COAL: Recent approval of solar projects demonstrate how market forces are pushing West Virginia away from coal and toward renewables, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the state’s attorney general that limits the federal government’s ability to regulate power plant emissions. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, Associated Press)

ALSO: Texas environmentalists worry the Supreme Court’s ruling will complicate efforts to transition to clean energy after a report finds the state is home to eight of the highest-polluting power plants in the U.S. (KVUE)

TRANSITION:
• As Puerto Rico begins a long-promised shift toward solar energy, experts say the island could be undermining the transition by continuing to invest in fossil fuels. (Canary Media)
• The U.S. Energy Department launches a $500 million program to turn current and former coal mines into clean energy hubs, similar to how the Nature Conservancy and Dominion Energy are developing a solar farm on a surface mine in Southwest Virginia. (Power Engineering)

SOLAR: A New Orleans plan to create a network of church “lighthouses” powered by solar panels and batteries for community use after hurricanes attracts $10 million in funding pledges. (NOLA.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An Arkansas electric vehicle maker secures a $27 million agreement with the state economic development commission to build an $80 million manufacturing plant. (Talk Business & Politics)

OIL & GAS: The Biden administration proposes up to 10 oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years. (Associated Press)

GRID:
• Analysts say changes implemented by Texas regulators to require generators to keep plants running even when the power isn’t needed have distorted the energy market, undermined pricing and created uncertainty. (Houston Chronicle)
• June’s late-spring heat wave offers a preview for how North Carolina’s growing population and extreme weather will test the region’s energy grid this summer. (Winston-Salem Journal)

CLIMATE:
• Federal researchers forecast the seventh above-normal Atlantic hurricane season in a row. (WUFT)
• New Orleans architects develop a plan to build resilience hubs beneath bridges or overpasses that can be used after hurricanes to produce water and electricity. (NOLA.com)

OVERSIGHT: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin appoints Trump-era EPA chief Andrew Wheeler to lead a new state office designed to slash regulations. (Washington Post)

UTILITIES: Entergy issues a request for proposals in Arkansas to triple its alternative energy capacity by developing 1,000 MW of wind and solar. (Talk Business & Politics)

COAL ASH: An environmental group pushes Austin, Texas, to test groundwater for toxins caused by coal ash at a partially city-owned coal-fired power plant. (Austin Monitor)

STORAGE: An energy company begins operations at a 200 MW battery storage facility in Texas. (Renewable Energy World)

WIND: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration claims offshore wind development could cost the state’s commercial fishing industries millions of dollars. (Virginia Mercury)

HYDROGEN: An energy company secures an agreement with a Mississippi economic development authority to pursue development of a hydrogen hub. (Hydrogen Fuel News)

CARBON CAPTURE: A carbon company and investment firm secure a lease in Louisiana to develop a carbon sequestration hub. (Journal of Petroleum Technology)

DECARBONIZATION: A research firm launches an online tool to allow chemical companies to compare the carbon intensity of their suppliers. (Houston Chronicle)

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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.