COAL: West Virginia announces a multi-million dollar agreement with Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources to reclaim lands affected by its mining operations. (Wall Street Journal)

ALSO:
• Emails between officials of Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources and federal attorneys indicate a possible bid to hide its impending bankruptcy filing last summer. (ClimateWire)
• Kentucky regulators shut down a Harlan County mine operated by Revelation Energy after sediment leaks into a creek. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• Rural co-ops in North Carolina turn to community solar to help members invest in clean energy. (Southeast Energy News)
• The Alabama utility commission approves a 72 MW solar system sought by Walmart and Alabama Power to be built by Miami-based Origis Energy. (Alabama Media Group)
• Duke says it has completed its 35th solar facility in North Carolina. (Greentechlead)

UTILITIES:
• After two years of study, a utility futures group calls for fundamental changes governing North Carolina’s electric utilities including new rates and incentives. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• The TVA opts to raze a former coal-fired power plant in northeast Alabama. (The Chattanoogan)

COAL ASH:
• North Carolina lawmakers say they are working with Gov. Pat McCrory on new legislation to speed the cleanup of ash sites. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• An advocacy group in North Carolina calls on the state’s health director to resign over the safety of well water near ash ponds. (Progressive Pulse)

OFFSHORE DRILLING: Eight Republicans join 49 Democrats in a letter to President Obama opposing seismic testing off the southern Atlantic coast. (The Post and Courier)

FRACKING: Chemicals normally deployed on land are found in at least one Gulf well drilled by Shell Oil which may have leaked off the Louisiana coast. (Houma Today)

OIL & GAS: Marathon reaches an agreement with the federal government to control pollution and recycle gases normally flared at its Garyville, Louisiana refinery. (Baton Rouge Advocate)

EFFICIENCY: Atlanta-based Boys & Girls Clubs finish second among 125 teams nationwide in an energy-reduction competition and first in water conservation. (Atlanta Constitution-Journal)

NUCLEAR: After an inquiry from a local mayor and an activist group, federal regulators remind Florida Power & Light to carefully monitor rail traffic for the risks it poses to its St. Lucie plant nearby. (TCPalm)

NATURAL GAS: A Houston company signs a pact to supply liquefied natural gas to overseas customers raising to about one-third the amount of LNG contracted for through its Louisiana terminal. (Hydrocarbons-technology.com)

CLIMATE:
• A faith-based conference in South Carolina explores the human side of climate and energy policy. (SC Now)
• Duke University helps plant 40 trees in Wilson, North Carolina of offset its carbon emissions. (Duke Today)

PIPELINES: Residents of a Virginia town consider the risks of a natural gas pipeline underneath them and others planned for nearby. (Staunton News Leader)

WIND: The Center for Wind Energy at James Madison University in Virginia sets June 23 for an offshore forum at its campus in Harrisonburg. (EIN News)

COMMENTARY:
• Taxpayers should hope “Big Coal” will be held to their obligations to fully pay for environmental damage. (New York Times)
• Climate activists have the chance for a big win over Duke Energy’s plans to build a gas-fired power plant in Asheville. (The Institute for Southern Studies)
• Bonuses paid to bankrupt coal company executives walking away from mine reclamation obligations should be outlawed. (US News & World Report)
• A small-town newspaper publisher takes on a “goliath” waste company to block coal ash disposal in the southern Georgia town where he grew up. (Columbia Journalism Review)