GRID: Florida Power & Light is building a 176-mile transmission line that critics say was designed to escape regulatory review because its voltage falls below a threshold that would require more extensive scrutiny. (New York Times)

ALSO:
• Officials at San Antonio, Texas’ municipal utility acknowledge they can’t always control grid reliability but assure city leaders they’re ready for a hot summer, and likely better prepared than the state grid as a whole. (San Antonio Report)
• Texas grid officials create a map of critical facilities needed to keep power flowing as part of reforms instituted after last year’s winter storm. (KTBC)

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COAL: The Tennessee Supreme Court hears arguments in a case to determine whether workers cleaning up a 2008 coal ash spill can sue a contractor for damages they say were caused by exposure to the toxic substance. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)

SOLAR:
• A construction company begins hiring for a yet-to-be-announced solar project that’s expected to be the largest in Arkansas. (Jonesboro Sun)
• A solar cooperative seeks members in three West Virginia counties. (My Buckhannon)
• Entergy announces the completion of a 100 MW solar project in Mississippi. (Mississippi Today)

CLIMATE:
• Hampton, Virginia, develops a flooding resiliency plan as part of a coastal region that’s seen more than 18 inches of sea level rise since the 1920s. (Virginian-Pilot)
• Meteorologists warn the first storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season could develop abruptly and strike Florida before the end of the week. (Tampa Bay Times)
• A climate scientist at Texas A&M University courts fame by taking on climate change deniers at their own conference, as well as podcaster Joe Rogan and others. (E&E News)

WIND: An American Electric Power subsidiary seeks approval from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas regulators for 810 MW of wind power to be added this year. (news release)

BIOMASS: The European Union considers new limits on wood pellets harvested from primary forests, which the biomass industry in North Carolina and the Southeast sees as a major threat to its business. (WFAE/NPR)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Activists rally at West Virginia’s capitol complex for stronger environmental protections and justice in state lawmaking and enforcement. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

OIL & GAS: A gas company moves forward with two pipeline expansion projects on the Texas Eastern Transmission system to deliver more gas to a Louisiana export terminal. (Natural Gas Intelligence)

NUCLEAR: Two temporary storage areas for nuclear waste in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico have yet to open as the U.S. seeks a permanent place to put its radioactive trash. (American Scholar)

POLITICS: A North Carolina bill would resurrect a 35% state tax credit for renewable energy projects that ended in 2015 but has still netted more than $1 billion for homeowners and companies in the years since. (Winston-Salem Journal)

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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.