SOLAR: A 1.2 MW community solar project in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley is delayed by Dominion Energy’s demands it build a high-speed fiber optic line to the nearest substation, which the developer says will increase costs by half. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• Opponents of rural Louisiana solar development take aim at tax breaks awarded to solar projects that create relatively few permanent jobs after construction is complete. (NOLA.com)
• A North Carolina city installs more than 300 solar panels to supply nearly half the energy for an indoor baseball practice facility. (Winston-Salem Journal)
• A solar company that wants to build in a Virginia town postpones a public hearing and works to revise its plan after a planning commission recommends against it. (Gazette-Virginian)
• Construction of a solar farm to offset 70% of Vanderbilt University’s carbon emissions nears completion, as university officials release a report showing a 19% reduction in emissions over two years. (Vanderbilt Hustler)

RENEWABLES: A federal agency predicts Texas will generate more power from renewable energy sources than from natural gas next year. (CleanTechnica)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• General Motors, LG Energy Solution and Tennessee officials announce the further expansion of an electric vehicle battery factory that’s still under construction. (Nashville Post)
• Georgia has seen more than $20 billion in electric vehicle-related announcements in the year since EV maker Rivian announced it would build a factory in the state. (Atlanta Business Chronicle, subscription)

HYDROGEN:
• A global gas supply company tries to reassure Louisiana residents who fiercely oppose its plans to build a $4.5 billion hydrogen manufacturing plant. (The Advocate, subscription)
• A New Orleans-area foundation wins a $50 million federal grant to explore the use of hydrogen and push south Louisiana’s industrial corridor toward net-zero goals. (New Orleans City Business)

COAL: The Appalachian Regional Commission awards an Ohio Valley workforce organization a $1.5 million grant for economic diversification projects in nine West Virginia counties affected by job losses in the coal industry. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

NUCLEAR: A nuclear fuel company celebrates the start of production of a new type of nuclear fuel for microreactors at its Virginia facility. (Lynchburg News & Advance)

CLIMATE: A Tennessee faith-based group focused on climate change encourages other religious groups to act as sustainable role models and apply for its “Cool Congregations Challenge.” (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

EFFICIENCY: A Florida county launches a pilot program aimed at increasing both energy efficiency and housing affordability. (Gainesville Sun)

POLITICS:
• The challenger to a longtime incumbent wins a runoff election for a seat on Louisiana’s regulatory commission, becoming the first openly LGBTQ person elected to a state-level office in Louisiana. (Associated Press, WWNO)
• The U.S. House votes to pass a defense budget bill that includes $34 billion for a coastal barrier to protect against hurricane flooding near Galveston, Texas. (Associated Press)
• States along the Gulf of Mexico wait to see if Congress will pass legislation to set up a revenue-sharing framework for the wind energy industry and remove caps on what the federal government pays states for energy production in federal waters. (The Advocate)

COMMENTARY:
• An editorial board bemoans energy politics in Texas, where even a plan to benefit the oil and gas industry in the name of grid reliability doesn’t go far enough for legislators who want to slow wind and solar development. (Dallas Morning News)
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push to withdraw the state from a regional carbon market undermines vulnerable localities that benefit from flood reduction funding, writes a conservation advocate. (Roanoke Times)

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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.