CLEAN ENERGY:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s president says it plans on adding at least 10,000 MW of solar power in the long term, even after dropping plans for one solar and battery facility because of delays and cost increases that are affecting many other projects. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• Dominion Energy files a long-term plan to meet Virginia’s clean energy law that relies on new natural gas generation and modular new reactors as well as new solar, wind and energy storage development. (Virginia Mercury, Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• A Virginia county board unanimously votes to add size limitations and other new requirements for solar farms. (Northern Virginia Daily)
• Another Virginia county board changes its zoning ordinance to prohibit large-scale solar energy facilities within 2,000 feet of town borders. (Gazette-Virginian)
• Crews near completion of a solar farm that will power a Virginia resort’s water park. (WHSV)

EFFICIENCY:
• North Carolina lawmakers advance legislation to reorganize oversight of the state’s building code and delay any changes to improve energy efficiency in new homes until 2026. (WFAE)
• Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey awards $4.4 million in federal funding to assist low-income and elderly residents with weatherizing their homes to lower energy costs. (AL.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Dominion Energy predicts rapid electric vehicle adoption in its Virginia and North Carolina territories, accompanied by a roughly six-fold increase in electricity usage. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Texas lawmakers pass legislation to require electric vehicle owners to pay an annual $200 fee to register their vehicles, at least twice the rate for owners of gas-powered vehicles. (Houston Chronicle)

PIPELINES: The head of Mountain Valley Pipeline’s lead partner tells financial analysts the long-delayed project has a “narrow” path to completion this year. (Roanoke Times)

UTILITIES:
• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s debt has risen to nearly $19.8 billion over the last year as it invests nearly $3 billion to upgrade its transmission system and plans to build more natural gas plants and small modular reactors. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
• A federal judge allows parts of a court hearing to be kept secret in the criminal case against two former executives of a Florida municipal utility charged in a conspiracy and fraud scheme. (Florida Times-Union)

GRID:
• A new report ordered in response to attacks on North Carolina electrical substations advises federal officials against setting baseline physical security requirements at substations. (News & Observer)
• West Virginia investor-owned utilities file reports with state regulators showing decreased reliability amid a spike in power interruptions. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

HYDROPOWER: Shell signs a deal with a marine renewable energy developer for a demonstration project in the Mississippi River. (news release)

POLITICS:
• U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin reintroduces legislation to streamline permitting of energy projects and specifically ease the way for completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. (E&E News)
• Opponents of a ballot initiative in El Paso, Texas, to prioritize fighting climate change have spent more than $1 million on the campaign against it. (El Paso Matters)

COMMENTARY:
• Bankrupt coal companies are dumping their obligations to clean up mines on West Virginia communities, with the problem set to worsen as coal production continues to drop, writes a newspaper editor. (Beckley Herald-Register)
• Texas lawmakers’ push for a bill to add red tape to renewable projects borrows a tactic from environmentalists who’ve used it to block fossil fuel projects, writes an energy analyst. (Bloomberg)

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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.