Southeast Energy News is one of five regional services published by the Energy News Network. Today’s edition was compiled by Mason Adams.

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FINANCE: Texas’ state comptroller demands more than 140 financial firms disclose whether they restrict or prohibit doing business with fossil fuel companies as part of a state effort to divest from companies with climate or social goals. (Bloomberg, NPR)

EMISSIONS: Texas residents press regulators to deny a permit for a company that makes “forever chemicals” over air and water quality concerns. (Austin American-Statesman)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A Georgia development authority approves environmental standards and taxpayer-backed incentives for Rivian’s planned electric vehicle factory. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• An Arkansas transit agency finalizes plans to buy its first five electric buses. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• A Florida city council considers whether to include building electric vehicle charging stations among its chief strategic priorities. (Palm Coast Observer)

OIL & GAS: Texas energy investors reluctant to spend on drilling infrastructure contemplate changing their minds as a recent fossil fuel boom shows signs it may persist. (Texas Monthly)

SOLAR:
• Silicon Ranch, the Tennessee Valley Authority and local officials break ground on a 6.75 MW solar farm in Tennessee. (Paris Post-Intelligencer)
• A French energy company adds 4 GW of renewable power to its portfolio by acquiring a Texas solar company. (Reuters)

COAL:
• An interactive graphic demonstrates how a southwestern Virginia county has shed a third of its population since 1990 as the coal industry has declined. (Virginia Public Access Project)
• Experts warn the coal boomlet driven by the war in Ukraine is not likely to last. (Marketplace)

NUCLEAR: The Tennessee Valley Authority secures a partnership with a Canadian utility to develop small nuclear modular reactors as a long-term source of carbon-free energy. (Oak Ridger)

CRYPTOCURRENCY:  Investors and economic development advocates hope Kentucky’s growing cryptocurrency industry can fuel economic development as critics worry about its carbon footprint. (Ohio Valley ReSource)

BIOGAS: South Carolina officials celebrate the opening of the state’s first renewable natural gas project, which will power part of a Mercedes-Benz Vans plant. (WCSC)

UTILITIES: The average monthly bill from San Antonio’s municipal utility climbed roughly 22% from last year, largely due to rising natural gas rates. (San Antonio Report)

POLITICS:
• U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia negotiates a bipartisan climate and energy bill, while Democrats wonder whether he’d support a larger social spending and tax package. (S&P Global, Politico)
• A Virginia lawmaker jockeying to lead House Democrats tries to quash rumors a big-spending clean energy group is propelling his move. (Richmond Times-Energy)

CLIMATE:
• Speakers at a North Carolina energy conference call on leaders to ensure people of color and low-income residents are not left out of the clean energy transition. (WFAE)
• Four competitors deploy wave-powered desalination devices that could produce fresh water from seawater during a power outage. (Coastal Review)

GRID: Next month marks the 20th anniversary of a massive blackout in Jacksonville, Florida, likely triggered by the malfunction of a lightning protection device. (Florida Times-Union)

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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.