SOLAR: Georgia Power delays by a year the installation of nearly 1,000 MW of solar power due to supply chain issues and a federal investigation into Chinese panel manufacturers. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

ALSO:
• Utilities in Mississippi and other Southeast states make moves to reduce the rate they pay customers who generate their own power with rooftop solar arrays. (NBC News)
• A Texas municipal utility looks to replace its sunsetting residential solar rebate program with investments in community solar programs. (San Antonio Report)
• A Florida solar trade group partners with a research center to develop an apprenticeship program to train solar energy technicians. (Solar Power World)
• A Virginia county board approves a 20 MW solar farm. (WRIC)
• Arkansas school officials celebrate a 1,050 kW solar array. (Sentinel-Record)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle startup Canoo reports operating losses, raising questions about whether it can meet financial obligations and produce EVs as it looks to move its headquarters and build a factory in Arkansas. (Arkansas Business, Reuters)

COAL: The Sierra Club and two Appalachian environmental groups announce plans to sue a coal company owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice over its failure to clean up three mines in southwestern Virginia. (Virginia Mercury, news release)

OIL & GAS:
• Analysts anticipate an increase in crude oil transported through pipelines to Gulf Coast export terminals that will likely reach pre-pandemic levels by October. (Reuters)
• Federal regulators grant a timeline extension to convert a Louisiana liquified natural gas import facility into an export terminal, as another company signs contracts to sell 2 million metric tons of LNG annually to ExxonMobil. (The Advocate, subscription)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Georgia Power says it’s issued $800 million in corporate bonds to boost clean energy and its support of minority- and women-owned vendors. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

EFFICIENCY: A Louisiana energy nonprofit partners with utility Entergy and public school officials to teach junior high school students about energy efficiency and saving money through reduced electricity use. (The Advocate)

POLITICS:
• Hyundai’s consideration of Georgia for a new electric vehicle factory could boost the re-election campaign of Gov. Brian Kemp, who faces formidable primary and general election opponents. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription)
• Two Republican candidates face off in a runoff election for Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees the state’s oil and gas industry and whose misleading name has become something of a campaign issue in itself. (Texas Tribune)

CYBERSECURITY: Georgia Power works with the Edison Electric Institute to upgrade its security against the possibility of an electromagnetic pulse attack that could cripple its grid and operations. (WSB-TV)

CRYPTOCURRENCY: South Carolina environmentalists say they’re worried about higher power bills, carbon emissions and negative effects on the power grid from a growing number of crypto-mining companies moving to the state. (WHNS)

GRID:
• Energy experts warn that unseasonably hot temperatures could put a strain on Texas’ power grid in May, when many power plants go offline for maintenance. (KBTX)
• Texas debates whether to pay power generators ahead of time for resources that might be needed instead of actual power sold, a philosophical shift that would largely benefit incumbent generators. (Wall Street Journal)
• A Mississippi official holds a public hearing on Entergy’s plan to build a new electric substation in the state. (DeSoto County News)

COMMENTARY:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s role in contributing to economic development should be acknowledged as Memphis considers breaking with the utility to find another power provider, writes the president and CEO of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry. (Commercial Appeal)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s insistence on using fossil fuels over solar and renewables contributes to the worsening climate crisis, writes an opinion editor. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

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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.