SOLAR: North Carolina clean energy advocates seek ways to meet the demand for solar financing after a popular Duke Energy program that offered a cash-back option for nonprofits expired just as it was peaking in popularity. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• Federal data shows two Southeast states lead the U.S. in solar construction, with 28 projects totaling 6.7 GW in Texas and 68 projects totaling nearly 5 GW in Florida. (PV Magazine)
• A solar developer says a 200 MW Virginia solar farm should be operational by the end of the year, but is still looking for customers to buy the power. (Martinsville Bulletin)
• After a Virginia county limits solar farms to fewer than 300 acres, a solar developer withdraws its plans for a 149 MW project on 1,800 acres but says it will prepare a new application. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)

GRID:
• An analysis finds more wind energy and interregional transmission could have prevented some rolling blackouts across North Carolina and Tennessee during December’s winter storm. (CleanTechnica)
• The former leader of Texas’ grid manager says transmission and weatherization improvements have significantly strengthened the state power grid since a 2021 winter storm that killed more than 200 people. (Dallas Morning News)

CLIMATE: A study finds homes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are overvalued because of their exposure to hurricanes and climate risks, while parts of Appalachia stand to lose value in the future because of flooding. (Washington Post)

UTILITIES: Clean energy advocates hope rolling blackouts that resulted from natural gas and coal plant failures during the Christmas weekend cold snap will push the Tennessee Valley Authority to shift from fossil fuels. (Sierra)

STORAGE: Residents of a West Virginia town look forward to a planned iron-air battery factory even as some state lawmakers oppose incentives because its CEO spoke about moving away from fossil fuels. (Mountain State Spotlight)

OIL & GAS: A Texas regulator warns that $318.7 million in federal funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells could bog down the cleanup process in bureaucracy even as advocates say the support is badly needed. (Corpus Christi Caller Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An Arkansas school district receives a $3 million grant to purchase eight electric school buses. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

CARBON CAPTURE: A backlog at the U.S. EPA in reviewing and approving carbon-capture projects delays construction of several projects proposed for Louisiana and Texas on the Gulf of Mexico. (Houston Chronicle)

NUCLEAR: Officials in Virginia coal country hope small modular nuclear reactors can reinvigorate a part of the U.S. that’s so far been left behind by the clean energy transition. (Washington Post)

POLITICS: A newly elected Louisiana utility regulator tries to fulfill campaign promises of lower power rates and a shift toward clean energy. (New Orleans City Business)

COMMENTARY:
• Texas should require winterization of natural gas plants, promote more energy efficiency and invest in demand response to avoid more mass blackouts, write University of Texas scientists. (The Conversation)
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to block a Ford battery plant because of his concerns about Chinese influence denied the state a chance to participate in the electric vehicle industry, writes a geopolitical analyst. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

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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.