WIND: Developers of a North Carolina wind farm plan to build more projects in the state. (Charlotte Business Journal)

COAL: Companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice still owe $3 million in back taxes as his administration cuts public services. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ALSO:
• Lawyers for Don Blankenship seek a rehearing of an appeal that upheld his criminal conviction for mine safety violations. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• President Trump’s push for natural gas infrastructure makes it all the more unlikely his promise to revive coal mines will be realized. (NBC)

COAL ASH: Kentucky lawmakers delay a vote on a plan to reduce oversight of coal ash facilities. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

OIL AND GAS:
• The proposed Bayou Bridge pipeline elevates growing tensions between the oil industry and environmental interests. (New Orleans Times Picayune)
• West Virginia regulators eliminate restrictions on light and noise from fracking operations. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• Opponents pack an informational meeting on a proposed pipeline connecting West Virginia and Pennsylvania beneath the Potomac River. (Associated Press)

POLICY: Virginia lawmakers’ push for pumped hydro storage is inconsistent with their “small steps” approach to clean energy. (Associated Press)

UTILITIES:
• Southern Company faces financial uncertainty, and not just because of cost overruns at the Kemper and Vogtle plants. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• A Florida utility’s proposed rate increase includes $19 million for its share of a Georgia power plant that sells electricity on the wholesale market. (Pensacola News Journal)

NUCLEAR:
• A Louisiana company is at the center of nuclear plant delays in the Southeast as well as Toshiba’s massive write-down on the projects. (Bloomberg)
• The effects of Toshiba’s financial troubles on a South Carolina nuclear plant expansion will become more clear this week. (Post and Courier)
• Operators of the Vogtle plant in Georgia are issued a warning from federal regulators over the plant’s emergency preparedness plan. (Augusta Chronicle)

SOLAR:
• A North Carolina solar technology firm announces it has raised $875,000 in private equity. (WRAL)
• A rooftop array helps offset energy costs for a Georgia beer and wine distribution warehouse. (Savannah Morning News)

TRANSMISSION: Developers of a clean energy transmission seek to expedite a court challenge over eminent domain in Arkansas. (Russellville Courier)

OVERSIGHT: In a Q&A, Florida’s Public Counsel says the state is over-reliant on natural gas and expresses concerns about cutting down trees for solar farms. (Tampa Bay Times)

COMMENTARY:
• “Republican elders are offering their party an opening to change the conversation” on climate change. (New York Times)
• A Kentucky attorney tells coal miners “they got you mad at the wrong people.” (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• “If generating electricity employs a lot of people, not generating it employs even more.” (Blue Virginia)

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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.