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)

Jim Pierobon, a policy, marketing and social media strategist, was a founding contributor to Southeast Energy News. He passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

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