COAL ASH: Federal regulators who want to enforce coal ash storage rules must work through state agencies that have largely approved companies’ storage proposals, resulting in coal ash stored in ponds, landfills, old limestone quarries and even “Ash Island” in a lake popular with Tennessee boaters and swimmers. (Energy News Network)

WIND: Dominion Energy pushes back against Virginia regulators’ addition of a performance guarantee in their approval of its planned offshore wind farm, saying it could push the utility to scrap the project. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Associated Press)

PIPELINES: Federal regulators approve the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request for another four years to complete construction. (WDBJ)

GRID: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards calls on a state bond commission to find a solution to allow a $39 million substation for New Orleans it’s previously blocked because commission members disagree with the city’s decision not to enforce the state’s abortion law. (Louisiana Illuminator)

SOLAR:
• Duke Energy announces a final application period for its North Carolina solar rebate program because it has additional funding even after the program ostensibly ended last month. (WFAE)
• A Tennessee solar installation company grows rapidly amid rising demand for renewables. (WVLT)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A company opens in Tennessee with plans to build 10,000 to 30,000 fast-charging electric vehicle stations annually. (WSMV)
• A Virginia transformer company that makes equipment to support grid infrastructure positions itself for electric vehicle charger deployment. (Roanoke Times)
• Some drivers could receive discounts on electric Ford F-150 Lightning trucks as Duke Energy studies adapting their battery packs to support the grid in North Carolina and Florida. (Canary Media)
• A Georgia gas station franchise prepares to open 16 Tesla charging stations. (WMAZ)

UTILITIES:  Memphis, Tennessee, hires an energy consultant to consider whether the municipal utility should continue its affiliation with the Tennessee Valley Authority or find another power provider as a nearby suburb surveys its residents on the question. (Commercial Appeal)

EMISSIONS: A coalition of pharmaceutical, food and brewing companies wants North Carolina regulators to prioritize energy efficiency and renewable energy when developing a plan to limit carbon emissions. (WUNC)

OIL & GAS: Natural gas prices fall after a Texas export terminal closed by a fire earlier this year announces a delay in reopening. (Bloomberg)

CLIMATE:
• North Texas residents begin to take stock after 15 inches of rain flooded parts of the Dallas area. (Dallas Morning News)
• West Virginia sees high flood risks but less than 1.5% of its residential structures have flood insurance. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, subscription)

BIOMASS: Georgia residents and environmentalists organize against a large wood pellet plant planned for a predominantly Black and Hispanic community. (Georgia Recorder)

BIOFUELS: A company that recycles waste cooking oil, fats and greases quietly grows in a South Carolina county. (Aiken Standard)

COMMENTARY:
• Alabama must adapt to electric vehicles to hold its position as nation’s fourth-largest auto-manufacturing state, writes the executive director of an energy think tank. (Montgomery Advertiser)
• Southwest Virginia should take advantage of incentives in the recently passed climate law for clean energy companies to locate in coal country, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)

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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.