EMISSIONS: North Carolina releases a plan to reduce carbon emissions that environmental advocates say is too vague, while other critics say its reliance on renewables could increase rates and jeopardize grid reliability. (WRAL)

GRID:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s use of rolling blackouts after coal and natural gas units went offline during a Christmas weekend cold snap fuels criticism of its plans to double down on fossil fuels. (Associated Press)
• Tennessee Valley Authority officials say a late December winter storm set records for 24-hour electricity demand and winter peak power demand. (WBIR)
• Duke Energy officials blame rolling blackouts partly on unresponsive generating units, while aging grid infrastructure may also have played a part. (Charlotte Observer, WRAL)
• Texas avoids mass blackouts during a cold snap, but an expert says demand that exceeded forecasts indicates the need for further grid reform. (Houston Public Media)
• As regulators and lawmakers consider premiums and other incentives to spur more natural gas-fired energy, Texas’ grid authority instead suggests making no changes to the state energy market. (Dallas Morning News)
• Two groups of white supremacists with ties to North Carolina have been charged or convicted in connection to plans to attack power substations, although they’ve not been connected yet to recent substation attacks. (WGHP)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Environmentalists worry an electric car manufacturer’s planned North Carolina factory would fill wetlands and streams in an area already prone to water pollution. (NC Policy Watch)

OIL & GAS:
• A researcher links the sharp uptick in West Texas earthquakes since 2017 with a spike in Permian Basin fracking. (KUT)
• Crude oil and natural gas exports from terminals clustered in Louisiana and Texas rose sharply last year even as the U.S. passed a major climate change law. (Inside Climate News)
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls for an investigation of the state’s largest natural gas provider for service disruptions that left some without heat during freezing weather. (Texas Tribune)
• A pipe failure results in an oil spill near the Texas coast. (Corpus Christi Caller Times)

FINANCE:
• The Texas Supreme Court declines to intervene in a lawsuit by two renewable energy companies that say they’ll miss out on millions of dollars because state officials couldn’t process their applications before a tax-savings program expired. (Texas Tribune, KXAN)
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican officials prepare to target sustainable investment funds and financial regulators in the coming year. (Inside Climate News)

HYDROGEN: Federal officials ask Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma to submit an application for a $1.25 billion regional clean hydrogen hub that could produce a cleaner fuel for the region’s petrochemical industry. (NOLA.com)

STORAGE: Georgia and South Carolina have won five multi-billion-dollar battery plants over the past few years as part of an industry surge. (CleanTechnica)

NUCLEAR: Experts discuss how to dispose of nuclear waste from a small modular reactor proposed for Virginia. (Cardinal News)

BIOGAS: Oil giant BP announces its purchase of a Texas-based company that operates renewable natural gas and landfill gas-to-energy facilities. (Waste Dive)

COMMENTARY:
• Georgia Power’s recent rate hike resulted from the utility’s over-reliance on natural gas and numerous regulatory approvals for high profit margins, writes a sustainability advocate. (Brunswick News)
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has persistently tried to remove the state from a regional carbon market but will be unsuccessful unless he can demonstrate his authority to do so, writes an editorial board. (Virginian-Pilot)

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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.