SOLAR: Solar advocates worry utilities are fumbling their shared solar programs, as D.C. officials complain about Pepco billing problems and Dominion Energy pursues steep monthly fees for its Virginia programs. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: Virginia regulators shift rules for stormwater runoff at solar farms in a way that will require more mitigation measures like retention ponds and drainage infrastructure, but delay the start date to 2025. (PV Magazine)

WIND: North Carolina eyes five separate offshore wind farms after federal officials add two new sites, while two more will be auctioned and another is already under development.  (Winston-Salem Journal)

CARBON CAPTURE: Two companies announce plans to build a carbon capture network along the Mississippi River to a planned carbon sequestration facility near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (The Advocate)

OIL & GAS:
• The Gulf Coast plans more gas export terminals to meet demands as European countries look to replace Russian gas, but they’re largely in communities already living with petrochemical pollution. (NPR)
• A wave of litigation and a federal investigation casts a spotlight on the vast power wielded by pipeline companies to demand whatever prices they want in times of gas shortages. (Houston Chronicle)
• Oklahoma Supreme Court judges criticize the state’s attorney general for not adequately representing ratepayers when natural gas prices spiked during last year’s winter storm. (Journal Record)

HYDROGEN: West Virginia lawmakers push for a federally funded hydrogen hub, despite concern the project will waste taxpayer money without significantly reducing carbon emissions. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Oklahoma makes an aggressive push for electric vehicles as it tries to lure auto manufacturers into the state. (Oklahoman)

UTILITIES:
• A U.S. Senate panel advances the nomination of the first employee hired in the ‘80s for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Office of Inspector General to now lead the watchdog agency. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• Dominion Energy is midway through an 18-month, $100 million renovation of a Virginia technical center that will bring its electrical transmission and nuclear services teams under one roof. (Richmond BizSense)

COAL: The Tennessee Valley Authority touts reduced emissions as it begins another round of public comment on its proposed retirement and demolition of the coal-fired Cumberland Fossil Plant, and construction of replacement generation. (Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle)

GRID:
• Texas’ grid operator asks power plants to postpone planned outages and restore power to alleviate pressure on the state electrical grid ahead of extreme heat forecast for this weekend. (Dallas Morning News, KXAN)
• Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric Co. file grid-hardening proposals with Florida regulators that could collectively cost ratepayers hundreds of millions. (WFOR)

NUCLEAR:
• A South Carolina judge approves $61 million in refunds to residential, business and industrial customers from Dominion Energy for a previous company’s planning and construction costs for two failed nuclear power plants. (Associated Press)
• West Virginia lawmakers reiterate their support for coal as they explain why they voted to repeal the state’s ban on building nuclear power plants. (Inter-Mountain)

More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West

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.