SOLAR: A Virginia city will use a 1.4 MW array Dominion Energy is developing to become the first municipal utility in the state to offer a community solar option to customers. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• Florida solar companies worry that a net metering bill under consideration by the Florida Legislature will kill the growth they’ve seen in recent years. (Pensacola News Journal)
• Florida Power & Light Co. plans a 74.5 MW solar farm that would be the fifth solar facility in the county where it’s built. (Treasure Coast Newspapers)
• A Virginia planning commission refuses to endorse a 5 MW solar project over concerns about potential erosion into local waterways. (WRIC)
• A Texas school board votes to deny tax incentives and halt communication with a proposed solar farm, frustrating company officials but leaving open the possibility for them to build without tax breaks. (KXII)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Florida lawmakers consider an emerging debate over whether utilities should own electric vehicle charging stations, or if gas stations and manufacturers should compete. (Tampa Bay Times, News Service of Florida)
• A citizens group worried about EV maker Rivian’s planned Georgia factory over its environmental impacts begins to organize and raise money for a potential legal battle. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

UTILITIES:
• The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, proposes a study commission on how to reduce widespread electrical outages and whether to sell the city’s municipal utility. (Commercial Appeal)
• A Texas cooperative closes on a ​​$908 million securitization bond that shoulders the debt incurred by a price spike during last year’s winter storm, but it’s still considering a lawsuit. (Forbes)

EMISSIONS: Virginia health experts and residents living near plants emitting cancer-causing chemicals identified in a recent investigation call for stricter government oversight. (VPM, ProPublica)

EFFICIENCY: A new study finds the Tennessee Valley Authority spent less than 10% on energy efficiency as a share of power sales, while Florida utilities also tend to run well below the national average. (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Chattanooga Times Free Press, WUSF)

CLIMATE: Federal agencies release a report predicting 14-18 inches of sea level rise along the U.S. Gulf Coast by 2050. (Sarasota)

RENEWABLES: A Texas politics and energy author has tracked 21 rejections of wind and solar projects since 2017, with a spike last year that could indicate a decrease in Republican support for renewables. (PV Magazine)

POLITICS: Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke targets Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over grid failures, but a recent poll shows only a small amount of voters say that’s the most important problem facing the state. (KHOU, Texas Tribune) 

BIOGAS:
• A bioenergy and renewable fuels company announces plans to build a Texas biorefinery to convert wood waste into transportation fuel. (news release)
• A bioenergy company secures $73 million in financing to build two landfill-to-renewable-gas facilities in North Carolina. (news release)

COMMENTARY: A columnist hails the potential for Texas to build out its EV charging network over the next five years with up to $408 million in the infrastructure package. (Houston Chronicle)

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.