EMISSIONS: The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a case brought by West Virginia and 18 other states that challenges the EPA’s ability to issue regulations to curb carbon emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants. (Guardian, Vox)

ALSO: Oil and gas operators in Texas and other states have flared at least 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over the last 10 years, which regulators have largely missed due limited federal oversight, a patchwork of state regulations, and inconsistent data collection. (Inside Climate News)

GRID:
• Texas’ grid manager predicts “tight grid conditions” during a winter storm this week and asks regulators to relax air pollution rules to allow generators to maximize electricity production. (Bloomberg)
• Louisiana regulators vote to allow Entergy to recover $3.2 billion from customers for storm repairs as critics hammer the utility for paying $1.5 billion in shareholder dividends and $4 million in CEO compensation. (Louisiana Illuminator)

SOLAR: Clean energy advocates balk at changes to a Florida bill that would introduce an 18-month grace period before utilities drop rooftop solar rates, but which also include additional sweeteners for utilities. (Tampa Bay Times)

WIND: A renewables company that plans to build a wind farm in western Virginia seeks a buyer for its electricity after a previous agreement with Dominion Energy expired last year. (Roanoke Times)  

UTILITIES:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority submits a bid to supply electricity for Memphis, Tennessee, after its CEO previously said the utility would abstain from bidding if the city opened the process up to the private sector. (Commercial Appeal)
• Local Florida governments stand to reap additional tax revenue from Florida Power & Light’s 2022 rate increase. (WMBB)

HYDROGEN: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin leads the charge for West Virginia to claim a chunk of the $8 billion the federal government has set aside for ​“clean hydrogen hubs” in the U.S. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS: West Virginia lawmakers advance a bill to encourage more horizontal oil and gas well drilling. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Duke Energy proposes a North Carolina program to allow some customers to charge electric vehicles for a fixed monthly fee as low as $19.99 in return for allowing Duke to manage the charging to avoid grid stress and higher costs. (Utility Dive)
• Virginia’s dueling budget proposals both include funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, but neither include a previously discussed rebate program for EV buyers. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY:
• A Virginia coal miner who contracted black lung criticizes a federal lawmaker for not supporting legislation to restore and extend a tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. (Roanoke Times)
• A Virginia county should not be working with a renewables company to develop a solar ordinance, but instead look at how other counties are limiting large projects and protecting against runoff, writes a landscape architect. (Farmville Herald)

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.