UTILITIES: Virginia lawmakers advance two competing proposals to rework electric utility rates, with clean energy advocates lining up behind one and Dominion Energy the other. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• Duke Energy asks North Carolina regulators to approve expansion of a program that allows large customers to contract for wind, solar and battery power to provide up to 100% of their energy use, and a related program that allows customers to buy renewable energy credits. (WFAE)
• NextEra Energy wants to double its renewables portfolio and develop up to 42 GW of renewable and storage projects for non-utility customers, but its plans are overshadowed by allegations that subsidiary Florida Power & Light violated state and federal campaign finance laws. (Utility Dive)
• A Tennessee county board places the president of a local gas utility on leave over allegations he used district resources and employees at his home and that of a relative. (WBIR)

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GRID:
• A long-duration ice storm threatens Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and other parts of the Southeast, though Texas grid officials say they’re prepared. (NBC News, KXAN)
• Virginia Tech researchers receive a $1.5 million grant to research a new semiconductor material that would help the power grid better accommodate widely dispersed sources of renewable energy. (Virginia Business)

SOLAR:
• A Florida county partners with Florida Power and Light to install solar canopies over basketball courts at a park. (Miami Herald)
• Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power file notice with West Virginia regulators to terminate plans for a 50 MW solar farm. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Virginia’s struggle to fund an existing electric vehicle rebate program highlights how partisan fights are challenging the EV transition. (E&E News)
• South Carolina utility Santee Cooper awards nearly $100,000 to five commercial clients for electric vehicle chargers and fleet transition. (WMBF)

STORAGE: Georgia officials say South Korean company SK On has exceeded its hiring goal for planned electric vehicle battery factories two years ahead of schedule. (Korea Herald)

TRANSITION: A study finds every coal-fired power plant in West Virginia could be replaced with wind and solar at a lower cost. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

NUCLEAR: A Florida state senator calls for Florida Power & Light to add safety measures against rising seas and more extreme hurricanes before building two new reactors at a nuclear power plant. (Miami New Times)

OIL & GAS: A trade group representing oil and gas interests points to record-high production and continued hiring in Texas’ shale fields as a counternarrative to declining forecasts for U.S. oil and natural gas consumption. (S&P Global)

BIOGAS: Virginia regulators approve a utility’s plan to convert biogas from a sewage treatment plant into natural gas for use by its customers. (Roanoke Times)

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EMISSIONS: West Virginia lawmakers advance a bill changing how air quality operating permits are processed despite state regulators’ endorsement of a different plan. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, subscription)

COMMENTARY: A Virginia city’s objection to a church’s plans to replace slate roof tiles with solar panels exemplifies how outdated local codes need updating for the climate crisis, writes a clean energy advocate. (Daily Progress)

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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.