SOLAR: Arkansas lawmakers pass a bill reducing rates paid to customers with rooftop solar systems beginning in 2025 after a key energy association and an environmental group agree to drop their opposition. (Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Business)

MORE:
• Southern Virginia residents attend an open house to express concerns and learn more about Dominion Energy’s upcoming construction of a 125 MW solar farm. (Chatham Star-Tribune)
• A Virginia county board discusses changes to its solar ordinance with residents concerned about its prior approval of 17 utility-scale projects. (News & Record)
• An energy company partners with an energy retailer to build a “virtual power plant” in Texas based around its solar and battery storage systems. (PV Magazine)

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GRID: The head of Texas’ regulatory commission warns the state power grid and its reliance on wind and solar will be tested over the summer, which he says illustrates the need for additional gas plants and small nuclear reactors. (Bloomberg)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• An electric vehicle company is building out the second phase of its Florida factory as it prepares to begin production. (Jacksonville Daily Record)
• The head of a North Carolina semiconductor manufacturer says its planned $5  billion plant will make silicon carbide wafers that will alleviate the anticipated surge in demand for electric vehicles. (WUNC)
• A mechanic at South Florida’s first electric vehicle service center discusses what it’s like to service and modify EVs. (CleanTechnica)

COAL:
• An analyst argues West Virginia should help a community near a coal-fired power plant slated for closure to transition to new economic sources rather than push a utility to buy and keep it open. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• West Virginia lawmakers approve a bill to reformulate a state economic development office to better support the coal industry. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, subscription)
• Virginia will receive more than $11.7 million this year to reclaim abandoned mine lands as part of a larger package of $135 million for six Appalachian states and three tribes. (Cardinal News)
• Virginia regulators fine Norfolk Southern for spilling 1,300 tons of coal into the Roanoke River in a 2020 train crash. (WRIC)

OIL & GAS:
• West Texas farmers worry fracked wastewater injected underground may poison aquifers that provide their drinking and crop water. (Texas Tribune/Inside Climate News)
• Residents in a small Texas community gather to discuss what to do about a crude oil spill that’s affecting their land, water and livestock. (KPRC)

NUCLEAR:
• An expert describes the process of bringing a new nuclear unit online as Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle prepares to begin operation of the first new nuclear reactor built in the U.S. since 1996. (Macon Telegraph)
• Virginia Democrats and Republicans split over Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push to develop small modular nuclear reactors in the state. (Virginia Mercury) 

POLITICS:
• Georgia lawmakers reach legislative crossover, with bills to expand net-metering and bar Georgia Power from billing customers for electric vehicle charger expansion both failing to pass. (Savannah Morning News)
• Two Kentucky Republicans running for governor spat over their respective support for coal-fired power plants. (WTVQ)

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Mason Adams

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.