ELECTRIC VEHICLES: President Joe Biden announces Hyundai will spend $5.5 billion to build its first electric vehicle manufacturing plant in the U.S. near Savannah, Georgia, which will include a focus on autonomous driving and robotics. (Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CNBC)

ALSO:
• Local concerns over a proposed North Carolina lithium mine illustrate the growing conflict between residents and mining companies that could shape the next phase of the clean energy transition. (HuffPost/The Assembly)
• Electric vehicles still represent less than 1% of Florida’s registered cars, but advocates say more charging infrastructure and normalization of the technology could produce exponential growth. (Florida Trend)

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STORAGE: Having built the world’s largest solar battery storage facility, Florida Power & Light looks to increase its battery capacity seven-fold by adding another 3,200 MW of storage. (Palm Beach Post) 

WIND:
• North Carolina’s first offshore wind developer may not begin construction until 2026 on a lease it won in 2017, illustrating the risk involved in a massive undertaking some analysts are comparing to the now-failed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Wilmington Star-News)
• A 115 MW wind farm in West Virginia that became operational in February is expected to boost the state’s wind energy generation by 15%. (State Journal)

SOLAR:
• NextEra Energy, Facebook parent company Meta and the Tennessee Valley Authority celebrate the commissioning of a 150 MW solar farm in Tennessee. (WTVF)
• Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power say a federal investigation into Asian solar imports won’t likely affect the finances or timeline of their projects in Virginia. (Virginia Mercury)
• A Spanish energy company begins construction of a 300 MW Texas solar farm, its largest to date and its first in the U.S. (Renews)
• A Georgia planning commission will consider a 750-acre solar farm that is attracting nearby residents’ opposition. (WMAZ)
• A solar developer and its Spanish partner break ground on a 240 MW solar park in Texas. (Renewables Now)

PIPELINES: South Carolina residents organize against Dominion Energy’s proposed 14.5-mile pipeline parallel to the Great Pee Dee River. (WBTW)

OIL & GAS: A Thai coal mining company agrees to buy natural gas fields in Texas from ExxonMobil subsidiaries for $750 million. (Forbes)

NUCLEAR: A Westinghouse Nuclear official briefs West Virginia lawmakers on micro-reactors as the company eyes the state now that it has lifted its ban on building nuclear plants. (WV Metro News)

EMISSIONS:
• West Texas grapples with how much its abandoned oil and gas wells contribute to methane emissions that are worsening climate change. (WFAA)
• Duke Energy’s North Carolina energy plan calls for steep cuts to carbon dioxide but includes no similar decrease in methane or other greenhouse gasses, according to utility filings. (NC Policy Watch)

CLIMATE: Climate change is exacerbating wildfires and intense rainfall, destabilizing forest ecology in Western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. (Carolina Public Press)

POLITICS: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is seen as a linchpin in the clean energy transition as he navigates competing pressures from climate activists and coal miners in his home state. (Washington Post)

COMMENTARY: Texas’ grid troubles in recent weeks demonstrate the system still needs reform, even though officials declared it was fixed after last year’s winter storm failures, writes an editorial board. (Austin American-Statesman)

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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.