EFFICIENCY: North Carolina officials attempt to find a compromise between home builders and clean energy advocates to rewrite the state’s 2009-era home energy efficiency code to align with international guidelines, cut energy bills and unlock federal grants and incentives. (Energy News Network)

SOLAR:
• Virginia regulators approve a customer surcharge for Dominion Energy to build nine solar projects and one energy storage project totaling 500 MW, plus 13 power purchase agreements with developers who will build 300 MW of additional solar and storage facilities. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia Mercury)
• Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt presses state lawmakers to approve an incentives package to entice global clean energy company Enel to build a solar panel manufacturing facility in the state. (Journal Record)
• Arkansas electric cooperatives embark on construction of a 122 MW solar farm next to a former fossil fuel plant. (Arkansas Business)
• Duke Energy announces the completion of two 74.9 MW solar farms in Florida. (news release)
• A solar developer renews its proposal to build a 5 MW solar facility in Virginia after the town council previously voted the project down. (Gazette-Virginian)

PIPELINES:
• Tennessee lawmakers sharpen state laws targeting protestors of fossil fuel projects by elevating its charge for “interfering” with oil and gas pipeline projects to a higher felony. (WPLN)
• The U.S. Forest Service approves the crossing of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through the Jefferson National Forest after its first two approvals were thrown out by a court. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
• A utility company goes to court to challenge a Virginia zoning board’s decision that a 5-mile natural gas pipeline expansion will need to be reviewed and approved by a county government. (Tysons Reporter)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Residents of a largely Black community in Texas that was built around the oil industry now face a cumulative climate, housing, and health crisis. (Capital B)

GRID: West Virginia officials seek federal funding for regional microgrids to provide residents a safe haven during power outages, but resistance from utility FirstEnergy creates questions about the plan’s feasibility. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A FirstEnergy subsidiary uses a West Virginia solar array to power an electric vehicle charger in its parking lot. (Dominion Post)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority adds solar electric vehicle charging stations at four visitor centers in Tennessee. (Kingsport TimesNews)

COAL: West Virginia regulators consider the fate of a 1,300 MW coal-fired power plant slated for closure this summer as a potential operator now says it has identified new details and expenses to negotiate. (WV Metro News)

OIL & GAS: Texas lawmakers advance a bill to create a state fund to meet growing demand for water through controversial purification technologies such as oilfield wastewater treatment. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE: Analysts say the 1,000-year rain event that hit Florida last week could be a sign of what’s to come, as unchecked climate change tilts the scales of what’s considered “extreme” weather. (Miami Herald)

POLITICS: A Texas lawmaker introduces a bill to fine residents if they make at least three complaints to environmental regulators that don’t result in an enforcement action. (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY:
• Even as federal subsidies backing wind and solar development have increased, Texas has more than made up any difference with heavy state support for oil and gas, revealing Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to cut renewables, writes an editorial board. (Houston Chronicle)
• A retired military official calls on Florida officials to use tax credits and other incentives in a federal climate package to accelerate the clean energy transition within the state. (Florida Times-Union)

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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.