SOLAR: Virginia regulators approve a $55.10 minimum bill for Dominion Energy’s shared solar program, which critics say is the highest such charge in the U.S. (Virginia Mercury)

ALSO:
• Rural Louisiana officials who tout industrial development often hesitate with solar projects, claiming they consume swaths of irreplaceable riverside land while creating few permanent jobs. (The Advocate)
• An energy company plans a 3 MW solar farm in a Georgia industrial park. (Rome News-Tribune)
• A developer and energy storage company announce a net-zero 86-home village that will equip every unit with solar and storage. (Solar Power World)

OIL & GAS:
• An Oklahoma natural gas plant exploded Saturday, resulting in a fire and evacuation from around the plant. (Oklahoman, Reuters)
• Tennessee cleans up spills from pipeline leaks near Nashville and in the eastern part of the state. (Associated Press, WVLT)
• Shell puts the finishing touches on its 13th major offshore project in the Gulf of Mexico — a clear sign of its plans to continue drilling there. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)

WIND: Opponents of a long-delayed onshore wind farm in western Virginia raise questions about its potential danger for eagles. (Roanoke Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Virginia will receive $106.4 million over the next five years to develop an electric vehicle charging network, but current policy makes it difficult for existing gas stations to obtain chargers without operating at a loss. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

GRID:
• Texas’ grid operator warns of potential rolling blackouts amid predictions for record-high temperatures today. (Texas Tribune, Reuters)
• Texas hit a new all-time peak record for power usage for the second time this month. (KXAN)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: A Florida city adjusts its home inspection program to address issues before energy efficiency plans take effect in 2026. (Gainesville Sun)

CARBON CAPTURE: The 2020 closure of the $1 billion Petra Nova carbon capture facility in Texas looms over hopes to use the technology to reduce carbon emissions, despite federal funding. (E&E News)

RENEWABLES: U.S. Steel announces a $3 million steel plant in Arkansas that will rely in part on renewables, as Entergy seeks to expand solar and wind generation in the state. (Arkansas Business, news release)

UTILITIES: A municipal North Carolina utility prepares for the first time since the pandemic began to cut off electricity for customers with unpaid bills. (Mountaineer)

POLITICS:  The U.S. Supreme Court’s power-plant ruling is unlikely to affect North Carolina’s efforts to reduce emissions because the state legislature established detailed standards to reduce its energy sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, while Congress did not. (Winston-Salem Journal)

COMMENTARY: The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling limiting the EPA’s ability to regulate power plant emissions may hurt Louisiana’s plans to fight climate change because they rely on the state and nation transitioning quickly from fossil fuels, writes a columnist. (NOLA.com)

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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.