GRID: Regional grid officials say West Virginia’s energy queue includes 10,000 MW of renewables and 2,000 MW of natural gas — nearly the footprint of the state’s coal industry — but siting and supply chain issues have delayed their progress.  (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Charleston Gazette-Mail)

BIOMASS: Georgia regulators approve a change to expand the definition of “biomass” to include scrap tires and even natural gas, sparking outrage from environmental groups who say they didn’t consider pollution impacts. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

OIL & GAS:
• Oil companies have left behind more than 14,000 potentially leaking wells in the Gulf of Mexico that could cost more than $30 billion to plug, researchers find. (New York Times)
• A Florida warehouse stores 127,000 samples from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill held as evidence in lawsuits by 150 active litigants who say their illnesses were caused by the spill or resulting cleanup effort. (Miami Herald)
• A gas company announces a plan to build two new gas storage wells and nearly 600 feet of pipeline in West Virginia. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

SOLAR:
• Korean company Hanwha Q Cells secures its position atop the United States’ residential and commercial solar panel markets, even before its planned Georgia factory becomes operational next year. (Korea Herald)
• Federal agents execute a search warrant on the Florida factory of a Chinese solar panel company, causing the local city council to delay a vote on expansion incentives. (Florida Times-Union)
• An energy company announces the completion of four Georgia solar projects totaling 16 MW. (news release)
• A solar company attempts to secure an interconnection contract for a planned 221 MW solar farm in Texas. (Renewables Now)

STORAGE: Two energy companies announce plans to build 195 MW and 100 MW battery storage facilities in Texas. (Energy Global)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An electric vehicle charging company announces plans to expand in North Carolina after state officials approve incentives. (Charlotte Business Journal)

COAL: Kentucky asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling against its regulatory scheme to make state-produced coal more competitive by providing utilities with a severance tax discount. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)

WIND: A Louisiana university launches a scholarship program to train engineers in the offshore wind industry. (New Orleans City Business)

UTILITIES:
• South Carolina-owned utility Santee Cooper approves a long-term energy plan that includes an expansion of solar power and construction of a new gas-fired plant, possibly in partnership with Dominion Energy. (Charleston Post and Courier)
• Arkansas officials order a gas utility not to collect late fees or suspend service as they investigate its billing and pricing practices. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

COMMENTARY:
• Dominion Energy’s reliance on natural gas and coal as outlined in its long-term Virginia plan dates suggests the document is a political message to the state’s Republican governor, writes a columnist. (Virginia Mercury)
• An energy columnist denounces testimony by Texas’ grid regulator about the need for more fossil fuels instead of renewables as a ploy to serve the oil and gas industry at the expense of state residents. (Houston Chronicle)

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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.