CLEAN ENERGY: Since it was passed nearly a year ago, the federal Inflation Reduction Act has sparked construction or expansion of more than two dozen clean energy manufacturing facilities across the Southeast, not including a wave of electric vehicle factories. (S&P Global)

ALSO: Texas and Georgia lead the U.S. with six and five solar manufacturing plants, respectively, announced since the IRA was passed nearly a year ago. (PV Tech)

SOLAR:
• Data shows Texas is growing solar power faster than any other state, but state officials say they’ll continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels amid challenges stemming from transmission and storage limitations. (Dallas Morning News, subscription)
• North Carolina is on track to generate more power from solar than coal this year, but natural gas still provides more than 40% of the state’s electricity. (Wilmington StarNews)
• Researchers from Virginia Tech and elsewhere receive a $3.4 million grant to study soil erosion and stormwater runoff at six large solar farms. (Cardinal News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The Sierra Club complains that filings by Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power show the two utilities aren’t doing enough to prepare for the electric vehicle transition. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• A used hybrid and electric vehicle dealership opens in Richmond, Virginia. (Richmond BizSense)

NUCLEAR: As Georgia Power begins operations of new units at a Georgia nuclear plant, it’s unclear whether the long-delayed expansion will herald a new era of nuclear generation or be remembered as expensive one-offs. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

CARBON CAPTURE: Shell’s partnership with the University of Houston and Louisiana State University on a direct-air capture project in Louisiana is one of at least 10 such partnerships between universities and businesses on similar projects across the U.S. (E&E News)

COAL: An Illinois coal company tells the U.S. Supreme Court that Kentucky’s attempt to boost coal produced in-state violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. (Bloomberg)

HYDROGEN: Georgia officials investigate the idea of deploying hydrogen fueling stations across the state to support the trucking industry. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

BIOMASS: Clean air advocates dismiss a Georgia wood pellet mill’s fine of $52,000 as “a drop in the bucket” as they sound the alarm on what they call lax enforcement of air pollution rules on the Southeast’s booming biomass industry. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

UTILITIES:
• Virginia regulators approve new “demand-side” programs by Dominion Energy that offer rebates for switching off appliances on targeted peak days. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Arkansas regulators approve Entergy’s program to offer industrial and commercial companies with sustainability goals the opportunity to purchase emissions-free power from renewables as they come online. (Magnolia Banner-News)

CLIMATE:
• Severe thunderstorms knock out power to more than one million people and kill at least two in the Southeast. (CNN, Raleigh News & Observer)
• Rapidly rising seas along the U.S. Gulf Coast present a challenge to New Orleans and other Louisiana cities that depend on wetlands, levees and other buffers that protect coastal communities. (Washington Post)

POLITICS:
• A lame-duck Virginia senator discusses Dominion Energy’s role in state politics and the governor’s push to withdraw the state from a regional carbon market. (Inside Climate News)
• Florida approves classroom use of videos produced by a conservative advocacy group that deny fossil fuels’ responsibility for climate change and cast renewables as polluters. (E&E 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.