SOLAR: Labor advocates are seeing success in their efforts to organize unions in the growing solar industry, even in right-to-work states like Texas. (American Prospect)

ALSO:
• A Virginia town planning commission unanimously recommends against permitting a 5 MW solar farm after residents cite concern about views and property values. (South Boston News & Record)
• A Florida woman frets because her rooftop solar system still hasn’t been installed a year after she paid a $21,000 deposit. (WPLG)
• A technology company and solar developer partner to build a 100 MW solar farm in Texas. (Solar Industry)

GRID:
• North Carolina law enforcement seek search warrants for cell phone records to determine who was near a pair of electrical substations when they were shot and lost power. (News & Observer)
• Investigators search for possible motives in the North Carolina attack, scouring online conspiracy theories and flagging a suspected white supremacist who posted the locations of power stations across North America. (CNBC, NewsNation)
• Gunshots are reported near a South Carolina substation, but Duke Energy finds no damage and officials say there’s no evidence connecting it to the North Carolina attacks. (Associated Press)
• A federal memo reveals at least six “intrusions” at Duke Energy substations in Florida this fall. (NewsNation)
• A Tennessee board votes to recommend overhead power lines and a possible alternative route to power a nuclear fuel company after activists express concern about effects on a nearby conservation easement. (Oak Ridge Today, subscription)

POLITICS: Louisiana voters in 10 southeast parishes will decide a runoff election tomorrow for a seat on the state’s influential regulatory commission. (WVUE)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Electric vehicle infrastructure is emerging across North Carolina, with 2023 looming as a pivotal year in the transition to no-emission vehicles. (Wilmington Star-News)
• A new report recommends policy tweaks and investments to turn Arkansas into a hub for electric vehicles, rockets and autonomous vehicles. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

PIPELINES: Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito pledges to continue pushing for expedited permitting for the long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline after U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin fails in his efforts to include it in a must-pass defense bill. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

COAL: A nearly forgotten West Virginia coal miners’ cemetery is a reminder of the coal industry’s toll on workers, even as a Republican supermajority in the state legislature floats legislation to repeal worker protections. (Associated Press) 

COAL ASH: Four coal plants in Kentucky and just across the Ohio River in Indiana are named in a report for having high levels of pollutants and violating the federal coal ash rule. (Louisville Courier & Press)

OIL & GAS: ExxonMobil announces a $17 billion emissions reduction plan that includes reaching net-zero in the Permian Basin by 2030. (Dallas Innovates)

TRANSITION:
• Participants on a panel call for Louisiana to better engage its residents to protect homes and communities as it transitions to renewables and hardens its power grid against climate change. (The Advocate)
• A San Antonio, Texas, advisory committee narrows its range of recommendations for a mix of fossil fuels, renewables and plant retirements as it considers the city utility’s future energy sources. (San Antonio Report)

COMMENTARY:
• Rising natural gas prices are resulting largely from inflation, supply chain backups and delays in federal permitting for new interstate pipelines, writes a Georgia regulator. (Albany Herald)
• The influx of data centers in Virginia has demanded astonishing amounts of energy, among other environmental issues, writes an energy columnist. (Virginia Mercury)

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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.