EMISSIONS: A panel of federal judges strikes down a key air permit for a liquified natural gas export facility now under construction in Texas, saying the state and regulators allowed improperly high emissions limits. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

STORAGE: Dominion Energy and Virginia State University test a 1.5 MW metal-hydrogen battery that can discharge power for up to 10 hours as a backup power source. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

GRID: Grid operator PJM fines utility Mon Power $40.5 million for an outage at one of its West Virginia coal plants during last year’s Christmas Eve cold snap. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

OIL & GAS: 

COAL: Last week Kentucky regulators approved a utility’s plan to close two coal-fired units but deferred the retirement of two larger coal units, largely because of a new state law making it harder to retire fossil fuel-fired power. (Louisville Public Media)

BUILDINGS: Some Texas homebuilders are beginning to use foam and other innovative materials to rapidly build greener, more energy-efficient homes to relieve housing shortages. (KXAS)

CLIMATE: 

COMMENTARY: 

  • Florida’s investment to harden its power grid has made it less vulnerable to extreme storms, and now Louisiana should follow its example, writes the former chair of the Florida Public Service Commission. (NOLA.com)
  • A West Virginia editorial board spotlights a federal report finding coal mine safety inspections fell off during the pandemic, even though that agency reported a nearly 100% completion rate. (The Review)

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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.