WIND: Virginia regulators approve plans for the state’s first commercial wind farm, but the turbines will be turned off at certain times to avoid harming bats. (Roanoke Times)

COAL ASH: Georgia lawmakers defeat a measure to require more public notification when coal ash is dumped into landfills. (Savannah Morning News)

UTILITIES: Moody’s downgrades Mississippi Power’s financial ratings because of “the increasingly uneconomic Kemper integrated gasification combined cycle plant.” (Biloxi Sun Herald)

NUCLEAR:
• Customers of a South Carolina utility could continue to pay for a nuclear expansion even if the project is abandoned. (The State)
• An environmental advocate praises Georgia Power’s decision to stop work at the Stewart County nuclear site but also notes $50 million in ratepayer funds had been spend on the project. (Atlanta Business Journal)
• Kentucky lawmakers lift a moratorium to prevent the storage of nuclear waste there, opening the door to future nuclear reactor construction. (KWMS)

SOLAR:
• A solar bill to expand a 2015 law letting property owners finance the installation of solar panels dies in the Georgia House. (Atlanta Business Journal, subscription)
• A Florida utility says its upcoming projects will be the lowest-cost solar arrays ever built in the state. (Solar Industry Magazine)

COAL:
• The commission that oversees the solvency of Kentucky’s Reclamation Guaranty Fund is waiting to take action on a recommendation that coal companies pay a significantly larger tonnage fee. (WFPL)
• State investigators release more details about a worker killed this week in a coal preparation facility owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A federal study will examine the health impacts of living near surface coal mines in Kentucky. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

PIPELINES:
• Georgia lawmakers will consider a bill with new rules for building petroleum pipelines after a moratorium last year. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• A Hare Krishna community in West Virginia that sells shale gas under its properties has filed a lawsuit challenging an eminent domain action that would result in a pipeline on land they consider sacred. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Pipeline opposition is galvanizing environmental activists in Florida. (WLRN)

COMMENTARY:
• Mississippi regulators “should not punish ratepayers further for Southern Company’s business malpractice.” (Northside Sun)
• A union official touts the job creation impact of pipeline projects. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.