GRID: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directs state regulators to prioritize natural gas, coal and nuclear power plants and impose more costs on renewables in an attempt to fix “an uneven playing field between non-renewable and renewable energy generators.” (Dallas Morning News, Bloomberg)

ALSO: Duke Energy, Florida Power & Light and other electric companies prepare for possible outages as Tropical Storm Elsa hits the Southeast. (WFLA, Tampa Bay Times)

PIPELINES: A Virginia regulatory board delays consideration of a permit for a compressor station on a Mountain Valley Pipeline extension after residents say a public hearing on the permit was inaccessible. (Virginia Mercury)

COAL: A study finds that miners with black lung disease also face depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder and symptoms of mental illness. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

COAL ASH: Researchers and government officials hope to tap toxic coal ash stored at 26 disposal sites in Virginia for rare earth elements and critical minerals used in renewables and batteries. (Virginia Mercury)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Volvo will add production of an electric SUV to a South Carolina factory beginning next year. (Post and Courier)
• A Tennessee city council approves tax incentives for a company to acquire a building to develop materials for lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

WIND: A Louisiana economic development group points to the construction of wind turbines in the Gulf of Mexico as a sign that the state is well-positioned for growth in wind power. (WVUE)

BIOGAS: Environmental groups say a newly passed North Carolina law that streamlines permits for hog-waste-to-gas projects also weakens site restrictions and removes an important tax incentive promoting cleaner technology to manage farm waste. (WFAE)

OIL & GAS: Louisiana lawmakers pass a bill to allow for chemical recycling of used plastics into synthetic crude oil that can be refined into diesel fuel, gasoline and heating oil. (CleanTechnica)

POLITICS: A former coal executive resigns from a newly established panel to redraw the boundaries of Virginia’s legislative and U.S. House districts based on the 2020 U.S. Census. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

ACTIVISM: A Florida developer of more than 100 gas stations who later contributed to the purchase of more than 1 million acres for land preservation has died. (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

COMMENTARY:
• Shifting away from fossil fuels to clean energy is the best way to address climate change and extreme heat waves that threaten states like Florida, writes a climate scientist. (Gainesville Sun)
• A Tennessee state lawmaker argues that moving oversight of surface mining from federal to state regulators will help the coal industry prosper and add jobs. (Tennessean)
• Virginia can forever claim to be home to the first offshore wind project in federal waters and is on its way to becoming a foundational leader in the emerging industry, writes the president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition. (Virginia Mercury)
• The Mountain Valley Pipeline’s plan to build a southern Virginia compressor station follows a familiar pattern of pushing pollution into poor and minority communities, write two environmental justice advocates. (Virginia Mercury)

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.