EFFICIENCY: A report published Wednesday ranks Alabama Power last among the nation’s largest utilities for efficiency, with other Southeast utilities among the bottom ten; authors say lack of state incentives is a factor. (ACEEE, Orlando News Sentinel)

NUCLEAR: Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin on Wednesday signed a bill lifting the state’s moratorium on nuclear power plant construction. (Paducah Sun)

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SOLAR: A solar-industry advocacy group has doubts about a renewable energy bill that is being considered by North Carolina’s Senate. (Public News Service)

CLIMATE: Part of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s efforts to regulate the state’s power plant emissions includes establishing a mandatory cap-and-trade program. (Utility Drive)

COAL:
• The owner of a coal power plant in West Virginia is again asking to increase its capacity cost rate, saying approval would rescue it from a “dire” financial situation. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Seven states, including Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, will receive additional funding to help diversify the economies of their coal-mining communities. (Associated Press)
• A coal miner was killed Tuesday at a mine in West Virginia. (Associated Press)
• The West Virginia Coal Forum held a conference for industry officials to discuss regulations and research, with one participant saying that “there is reason to be optimistic” while Donald Trump is president. (Telegram Exponent)

COAL ASH: Georgia Power wants to consolidate five of its coal ash ponds, which would require moving surface water from those ponds into a nearby lake that is a source of drinking water. (WMAZ)

PIPELINES: A look at part of the proposed route of the Mountain Valley Pipeline where the project would cross the Appalachian Trail. (WVTF)

GRID:
• Dominion Energy has received a provisional permit for a transmission line near historical site in Virginia. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Mississippi State University is partnering with Entergy to develop new software tools to improve grid performance and reduce the costs. (MSU)

UTILITIES: The city of Marietta, Georgia, wants to be a natural gas provider, though a group of natural gas companies has filed a joint motion to dismiss the application to do so. (Marietta Daily Journal)