SOLAR: The rapid growth of Virginia’s solar industry, coupled with its substantial need for open space, presents land-use challenges for local governments across the state. (Virginia Mercury)

ALSO:
• Entergy proposes building a solar farm in northern Louisiana’s Morehouse Parish. (KNOE)
• Florida Power & Light prepares a 74.5 MW solar farm in the northeast part of the state to begin operating by the end of 2020. (St. Augustine Record)
• An eastern Tennessee electric cooperative warns of a possible solar panel scam targeting its members on social media. (Mountain City Tomahawk)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• General Motors chooses not to take an 11% stake in electric vehicle company Nikola, dashing its plans for an electric and hydrogen-powered pickup truck. (Associated Press)
• A Turkish electric vehicle parts maker will open a North American headquarters in Georgia to supply companies like General Motors and Volkswagen. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
• North Carolina regulators approve a scaled-back pilot program for Duke Energy to install up to 280 electric vehicle charging stations. (WFAE)

COAL: The president and CEO of the West Virginia Coal Association since 1992 will retire at the end of January. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

OIL & GAS: A utility commissioner in northeastern Mississippi announces a natural gas service expansion for 80 people in a rural area. (Itawamba County Times)

UTILITIES: A federal lawsuit alleging that an Orlando coal- and natural gas-fired plant released toxins is dismissed at the request of the plaintiffs. (WFTV)

TRANSITION:
• Residents of Gulf Coast states connected by mutual aid networks envision a southern Green New Deal that would include ending pipeline con­struc­tion and repur­pos­ing fos­sil fuel infra­struc­ture for renew­ables. (In These Times)
• President-elect Biden’s administration will likely face legal challenges from the fossil fuel industry and states that are home to it, including Texas and West Virginia. (E&E News)

COMMENTARY:
• Methane captured from pigs, chickens and other sources of organic waste will benefit rural communities while providing clean energy, argues the director of North Carolina’s Research Triangle Regional Partnership. (North State Journal)
• Dominion Energy’s tilt toward clean energy is being driven by demand from high-tech business customers, writes a journalist covering the growth of data centers and undersea cables in Virginia. (Bacon’s Rebellion)

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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.