OIL & GAS: The Gulf Coast’s buildout of up to 12 new liquefied natural gas terminals is being financed by global banks that have pledged to work toward net-zero emissions, with exemptions for LNG projects. (Guardian)

ALSO: A report finds industry and regulators have taken steps to improve safety in offshore drilling 13 years after the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but flags federal inspectors’ lack of oversight over contractors, which make up 80% of the workforce. (Associated Press)

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GRID:
• Critics take aim at state laws awarding Entergy and other utilities exclusive or preferential treatment for building regional transmission lines, which can raise ratepayer costs and slow needed grid improvements. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• North Carolina lawmakers consider studying joining a regional transmission organization and restructuring its energy market to reduce power bills and prevent blackouts. (WFAE)
• A private energy company plans to invest $1 billion to build a 200-mile high voltage transmission line across Louisiana to connect the Texas and Southeastern power grids. (KTBS)
• Austin, Texas’ municipal utility adds an electric substation that increases downtown power supply by 33% and will allow renovation of another substation. (KVUE)

TRANSITION:
• The Biden administration announces new incentives aimed at encouraging clean energy developers to build projects in areas with shuttered coal mines and coal-fired power plants. (E&E News)
• Clean energy advocates hope incentives in the federal climate package will boost renewables in southwestern Virginia and other regions once dependent on coal. (Virginia Mercury)

WIND:
• A Louisiana shipbuilding company constructs a 260-foot-long vessel that will be used as floating housing for offshore wind technicians in the Northeast U.S. (Associated Press)
• Entergy announces a partnership with offshore wind company RWE to evaluate how to best deliver offshore wind energy to industrial customers in Texas and Louisiana. (Greater Baton Rouge Business Report)

SOLAR:
• A Tennessee electric company develops a utility-scale solar project to provide most of the 5% of power it’s allowed to obtain outside its contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority. (WPLN)
• The University of Arkansas is adding a 5.1 MW solar facility as it aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2040. (Arkansas Traveler)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Texas lawmakers consider legislation to adopt standards for electric vehicle charging stations. (KRLD)

COAL:
• A federal court orders a pair of coal companies to pay $2.5 million for violating a water pollution agreement in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• West Virginia University researchers receive an $8 million federal grant for a coal waste research facility. (WBOY)

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UTILITIES:
• Officials in Orlando, Florida, fret over legislation to restrict transfers from municipal utilities to city budgets, which they say provided about 14% of their general fund this year. (Orlando Sentinel)
• Florida regulators approve a fuel-cost reduction for Florida Power & Light, but it’s a small decrease compared to a large rate hike approved last month. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

COMMENTARY:
• South Carolina feels a sting watching neighboring Georgia prepare to bring two new nuclear power units online as it looks back on its $4 billion nuclear debacle, writes the head of an advertising firm. (Post and Courier)
• A former Republican Florida Congress member calls for federal legislation to expedite permitting for infrastructure, pipelines and grid improvements to accommodate more renewables. (Miami Herald)

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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.