UTILITIES: South Carolina’s rising power demand and the lack of new generation lead state lawmakers to consider revamping energy regulation with a bill critics call a “blank check” for power companies that would hurt consumers and exacerbate climate change. (Floodlight)

ALSO: American Electric Power leaders say they’re concerned about new federal restrictions on power plant emissions and a parallel spike in power demand from large users, especially in Texas and Ohio. (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS: 

  • A former Texas regulator says oil and gas producers are installing “enclosed combustors” that hide flaring of unwanted natural gas, preventing scientists from accurately detecting greenhouse gas emissions via satellite. (Guardian) 
  • Federal officials appear ready to approve Exxon Mobil’s $60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources, making Exxon the largest producer in the Permian Basin, after the companies agree to freeze out Pioneer’s co-founder and former chief executive. (Dallas Morning News)
  • A West Virginia gas company challenges a power plant’s plans to purchase gas from another supplier to produce and use a hydrogen byproduct for power. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

SOLAR: 

WIND: 

HYDROGEN: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces a Danish company will invest $400 million to build a Virginia factory to make hydrogen fuel cells. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla cuts 500 jobs on the team that made electric vehicle chargers, just weeks after it said it would eliminate 2,688 jobs at its Texas factory. (Houston Chronicle)

TRANSITION: Eastern Kentucky leaders hear about communities making headway in the transition away from the region’s historic coal economy, with federal and state funding on its way to assist in the process. (Kentucky Lantern)

PIPELINES: The Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices sue to block a 32-mile natural gas pipeline to supply a Tennessee Valley Authority gas-fired power plant intended to replace a coal plant. (Tennessee Lookout)

GRID: 

POLITICS: Florida rejects $3 million in federal funding by refusing to submit a climate action plan and stands to decline up to $500 million despite its status as “ground zero for climate change.” (Inside Climate News)

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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.