NUCLEAR: Six years late and $16 billion over budget, Georgia Power finally begins fuel loading at the first of two long-delayed reactors at Plant Vogtle — the first U.S. nuclear plant expansion in three decades. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription; news release)

ALSO:
• Virginia and West Virginia legislative leaders say they’re working together to promote the development of small modular nuclear reactors in rural and economically challenged parts of their states. (Cardinal News; Charleston Gazette-Mail, subscription)
• An energy company breaks ground on a commercial-scale advanced nuclear fuel facility in Tennessee. (WBIR)

SOLAR:
• Virginia regulators approve a minimum monthly bill for a Dominion Energy shared solar program that critics argue is too high, while approving a lower fee for multifamily housing developments. (Virginia Mercury)
• A Virginia town sets a public hearing on a 5 MW solar farm after changing its comprehensive plan to allow solar facilities in town limits. (News & Record)
• A Dallas roofing company expands to begin installation of Tesla solar panels and Powerwall batteries. (news release)
• A Turkish company purchases a planned 272 MW Texas solar farm from a Swiss company. (Renewables Now)

CLIMATE:
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says 43 people have now died from heavy flooding over the summer, with the latest two succumbing from related health conditions. (Associated Press)
• As New Orleans sinks, buildings in a predominantly Black and Vietnamese area see particularly bad shifts due largely to groundwater use at a now-shuttered Entergy power plant. (Louisiana Illuminator/Floodlight)
• Two Virginia home restorers are part of a growing movement advocating for the resilience of older homes against rising seas and more extreme storms. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS: Wildcatters have left thousands of abandoned, dry oil and gas wells across Texas, some of which are now leaking contaminated water, hydrogen sulfide and radioactive materials. (Texas Tribune/Floodlight)

COAL:
• West Virginia residents complain a promised federal study of the connection between cancer and mountaintop mining hasn’t been completed, even amid President Biden’s greater focus on environmental justice. (Mountain State Spotlight)
• The head of the West Virginia Coal Association slams an initiative to increase production and export of natural gas to replace coal in Europe. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

CARBON CAPTURE:
• Renewable energy advocates respond with skepticism to the announcement by three companies of a collaborative carbon capture project in Louisiana. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• A sharp increase in a carbon capture tax credit in the federal climate package could trigger a 13-fold increase in deployment of carbon management technologies, an expert says. (Houston Chronicle)

CRYPTOCURRENCY: Congressional Democrats ask Texas’ grid manager for data on the state’s growing number of crypto mining operations and their effect on carbon emissions and power costs. (E&E News)

COMMENTARY:
• A columnist blames sharp differences in power rates across Texas on a lack of transmission lines to carry cheap renewable energy produced in the western part of the state to cities in the east. (Houston Chronicle)
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s heavy focus on natural gas and nuclear power in his proposed state plan reveals how much even Republicans have shifted away from coal, 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.