HURRICANE IAN: Ian regains hurricane status as it crosses into the Atlantic Ocean and heads for South Carolina after leaving a trail of devastation across Florida. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• Florida begins to dig out of the wreckage left by Hurricane Ian, including a still-uncertain number of deaths and damage estimates ranging from $30 billion to $50 billion dollars. (Politico)
• Florida utilities work to restore power to hundreds of thousands of state residents. (WFLA)
• Hurricane Ian tests Florida’s recent investments in resilience and storm preparedness, while also revealing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failure to take action to mitigate climate change. (Christian Science Monitor, New Republic)
• An Appalachian Virginian county that’s already suffered severe flooding this year prepares for heavy rain from Ian’s remnants. (WCYB)

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SOLAR:
• Mississippi’s utilities begin to pivot to solar with the completion of recent utility-scale projects by Entergy and Mississippi Power. (Mississippi Business Journal)
• A Mississippi county official approves construction of a 200 MW solar farm. (WCBI)
• Austin, Texas’ municipal energy sees a growing number of rooftop solar systems among its customers, even though they’re compensated with bill credits and not payments. (KTBC)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Tennessee Valley Authority takes a regional approach to building electric vehicle chargers in its seven-state service area. (WDEF)

WIND: Wind energy boosters look to turn coastal Virginia into a supply chain hub for the developing offshore wind industry. (Virginia Business)

COAL: A coal company expands its Kentucky operations as it says it sees “growing demand.” (Associated Press)

RENEWABLES: A Dallas-based renewable energy company that’s developed 8.7 GW of power at 37 projects sells to Canadian energy company Enbridge. (Dallas Morning News, subscription)

OIL & GAS:
• Florida experiences gasoline shortages in the wake of Hurricane Ian because the storm temporarily blocked shippers from delivering supplies. (S&P Global)
• Oil and gas drilling continues to grow in Southeastern basins, with many oil industry officials expecting natural gas prices to drop if the Russia-Ukraine conflict is resolved and European demand levels. (Natural Gas Intelligence)

GRID:
• Louisiana utilities eye federal relief money approved in a new budget bill as they rebuild the electrical grid from damage sustained during Hurricane Ida last year. (The Advocate)
• Hurricane Ian begins causing power outages in Georgia and South Carolina’s Lowcountry as regional utilities prepare for more. (WJCL, WCSC)

OVERSIGHT: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appoints a new chair to head the board that regulates state utilities. (Arkansas Business)

POLITICS: Virginia’s membership in a regional carbon market has generated more than $200 million for flood protection, but its future is uncertain amid Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to withdraw the state from the initiative. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY:
• Memphis, Tennessee’s city council should leverage its decision whether to remain with the Tennessee Valley Authority to press TVA to shift toward renewables and stop trucking coal ash through city neighborhoods, writes a community activist. (Commercial Appeal)
• Virginia’s membership in a regional carbon market provides much-needed funding to make communities more resilient against flooding, writes a Democratic state senator. (Virginian-Pilot)
• The failure of energy permitting legislation doesn’t end the Mountain Valley Pipeline, but does serve as a warning for other energy companies against attempting such ambitious fossil fuel projects, writes an energy pundit. (CleanTechnica)

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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.