RENEWABLES:
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam opens a virtual clean energy summit with a pledge to get the state’s power grid to 30% renewable energy by 2030. (WVTF)
• Alabama Power seeks proposals for renewable energy projects by December 1. (Alabama Newscenter)

COAL ASH:
• Alabama regulators seek public input on utilities’ plans to bury coal ash in place rather than move it to a lined landfill. (AL.com)
• The EPA issues a revised rule that expands options for utilities storing coal ash, prompted by high-profile spills in North Carolina and Tennessee but softened by the Trump administration. (Utility Dive)

COAL:
• Donald Trump ran in 2016 on promises of bringing coal back in Appalachia, but the industry has further deteriorated since his election. (Columbus Dispatch)
• A fire erupts during demolition of a prep plant on the retired Hobet coal mine in southern West Virginia. (Coal Valley News)

UTILITIES: Jacksonville city council members subpoena a Florida Power & Light lobbyist as part of their investigation into a failed sale of the city’s utility. (Jacksonville Daily Record)

SOLAR:
• A North Carolina county places a moratorium on solar projects until it can review its zoning ordinance. (Roanoke Chowan News-Herald)
• A Dallas power company plans to build a 200 MW solar farm on the site of a retired coal mine in eastern Texas. (Panola Watchman)
• A Canadian company signs agreements to buy power from three Duke Energy solar farms planned for North Carolina. (Kallanish Energy)

PIPELINES:
• A judge fines a pipeline protester $1,000 after a February scuffle with Mountain Valley Pipeline workers at a tree-sit in Virginia. (Roanoke Times)
• Virginia’s environmental regulatory agency will hire a director of environmental justice in the wake of discontent over its approval of a pipeline compressor station in a historic Black community. (Kallanish Energy)
• Federal regulators approve a 134-mile pipeline in the Permian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico. (Kallanish Energy)

WIND: A 162 MW Texas wind farm, an expansion of a 192 MW wind farm built in 2017, begins commercial operation. (Renewables Now)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• General Motors shares details of its $2 billion plan to convert a Tennessee auto plant for building electric vehicles. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• A bus company will expand in central Virginia to build a charging station as part of its role in the growing use of electric buses across the state. (WXFR)

STORAGE: A southern Virginia city prepares for the construction of a commercial battery facility that’s expected to reduce costs for electric customers. (Martinsville Bulletin)

CLIMATE: Charlottesville, Virginia’s city council receives a report on its progress toward reducing emissions 45% by 2030. (Daily Progress)

COMMENTARY:
• A resident of central Virginia calls for the state to slow approval of solar farms on undisturbed land in rural parts of the state. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A clean energy advocate says Florida should invest more in engaging utilities to further grow the state’s burgeoning electric vehicle industry. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)

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Dan Haugen

Dan has two decades' experience working in print, digital and broadcast media. Prior to joining the Energy News Network as managing editor in December 2017, he oversaw watchdog reporting at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, part of the USA Today Network, and before that spent several years as a freelance journalist covering energy, business and technology. Dan is a former Midwest Energy News journalism fellow and a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and mass communications from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.