SOLAR: Oklahoma lawmakers advance legislation to authorize $180 million in incentives to attract a solar panel factory in the state. (Oklahoman)

ALSO:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority announces it will purchase 6,000 MW of solar power and battery storage this summer as it progresses toward a goal of obtaining 10 GW of solar by 2050. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• An Arkansas city signs up with an Oklahoma company’s solar program as it considers ways to become more energy efficient and use solar to power more city operations. (Talk Business & Politics)
• A Virginia county board blocks a proposed 19-acre solar farm based on public opposition. (WHSV)

OIL & GAS:
• Texas’ oil and gas industry throws its weight behind a state bill to create “business courts” to resolve disputes involving corporations — including climate cases against fossil fuel companies — with judges handpicked by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. (The Lever)
• Texas lawmakers advance legislation to replace a state incentives program for oil and gas projects to receive tax abatements, while cutting renewable energy from the program altogether. (Capital & Main)
• Five candidates for Louisiana governor pitch to the state’s oil and gas industry, pledging tax breaks, resolution of coastal lawsuits and more investment in drilling and clean energy. (NOLA.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Hyundai showcases a new electric car model and confirms its commitment to building around a new Georgia factory as it ramps up efforts to become one of the top three EV automakers by 2030. (WSAV, CNBC)
• Hyundai signs a deal with a Georgia technical college to provide workforce training for its planned EV plant. (Effingham Herald)
• North Carolina’s success in attracting an electric vehicle factory, semiconductor plant and other deals help it edge out Georgia to be named as the top state for business competitiveness. (Robesonian)

POLITICS: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin continues to break with the Biden administration over proposed power plant pollution rules as he vows to oppose every U.S. EPA nominee unless the agency pulls back. (WV Metro News)

GRID:
• Two Texas ranchers sue the state grid manager for allegedly violating state law by granting permission to a Chinese billionaire to build a 46-turbine wind farm. (Texan)
• Regional grid officials brief West Virginia lawmakers on projected power plant retirements, which could total up to 40 GW by 2030 with most of that from coal plants. (Inter-Mountain)
• Arkansas officials say they expect to receive roughly $10 million in federal grants to harden the power grid against extreme weather. (Arkansas Times)
• Experimental grid projects in the Southeast and Puerto Rico are among those that will benefit from $26 million in federal funding announced this week. (CleanTechnica)

UTILITIES: A restored Tennessee Valley Authority board resumes considering how to replace two coal-fired power plants, affirming its CEO’s decision to replace one unit with natural gas. (Knoxville News Sentinel)

CLIMATE: Federal officials project the average flood insurance premium for single-family homeowners will double across the nation, with higher spikes for coastal Florida and Louisiana. (E&E News)

COMMENTARY: Florida lawmakers are taking steps toward modernizing state fleet procurement rules to include electric vehicles and easing access to funding for local governments to address rising seas, writes an environmentalist. (Orlando Sentinel)

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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.