TRANSITION: A 1-acre garden in a 35,000-acre former coal mine in Texas has yielded about 10,000 pounds of produce for six food pantries since it began production in spring of 2022. (Texas Tribune)

SOLAR:
• Louisiana nonprofits move forward on projects to provide solar panels and batteries to restaurants, churches, health clinics and other spaces so they can quickly recover after storm-induced outages. (NOLA.com)
• A Virginia county votes to cap solar development at 2,325 acres, which it will have already reached if it approves two projects in the works. (Mecklenburg Sun)
• Charlotte, North Carolina, approves a lease for a 1.2 MW solar farm at a wastewater treatment plant and accepts a grant for battery storage units at a police station. (WFAE)
• A North Carolina brewery supplies 40% of its power from solar panels as it seeks to reduce its climate footprint. (WFAE) 

CARBON CAPTURE:
• ExxonMobil buys a carbon capture company that owns roughly 1,300 miles of carbon dioxide pipeline, mostly in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. (NOLA.com)
• At least seven oil and gas producers are working on direct air capture projects linked to federal funding, and four of them are seeking additional funding from the U.S. Energy Department. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS:
• Multiple workers in the oil and gas industry have died or sustained long-term health conditions from opening tanks in a practice known as manual gauging, which is still not regulated by any federal laws or rules. (Drilled/Guardian)
• The U.S. broke its record in April for exporting liquified natural gas, threatening both domestic and international goals for cutting carbon emissions. (Canary Media)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The owners of a Tennessee electric bike company say they’ve been “happily surprised” by the “sustained growth” of sales since opening in November. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

WIND: Ambitious plans to build offshore wind facilities off Virginia, North Carolina, the Gulf Coast and elsewhere face supply chain problems, surging costs, permitting delays and other obstacles that could delay their construction. (States Newsroom)

PIPELINES: West Virginia U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito accuses a federal court that blocked construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline of “working on an agenda” and predicts the case will land before the U.S. Supreme Court. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel, Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

EFFICIENCY: A Tennessee electric cooperative announces it’s provided its 100th home with energy efficient upgrades funded through a Tennessee Valley Authority program. (WTVF)

FINANCE: As elected officials, largely from Southeast states, seek to punish investment firms and companies for pursuing climate goals, many corporations have begun scrubbing their websites to downplay their commitment to the environment. (Washington Post)

OVERSIGHT: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice appoints a member of a state public energy authority to head up the Office of Energy. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

COMMENTARY: After only two consumers and three elected officials speak at a public hearing on West Virginia power rates, an editorial board calls for more people to weigh in by writing or commenting on state regulators’ website. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

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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.