussion. Featuring keynote speakers Ernest J. Moniz and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. Register at newenglandenergysummit.com .***

UTILITIES: Entergy won’t pay for a woman’s car that was crushed when three 1,000-pound transformers slipped off a pole and fell on it during Hurricane Zeta. (New Orleans Advocate)

COMMENTARY: More analysis, transparency and public engagement are needed on a proposed transmission line across tidal marshes at South Carolina’s Johns Island, writes a medical professor who lives there. (Charleston Post and Courier)

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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.