UTILITIES: A court orders federal regulators to reconsider their approval of a Southeast electricity-trading platform, warning the coalition’s rules may violate requirements that transmission owners provide open access. (WFAE, Utility Dive)

ALSO:
• Arkansas regulators signal they’ll allow a utility company to resume charging late fees and disconnecting customers for nonpayment as they move to conclude an investigation of its customer service and gas purchasing policies. (Talk Business & Politics)
• An Oklahoma energy data firm partners with a Florida municipal utility to provide customers with more information to help manage their power usage. (Journal Record)

OIL & GAS:
• Oklahoma’s attorney general considers whether to file a lawsuit alleging natural gas market manipulation during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri. (Bloomberg)
• Officials with Texas oil groups call for increased production after some experts predict prices could reach $100 per barrel by the end of the year. (KOSA)

SOLAR:
• A North Carolina energy company seeks permits to build 102 MW and 5 MW solar facilities in Virginia. (South Boston News & Record)
• The price of solar on the Texas state power grid jumps 14% while falling nationwide, likely due to lawmakers’ consideration of plans to restrict renewables. (Reuters)
• An energy company begins building a solar farm in Kentucky. (WBKO)
• A Texas high school team breaks a record by attaining a speed of 72 mph during a multi-day solar car competition. (WFAA)

STORAGE: Tennessee county officials delay a vote on an energy company’s proposal to build a 250 MW battery storage facility for the Tennessee Valley Authority. (WBIR)

PIPELINES: As the Mountain Valley Pipeline appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court to overcome legal hurdles, an energy expert says its construction was motivated not by utilities’ need but by gas suppliers. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

EFFICIENCY: North Carolina energy efficiency advocates and home builders lobby clash over legislation to block state officials from updating the state building code with new efficiency standards. (Wilmington StarNews)

GRID:
• Texas’ power grid regains the top national spot for renewable power generation output, and is expected to catch up with a California grid operator by attaining 37.26 GW of solar capacity by the end of the year. (S&P Global)
• Louisiana grid and public safety officials talk about how to reduce power outages after a weekend storm knocked out power to more than 47,000 customers. (KSLA)
• An investigation finds Florida’s electrical substations may be vulnerable to attack. (WFOX)
• Texas officials say they’re confident in the state power grid’s reliability despite high summer temperatures and a growing state population that’s now surpassed 30 million people. (KRLD)

OVERSIGHT: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice reappoints a state regulator to a second 6-year term. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

CLIMATE: Texas is seeing an unusually high number of 100-degree-plus days, making this summer one of the hottest yet. (Texas Tribune)

COMMENTARY:
• As Virginia sees air quality alerts from Canadian wildfire smoke and rising vulnerability to flooding and hurricanes, Republican elected officials are taking aim at programs to reduce emissions and curb climate change, writes an energy policy analyst. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Rural southern and southwestern Virginia communities still lack significant numbers of electric vehicle chargers compared to the rest of the state, writes an editor. (Cardinal 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.